Category: Saikan
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Saikan: Shrine Lodging on Mt. Haguro
Meticulously placed stones line the path off Haguro-san‘s stone stairway that leads up to the ancient entrance of an enchanting place, Saikan. Saikan is a former temple that provided generations of Yamabushi mountain monks all they needed for training; altars for rituals, Shojin Ryori (Ascetic Cuisine), Shiroshozoku garments for purification, and of course, lodging. These…
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The Shoreisai Festival on Mt. Haguro
What better way to welcome in the new year than with the symbolic burning of an evil demon to a crisp? Well, the annihilation of a demon twice is all but one small part of the much larger Shoreisai festival that starts with the most gruelling of Yamabushi rituals on the Dewa Sanzan, the Fuyunomine Winter…
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Japan’s Spiritual Powerhouse: Dewa Sanzan
Take a step through the Zuishinmon gates and into the cedar forests of Mt. Haguro and you will instantly be whisked into another world, the world of the Dewa Sanzan. Located in the middle of Yamagata Prefecture, the Dewa Sanzan is the collective name for the three sacred mountains of the former Dewa Province: Mt.…
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Why You Simply Must Try Dewa Sanzan Shojin Ryori
Why You Simply Must Try Dewa Sanzan Shojin Ryori If you’ve paid a visit to a Zen temple in Japan before, chances are you would have tried Shojin Ryori. Known for its almost exclusive use of local vegetables, zero waste policy, and unprecedented impact on Japanese cuisine, Shojin Ryori spread throughout Japan along with the…
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Autumn on the Dewa Sanzan
Autumn on the Dewa Sanzan “There are days that are clearly summer days, and then there are days that are clearly autumn days. However, we never say ‘today is summer, and tomorrow is autumn’.” Master Hoshino of Daishobo Pilgrim Lodge on Mt. Haguro Master Hoshino of Daishobo Pilgrim Lodge is famous for saying that the…
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Shukubo Pilgrim Lodges on Haguro-san
For the true Dewa Sanzan experience, for the true Japan experience, you can’t go past the Shukubo Pilgrim Lodges of Haguro-san. Shukubo are purpose-built lodges established long ago for those making a pilgrimage on the Dewa Sanzan. Although some people think of this as a form of temple lodging, that is not quite correct. Let’s take…
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Channel Matsuo Basho on the Dewa Sanzan
Channel Matsuo Basho on the Dewa Sanzan On an early spring morning in 1689, Matsuo Basho awoke from his sleep in Bashoan, his residence in Edo, modern-day Tokyo. By that time, Basho’s fame as a Haiku and Renga poet had afforded him a life of luxury. Wherever Basho travelled, his apprentices treated him like royalty.…