At every Kagotateba palanquin site was a roadside stone. They were left at intervals of approximately 109 meters, or 1 cho. Currently, there are 35 stones left all the way to Miki-toge Pass.

Back in the Edo era, they would say that the climb is 50 cho, the descent is 38 cho, and the peak is at 50 cho. Each of the roadside stones are inscribed with the number, dedicator, and year and month of the dedication. However, though there are roadside stones up to the peak since it’s in Ise Jingu Shrine territory, there are none on the descent because it was in the Kumano Gongen territory.

This is because the stones were donated by people from the Ise Jingu Shrine territory during the Warring States period. The stones were said to be boat-shaped with jizo statues holding a Buddhist staff in the right hand and an orb in the left. The oldest roadside stones along the Yakiyama are said to be the ones at the Kagotateba palanquin sites.

This difficult journey might become less arduous if you look at the faces of the jizo statues.