Mountain Worship in Japan – Deities Dwelling in the Mountains

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The moment you step into the mountains, you may feel as if you have been quietly cut off from the noise of everyday life.

What reaches your ears are birdsong, the sound of wind stirring the trees, and the feel of the earth under your feet.

The air is clear, and even the flow of time seems to slow down.

 

In Japan, mountains have long been revered as dwellings of the gods.

The mountains themselves became objects of worship, and it was believed that deities resided on their peaks and deep within their forests.
Shrines built in the mountains can be seen as an expression of this belief.

 

 

Regardless of whether one is religious or not, many people have at some point been moved by the silence and sense of sanctity they feel when entering the mountains.

 

Mountains are always close at hand.
Familiar as they may be, they are also wrapped in a certain unapproachable sacredness.
Since ancient times, people have offered prayers to them, feared them, and held them in deep respect.

 

 

The Origins of Mountain Worship

 

It is thought that Japan’s mountain worship took shape in close connection with the nature worship of the Jōmon period.

 

Archaeological sites from the Jōmon era show traces of rituals directed toward natural phenomena, and people at the time believed that spirits inhabited every aspect of nature.
Among these, towering mountains were regarded as beings endowed with special power and attracted particular reverence.

 

 

With the later introduction of Buddhism, mountains came to take on new significance as places of ascetic practice.

In particular, when Shugendō—a syncretic tradition in which practitioners seek enlightenment through rigorous training in the mountains—was established, mountains came to be seen as spiritual realms where kami and buddhas meet, and their meaning deepened further.

 

In this way, mountains came to embody nature itself while at the same time serving as places where people layered their prayers and ascetic practice, acquiring a profound spiritual significance.

 

 

Mountain Faith Rooted in Local Communities

 

Across Japan, each mountain retains its own distinctive form of worship, nurtured over many generations by the people who live in its shadow.

 

In upland regions such as those in Tōhoku, for example, there are still local customs in which people offer wild plants from the mountains and sake to the “mountain kami” in spring, praying for safety in farm work.

It is said that when the trees begin to bud, the mountain deity comes down to the villages to watch over the fields, and after the autumn harvest returns once more to the mountains.
This image of the mountain deity reflects a belief system in which the changing seasons and people’s daily lives are closely intertwined.

 

 

In volcanic regions such as Mt. Kirishima and Mt. Aso in Kyūshū, people have long lived side by side with eruptions and earthquakes, offering prayers to calm the anger of the mountains.

The volcanoes themselves are regarded as deities, and awe toward the power of nature has taken deep root as a form of faith.

 

Shrines such as Kirishima Jingū and Aso Shrine are imbued with the wishes and fears of people who have long faced the overwhelming force of nature.

 

 

In the Kinki region—centered on Nara, Wakayama, and Mie—as well as the central mountainous area, yamabushi (mountain ascetics) still continue their training in the mountains today.

At places such as Yoshino, Kumano, and Ōmine, rituals and festivals of Shugendō are still performed, and the mountains continue to function as sacred sites of practice.

 

 

Every mountain is closely tied to the lives and prayers of the people who live nearby.
Within their quiet, the memories of the land and the thoughts of its people remain deeply rooted even now.

 

 

Faith in Sacred Mountains

 

Japan has long had certain mountains known as reizan—sacred mountains accorded special status.

Each of these mountains has its own legends and myths, and many people still visit them to offer prayers.

 

Mt. Fuji

 

Mt. Fuji, Japan’s highest peak, is also its most revered sacred mountain.

In earlier times it was feared as a “fire mountain” that repeatedly erupted, and ascetics subjected themselves to its harsh environment, climbing again and again in pilgrimage to the summit.

Even today, many people climb the mountain to witness the sunrise from the peak and quietly join their hands in prayer.

 

 

 

The Three Mountains of Dewa (Dewa Sanzan)

 

Located in Yamagata Prefecture in the Tōhoku region, Dewa Sanzan refers to the three mountains of Gassan, Haguro-san, and Yudono-san.
Pilgrims traditionally visit all three in turn to undergo a unique spiritual journey that symbolizes “death and rebirth” and “past, present, and future.”

 

The presence of sokushinbutsu—monks who became “living buddhas” through extreme ascetic practice—eloquently testifies to the severity of the faith in this region.

 

These are monks who continued their practice until just before death, passed away while seated in meditation underground or in stone chambers, and were then enshrined in their naturally mummified state.
Undertaken in the belief that one could become a buddha while still alive, this form of training represents the ultimate expression of prayer seeking oneness with nature, and it continues to be regarded with deep respect.

 

 

 

Mt. Hakusan

 

Mt. Hakusan is the focal point of mountain worship in the Hokuriku region and is revered as the sacred mountain of Shirayamahime Ōkami, a goddess enshrined there.
Blanketed in snow for long periods of the year, the mountain is seen as a symbol of purity and stillness.

 

For centuries, many ascetics have walked its steep pilgrimage routes, and the mountain has been valued as a site for spiritual training.
Shrines that trace their origin to the worship of Hakusan are found across Japan, revealing both the breadth of its influence and the depth of the faith associated with it.

 

 

 

The Three Grand Shrines of Kumano (Kumano Sanzan)

 

Deep in the mountains of the Kii Peninsula stand Kumano Hongū Taisha, Kumano Hayatama Taisha, and Kumano Nachi Taisha, collectively known as the Three Grand Shrines of Kumano.
They form one of Japan’s foremost sacred sites.

 

At the heart of Kumano faith lies the idea of “rebirth.”

This does not refer to reincarnation after death, but to a spiritual renewal in this life.
To visit Kumano is to confront the self that has been worn down by the mundane world and to be reborn as a new self.

 

A journey to Kumano has long been understood as a journey of such inner regeneration.

The Kumano Kodo pilgrimage routes are registered as a UNESCO World Heritage site, and many people still walk these paths today.
Surrounded by moss-covered stone paving and towering cedars, travelers sense the presence of kami and buddhas in the natural world and quietly bring their hearts to order.

 

Kumano, where deities of Shinto and buddhas of Buddhism are believed to dwell together, continues from past to present as a place of prayer and a site for engaging with one’s innermost self.

 

 

 

Over long centuries, mountains have become deeply intertwined with the Japanese spirit.
People have discerned the presence of the divine there, offered prayers, and received the mountains as something sacred.

Mountain worship is one of the enduring cultural elements that lives on within the Japanese landscape.

 

Even as times change and the outward forms of faith gradually shift, the respect and prayer directed toward the mountains that live on in the hearts of the Japanese will, in all likelihood, never fade.