Long, long ago, Tateyama was believed to be a “Mountain where the gods sleep.” This inspired religious belief; they created a unique creed, and before long it became renowned across Japan as a sacred site for Shūgendo – a faith centered around the worship of mountains. There once stood a lodge in the Ashikuraji Temple region for those who strove in their asceticism.
Mountain guide Tomohiko Saeki takes visitors around Tateyama. Mr. Saeki was born into a family of “Chugo,” people who guided ordinary folk through mountains as far back as the Edo Period. He teaches visitors the charms of Tateyama, like his ancestors before him.
Guides use an item called a “Tateyama mandala” on their treks. These are images based on Tateyama’s topography that express the worldview of their belief. There are around 50 mandalas in existence, but Mr. Saeki tells us he’s adapted “New Tateyama Mandalas” with the help of students from Toyama University’s Art and Design Department.
Traveling monks from Ashikuraji Temple in Tateyama would carry the mandalas across Japan as they traveled to spread their teachings. They would roll them up like scrolls to easily carry them, then unfurl them and artfully tell of the beginning of the Tateyama faith, of the paradise and hell that are said to exist in the mountains, alongside other stories, linking them to their beliefs all the while. The tales change with the times and the region. When plague spread, they would tell stories of plagues that were eradicated; in times of famine, their tales would concern abundant harvests.
Now, if Mr. Saeki could express the Tateyama faith to Healthian-wood visitors, what stories would he tell?
“The core of the Tateyama faith is ‘rebirth.’ We cast off this world and enter the next one, where we purify our souls before reincarnating once more.
“Healthian-wood is run by a pharmaceutical company; it’s a facility that employs herbs to support the mind and body. People take medicine when they’re ill, but Healthian-wood’s approach focuses on the times before and after the illness. I heard they believe in treating the body and mind kindly in order to preserve health without medicine.
“Visitors reassess themselves while they eat nutritious food in sight of beautiful views and relax at spas and saunas … A sort of rebirth takes place when you carefully maintain your mind and body this way, you know? I think they comprehend the Tateyama faith in ‘rebirth.’ ”
Many families named “Saeki” live around Ashikuraji Temple. In order to keep track of these households without confusion, the Saeki families all have their own “trade names.”
Tomohiko Saeki is the fourth generation in a storied family of mountain guides; his trade name is “Heizo.” It is the name of his great-grandfather, who worked as a Tateyama mountain guide from the Meiji Period to the Showa Period. He was the first man to hike across the Bessan Ridge in Tsurugidake, and so the “Heizodani” valley was named after him.
Mr. Saeki was also raised amidst the nature of Tateyama since he was a child. Filled with the pride of his mountain-loving ancestry, he and his family summited Mt. Everest in 2019; a feat never before seen in Toyama Prefecture.
Now, Mr. Saeki conducts tours around Tateyama, sometimes in full costume. He will answer any question about Tateyama history and culture.
The Tateyama ascent normally entails trekking across three peaks: Mt. Jōdosan, Mt. Oyama, and Mt. Bessan. Mr. Saeki tells us the stories surrounding these three mountains are deeply entwined with the Tateyama faith.
“The Nara Period tanka poet Otomo Yakamochi composed this verse about Tateyama: ‘Snow falls upon Tachiyama / through everlasting summer/ it remains / holy is her snow.’ He called it ‘Tachiyama’ in the poem, not ‘Tateyama.’
“It’s said that the name Tateyama’ came from the fact that the range looked like a folding screen, or that it was altered from ‘tachi, which means sword. I believe the ‘Tachiyama’ Otomo Yakamochi wrote about was actually Tsurugidake, another precipitous mountain. If you look at the name you’ll understand the symbolism, as ‘tsurugi’ also means sword.”
Actually, Shugendo practitioners of old would apparently undergo strict training at Tsurugidake. During the Meiji Period, they discovered ringed pewter staves that were thought to be used by people who climbed Tsurugidake in the past. If so, then why did people start climbing the other three mountains instead of Tsurugidake?
“The Tateyama faith became a popular reason for excursions in the late Edo Period. As the Tateyama hike grew popular with people, a rugged and abrupt mountain like Tsurugidake became too dangerous for large groups to climb. They selected the three peaks in the midst of this change.
“What’s fascinating is that Tsurugidake was a sacred Shugendo site in the past, but as time passed people referred to it as ‘Hell Mountain.’ If you look at the Tateyama mandala, you see it rendered as this terrifying, needle-like peak. That caused people to stay away.”
Thus, a sacred ground was abandoned, and became ‘hell.’ Nevertheless, beliefs about Tsurugidake still remain, taking unexpected forms.
“There were enshrinement halls at the summits of Mounts Jōdosan, Oyama, and Bessan. They were built so that you would always see Tsurugidake straight ahead when you brought your hands together.”
Because the enshrinement halls have been moved over time, you may not always see Tsurugidake when you put your hands together. At Oyama, however, the hall remains as it was in the past, so you can see Tsurugidake by bringing your hands together.
Mr. Saeki also told us about the specific training that Shugendo ascetics undertook. They carried out a discipline known in the Tateyama faith as the “Rokusenjō” Climbing the three peaks was included as part of this training. Legend has it that Jodosan governed the Past, Oyama governed the Present, and Bessan governed the Future. Climbing the three peaks would allow one to reconsider their life.
At Jōdosan, you look back upon your past. Climbing this mountain while chanting a purifying incantation would cleanse the most shameful parts of yourself. It’s one part of the Rokusenjo practice, and corresponds to the “Gokuraku-Senjō,” or “Paradise route.” Along this route, which leads from Murodō to Jōdosan, rainbow-hued “Brocken bows” can easily manifest around the climber’s shadow, making them look much like a Buddha themselves. This apparently is the reason why the locals revere this mountain as a paradise.
At Oyama, you’ll come face to face with the present. It is a place to analyze your job or personal life. Minemoto Shrine sits at the summit, 3,003 meters above sea level, and if you put your hands together here, you will see Tsurugidake straight ahead.
Bessan is where you turn your gaze to the future. The descent from this mountain corresponds to the “Hashiri-Senjō,” or the “Running Route” of the Rokusenjō. If you don’t watch your step, you will fall down precipitous slopes. Such danger is the reason why it became a trial that dares the traveler to cast aside their worldly desires and simply run, lest they slip on their idle thoughts.
“There’s no such thing as a human who doesn’t feel guilt. Tateyama belief has it that when one enters the mountains, they will be reborn after looking their past, present, and future dead in the eye.”
If you climb up the hill just ahead of where you are now, you will find Nunohashi, a bridge said to link this world and the next, as well as a temple where Enma, lord of the dead, is enshrined. Statues of Enma and Onba, the wet nurse who protected women at a time when they were prohibited from entering, are also found within. If you want to learn more about the Tateyama faith, come walk the path for yourself.
