About 1200 years ago, the Japanese Buddhist priest En’nin was studying Buddhism in China. One night he had a mysterious dream. In the dream a holly monk said to him, “When you return to Japan, go eastward. You will find a sacred mountain in thirty days walk from Kyoto. Carve a statue of the bodhisattva Jizô and propagate Buddhism there.” En’nin returned to Japan. In spite of many hardships, he traveled through many provinces on foot in the hope of finding this sacred mountain. Finally he came to the mountainous area of Shimokita penninsula. There he found a place which met all conditions required to be the sacred mountain for which he had been looking. It was this mountain, Osorezan.
At the center of the sacred area of Osorezan is Lake Usori, and next to it a large tract covered with white sand. Surrounding them are 8 peaks: Mount Kamafuse, Mount Ôzukushi, Mount Kozukushi, Mount Hokkoku, Mount Byôbu, Mount Tsurugi, Mount Jizô, and Mount Keitô. The landscape of Osorezan with the eight peaks surrounding it represents a lotus flower of eight pedals, the symbol of the world of Buddha. In it’s central area there are 108 ponds of boiling water and mud, which correspond with the 108 worldly desires and the hells linked to each of them. Side by side, with the hellish ponds, the woods, the lake and the coast of the white sand presnent a wonderful scene, which suggest the beauty of Paradise. Hen En’nin saw them, he noticed that the landscape of Osorezan coincided down to the last detail with that of the sacred mountain as described in his mysterious dream. Then with his own hands he carved a statue of bodhisattva Jizô, which was about 190 centimeters high and he built a hall to house it. Having accomplished these tasks he devoted himself to the propagation of Buddhism with increased earnestness.
(Ref: Osorezan pamphlet, given on site.)
The name of this bodhisattva, “Jizô”, is written with two Chinese characters, “ji”, and “zô”. The fist one, “ji”, means the womb, where life emerges and is nurtured. Jizô’s virtue is linked to that of the Mother Earth, which never minds being tread on and willingly supports all in the world from below. His compassion is comapred to motherly love, through which he shares the suffering of those in pain.
Jizô vows to suffer hell himself to alleviate the pain of those condemned to hell, to free human beings from the illusions of life and death in this world, and to lead even heavenly beings of the purer world into eternal salvation.
Thanks to these vows of the bodhisattva Jizô, the sulphurous valley in the depths of this mountainous area becomes a land of salvation, where absolute peace and happiness are freely given. Here one can listen to an inaudible sermon, which teaches that any place is Paradise so far as Jizô is there.
From the ancient period all kinds of people have visited this sacred area for various reasons. Some have come here to pray for the peaceful response repose and salvation of their deceased parents. Others have come with hopes of reuniting with loved ones. Still others to deepen their own faith. People who live in this region have developed the belief that everyone ill go to Osorezan after death.
For more than one thousand years Osorezan has accepted the prayers of all these people. A Meiji poet, Ômachi Keigetsu, introduces the sacred atmosphere of Osorezan in the following short poem: “In Osorezan, the lake is compared to the heart, while the peaks around it to a lotus flower.”
(Ref: Osorezan Papmhlet, given on site.)
Mount Osorezan (恐山) is ranked along with Koyasan and Hieizan as one of Japan’s three most sacred places. It was discovered over 1000 years ago by a Buddhist priest in search of a sacred mountain that resembles the world of Buddha. Today, it is the site of Bodaiji Temple.
(Ref: https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3727.html)
Osorezan is translated as “Fear Mountain”, a name that comes in part from the mountain’s exceptional landscape. The area is rich in volcanic activity, and a strong smell of sulfur permeates the air. The ground is gray and barren and marked by openings that steam, bubble and blow hot water. Lake Usori, located next to the temple, is colored various shades of blue due to its high sulfur content.
(Ref: https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3727.html)
Among the souls trying to cross the river are the souls of dead children and unborn babies who build piles of pebbles along the riverbed (Sai no Kawara) in an attempt to get to the other side. They are supported by Jizo, a popular bodhisattva of Japanese Buddhism, who protects the souls from evil demons, which constantly try to destroy the piles of pebbles.
(Ref: https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3727.html)
Osorezan is also known as the entrance to afterlife, because it features geographical elements similar to descriptions of Buddhist hell and paradise, including eight surrounding peaks and a river, Sanzu no Kawa, which has to be crossed by all dead souls on their way to afterlife and is often compared to the River Styx of ancient Greek mythology.
(Ref: https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3727.html)
Statues of Jizo are commonplace around Osorezan, as are piles of stones and pebbles. The pebbles are offerings to Jizo by parents of dead children in the hope that he will use the stones to help their children gain access to paradise. Brightly colored toy windmills are another common offering frequently seen around Osorezan’s grounds.
