The charm of Kiso

It is said that there are some mountains that have spiritual power and above all, Mt.Ontake is one of the most sacred mountains in Japan. From long time ago, people have worshiped Mt.Ontake. Since the 18th century, the trail of Mt.Onake opened and it enabled ordinary people to climb the mountain. As a result, Ontake worship had been spread all around the country. There are up to 20,000 stone monuments called reijin-hi which were built by believers, and that is a unique feature of Ontake worship.

The sacred trails toward Mt.Ontake is called Ontake-Kodo and we walked there. We didn’t know anything about Ontake-Kodo even we were born and raised up, so we were worried about introducing it because it was hard to guess why so many tourists visit there every year. However, we could find many places fascinate us and some different ways to be more enjoyable and after the trip, we totally understand why it’s been loved by tourists for a long time.

We found many stone statues on the trail and they stood quietly. You can find them everywhere, in bushes, wayside, and so on. The more we discovered them, the more the trip was enjoyable. There are many stone statues that have various shapes everywhere, and that kind of scene is quaint and fascinating. Why don’t you take a look at them while walking on the trail?

We visited Ontake Kodo in summer and fall. Ontake Kodo is surrounded by plenty of nature so we could see the beautiful nature shows us different figures per season. You can enjoy not only historic atmosphere but also spectacular nature, and that is the uniqueness of Ontake Kodo. Hope you enjoy various figures of nature around the trail. (There are no pictures of nature so we couldn’t take any good pictures… Please make sure to see the scene with your own eyes!)