Going on a Pilgrimage to Mt. Oyama

Afuri Shrine in Mount Oyama

 (Isehara City, Kanagawa Prefecture) 

【Mairi (詣り) 】is to pay a visit to a shrine or temple that often involves a long journey like a religious pilgrimage. In the 19th century, Mt. Oyama pilgrimage (Mairi) became a boom among the common people.

Mt. Oyama, located in Ishehara. is as high as 1,600 meters. It has another name “Rainy Mountain” because moist wind from the ocean brings rain in this area. People have worshiped this triangular-shaped mountain for rain and bumper crop from ancient times.

Nowadays the mountain is popular destination for mountain hiking in rich nature. In the ancient time, people set out on a journey to the this sacred mountain on foot, however, in the preset day, you can access the mountain by Odakyu Railways, a local bus and a cable car from Tokyo less than two hours.

At Isehara railway station, people wearing hiking gear are lining to wait a bus to the trailhead of the mountain. The starting point of a hiking trail is a pathway know as the Koma-sando. ‘Koma’ means a spinning top and ‘Sando' means approach to a shrine. As the name suggests, there are souvenir shops selling handcrafted spinning tops with the warmth of wood and a colorful line pattern. Tops are lucky charm for attracting money as it is spinning well, money is rolling in.

Walking up the stone stairs, you will reach to the cable-car station that take you to the middle of the mountain in six minutes ride. If you want to enjoy hiking, you can take foot paths to the top instead. From this point, the path is getting steep slops.

The trail is divided two routes, one is called the women’s slope and another one is called the men’s slope which is steeper and goes direct to the top of the cable-car station. On the women’s trail, 7 wonders of Mt. Oyama and the Afuri Temple attract hikers on the way. My favorite 7 wonders is a stone Jizo statue curved by a Buddhist monk, Kobo Daishi, who is one of the most influential and greatest monks in Japanese history. The legend says that the great monk curved the stone by his nail and completed it in one day !!

After 40 minutes climbing, you will reach at the middle of the mountain where Afuri shrine located. There is a natural fountain in the shrine that is believed to bestow longevity. People fill up their bottles with the sacred natural water before heading to the top.

Leaving the shrine and climbing up heart-attack hill, you will reach at Fujimidai viewpoint where climbers are rewarded with the magnificent view of Mt. Fuji. Take a rest for a while here then make a last push to the summit.

At the top of the mountain, there is a flat patch of ground. People take a rest in their own ways, sitting and chatting in a circle while eating lunch, brewing hot coffee with a backpacking stove and shipping it viewing beautiful mountain scenery, and drinking water from the Afuri shrine. To descent the mountain, there are two paths to the cable station. It may be good idea to take a different path to enjoy different atmosphere of the mountain. At the bottom of the mountain, Koma-sando, Tofu (豆腐) restaurants are waiting for you. Oyama Tofu is local speciality which is made with fresh water flowing out of the mountains.