19.Jul.2022
DISCOVER JAPAN
Saitama Mount Mitake Day Trip
Today I would like to introduce you to some interesting places in Saitama Prefecture that I visited last summer.
Lately I try to avoid crowded places, visiting instead many natural places, which are plentiful in Japan. Now that it’s starting to get warm again, I remembered one particular trip I made last summer, to Mount Mitake.
You can go to Honjo Station from Shinjuku by changing trains once, which takes about 1:30 hs. From there you can take a bus to Shinshuku stop and from there, you have to walk for 20 minutes.
However, we went on the hottest day of the year so we decided to go by car, through a very nice and increasingly green road.
We stopped for an early lunch at a soba restaurant on the side of the road to start the trip tasting Japanese culture before continuing on our way.
Mount Mitake is a hill about 343 metres high on the east side of the Kannagawa River that marks the border between Saitama and Gunma prefectures.
The first thing we saw on arrival was the Tahoto pagoda of the Kanasana Shrine, built in 1534. This pagoda is an important cultural property, especially valuable because it has the name of the clan and the year of its construction inscribed on its central pillar.
In most shrines, there is a main hall where a deity is enshrined, but this shrine does not have one, because its object of worship is the place itself, namely Mimurogatake, one of the peaks of Mount Mitake that can be seen from the shrine’s worship hall.
There are only three shrines with this style of worship in Japan, and they are popular with visitors. The others are Suwa Taisha in Nagano Prefecture and Ōmiwa Shrine in Nara Prefecture. Shrines that directly worship a mountain, tree or other such natural object preserve a heritage of mountain worship dating back to prehistoric times.
At the base of the hill, there is a sign indicating that the path to the hill is on the right. The climb is quite steep and we needed to make several stops for water because of the heat, but the stairs on the path are well maintained.
After climbing for about 10 minutes, we came across Mitake no Kagami Iwa, a 30-degree inclined stone, about 4 metres high and with a mirror-smooth surface. Unfortunately, I did not take any photos of it.
Before reaching the top, we found a path with many stone buddhas that looked quite mysterious among the nature. And then you reach a base with some seats and small shrines. From there, to get to the top you have to do a bit of climbing, and you have to be very careful because the rocks can be slippery.
When you get to the top, the view is so breathtakingly beautiful that it makes the climb in the heat worthwhile.
Here are some pictures.
On the way down we returned on the opposite side to see the rest of the park, but the path was more slippery so be careful.
Due to the heat, we did not have the energy to visit other attractions such as the Benkei Hole, but I would like to come back another time and enjoy the place with more time.
It really is a place I recommend to visit.
Thanks for reading – see you in the next blog!