(Ref: https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3727.html)
Although access can be a challenge due to the lack of public transportation, Osorezan is a well known destination and the temple is equipped with overnight lodgings for guests. Both overnight and day visitors to the temple can use the simple hot spring baths located on the temple grounds.
Walking paths crisscross Bodaiji’s unique temple grounds, affording visitors plenty of opportunity to stroll around the site and take in the scenery. A walk along the shores of Lake Usori is recommended, although visitors should avoid the poisonous water.
Every year, Bodaiji’s festival (July 22 to 24) attracts the bereaved and those hoping to communicate with lost loved ones through mediums, known as Itako. Itako are blind women who have undergone extensive spiritual training. In order to commune with the dead, they perform austere purification rituals for three months prior to the event and enter into a deep, prolonged trance during the festival.
(Ref: https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3727.html)
A unique feature of Bodai-ji is the presence of mediums known as itako who claim to summon the souls of the dead and deliver messages in their voices. These mediums were traditionally blind and had to receive extensive spiritual training and purification rituals; however, in modern times their number has dwindled and not all are blind. The temple has a twice-yearly Itako Taisai festival held in summer and autumn.
The temple also maintains a hot spring resort for use by pilgrims and tourists.
(Ref: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Osore)
I finally got myself a Japanese Travel book. I got it here and it was signed and stamped by a Buhhist Monk.
The Buddhist Monk who live here, making his calligraphy marks and stamps in my travel book.
The work of contemporary artist Nara Yoshitomo, who is a native of Aomori Prefecture, is believed to be influenced, if at least subconsciously, by Mount Osore (Ivy, 2010). For instance, his piece entitled “Not Everything But/ Green House” depicts a small female child standing over a pile of discarded dolls of varying characteristics and eras much like those observed at Mount Osore.[3]As part of a collection of fictional fungi, artist Takeshi Yamada created the Oh-dokuro-dake (or “skull mushroom”) and the story surrounding their presence on Mount Osore for his “center for medical mycology” art project.[4](Ref: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Osore)
The names may sound like lurid attractions at some awful theme park, but there’s no getting away from the dispiriting atmosphere that hangs over Osorezan. It is Sai no Kawara that gets perhaps the most visitor attention. With its boundary function, Sai no Kawara is often referred to as a Buddhist River Styx, but it also has the aspects of limbo. It is to this grim realm that children who predecease their parents — and are thus unable to repay those parents for having giving birth to them — are condemned. As penance, they are obliged to build up stone cairns, only to have foul demons with an attitude problem come along and smash them apart — and, for good measure, tormenting the little souls with fond memories of the happiness they knew as living children. Sole protector of the children is the bodhisattva Jizo — he of the red bib and cap and whose stone figures are seen everywhere around Japan — driving the demons away.
Jizo images are a common sight at Osorezan, as are cairns built by visitors. Upon the cairns are often placed offerings of coins, which become blackened by the sulfurous vapors expelled by numerous volcanic vents. Many of the visitors who add to the cairns are the unfortunate ones who have lost their own young children. However one may feel about Buddhism and the afterlife, it is hard not to be moved by the presents left here — the chocolates, plastic pinwheels, candy and small toys representing life’s small pleasures, which these children will never know again. Many offerings are also made at Gokurakuhama. As well as the small cairns, along the lakeshore can be seen such items as flowers, pinwheels stuck into the soft sand and straw sandals, the latter being given to Jizo to protect his feet as he walks across the sharp rocks of Sai no Kawara. At Gokurakuhama, visitors come and perform their own small ceremonies, often done matter-of-factly. A typical one will have the visitors approach, burn incense, set flowers upon the sand, open the can of beer and onigiri they have brought along and set them by the lakeshore. They clasp their hands in prayer, call out to the departed across the lake and, the incense still burning, make their way back. What the dead can’t manage of the onigiri, the crows gladly come and finish off.
(Ref: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2006/12/22/travel/mountain-of-dread/#.WxuXKIqRWf0)
I recommend the ramen at the restaurant in front of the shrine. It was delicious!
I was told, by a couple of my fellow ExPat coworkers, that if you visit this place you have to come back to return anything that might have followed you home. I believe that’s a load of b.s. because there are a ton of Japanese tour buses that bring people here, only once, every day. A couple of coworkers are afraid to come here, as if this place is haunted. Let me tell you, I can sometimes be sensitive to energies and the energy here was nothing malicious or negative in any way. This place is truly mystical and a “must see” if you are spiritual, cultural or simply an appreciator of mother nature’s beautiful sites. This is my favorite site that I have seen in Japan thus far. This place is definitely not haunted and, if anything, is charged with spiritual energy that will leave you at peace and in awe of such a wonderful place.