Haguro-san Five-storey Pagoda

photo by YedidyaPopper · CC BY 4.0

photo by さかおり · CC BY-SA 4.0

A third of the way up the 2,446 sacred steps stands the pagoda from 1372, the oldest in Tōhoku.

The sacred path, lined for two kilometres by centuries-old cedars, climbs from the Zuishinmon to the top of the mountain: shortly after the entrance, next to the ‘Jiji-sugi’ cedar (a thousand years old, ten metres round), stands the five-storey pagoda, 29 metres tall, the oldest building in the Tōhoku region. Tradition attributes its founding to Taira no Masakado; the building you see today was rebuilt about 600 years ago, in 1372.

Pagoda of the Dewa Sanzan shrine, on Mount Haguro, the first of the ‘three mountains of Dewa’ of the Shugendō cult, along with Gassan and Yudono-san. Built of unpainted cypress, three bays wide over five storeys, with a roof of bark shingles. Designated a National Treasure on 11 June 1966.

ℹ️ The path and the pagoda can be visited freely, with no admission ticket; hiking boots are advised, especially in winter when the steps freeze (there is no artificial lighting along the route). From Tsuruoka: about 40 minutes by bus, or 30 by car from the Shōnai-Asahi interchange.

🚉 Haguro Zuishinmon · 6 min walk

Sources: yamagatakanko.com · ja.wikipedia.org

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