Tour details
- Season:
- June 10 to November 1st* (Warning: Snow remaining until early July Possibility to make the hike until late November but Mt.Yudono will be officially closed)
- Nights & Days:
- 2 night 3 days
- Meals included:
- *Arrangements for vegan, vegetarian, halal, kosher, allergies must be made 3 weeks before arrival
- Accommodation:
- 2 nights in traditional ryokan(futon only)
- Transportation:
- Not covered. Feel free to ask for arrangements!
- Physical level:
- LEVEL3 (20.6km ↔ 1450m ↗ 500m ↘)
- Interpretation:
- Not included
Points
Once the most revered of the Dewa Sanzan peaks, Mt. Yudono has long been a site of rebirth, mystery, and deep esoteric practice (Shingon Buddhism). For over a thousand years, pilgrims from all over northern Japan walked the Rokujurigoe Kaido, a now 34-km dirt route leading to this hidden sanctuary that was said to have been opened by Kobo Daishi, the founder of Shingon Buddhism himself. The name Rokujurigoe (The “Crossing of 60 Ri”) comes from the fact that the distance between Hondoji (in Nishikawa Town) and Oami (in Tsuruoka City) was once measured as 60 ri — using the old Japanese unit where 1 ri equals 6 cho, or roughly 2.4 km (60 ri = 144km). Highlighted by Churenji and Dainichibo, Mt. Yudono’s two principal temples, the trail is both a physical and spiritual ascent. Silenced during the 19th century when Buddhism was suppressed, and the mountain forcibly turned into a Shinto site, Mt. Yudono and its pilgrimage path were nearly forgotten. Today, walking the Rokujurigoe Kaido is to return to the mountain that “moved the haiku poet Matsuo Basho to tears.” Step into the stillness of ancient beech forests, pass broken statues once venerated by thousands, and rediscover the soul of Mt. Yudono, in this tour called “Seishin” 精神 (“spirit”).
