A sacred peak of 1,984 m: you can ski from April to July on snow that never melts.
The main peak of the three Dewa mountains, dedicated to Tsukiyomi-no-mikoto, god of the moon: on the summit, the Gassan-jinja Hongū shrine forbids photography and purifies every visitor before entry. On the north face the lingering snow is so deep that you can ski from April to the end of July, when every other ski area in Japan has already closed: it is one of the very few summer ski slopes in the country, along with Norikura and Tateyama.
A sacred mountain of 1,984 m between the municipalities of Nishikawa, Ōkura, Tsuruoka and Shōnai, the second of the three Dewa mountains and a destination both for pilgrimage and for off-season skiing.
ℹ️ Trail to the summit shrine open from about 1 July to the end of September; the summer ski slope operates from April. Bus from JR Tsuruoka (2 hr) to the eighth stage (Hachigome), or by car (1 hr 30 min from the Shōnai-Asahi toll gate).
🚉 リフト上 · 34 min walk
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