Looking around from the shrine’s path, we see the steep Togakushi mountain range surrounding the area. Togakushi, having developed as a place for ascetic Shugendō Buddhist Training, used these mountains as training grounds for many practitioners visiting the site.
The highest of the range is Mt. Takatsuma, located to the right of the shrine’s path. At the top of the mountain, with an elevation of 2,300 meters, there is a mirror that is 2 meters high and weighs 40 kilograms. It was placed there by one of the practitioners. It’s unimaginable how they managed to carry it up a steep mountain road, but as the highest peak of the Togakushi mountain range, Mt. Takatsuma must have been the final destination of the trainees.
On Oku-sha’s path, there is a monument commemorating the placement of the mirror. Practitioners heading to Mt. Takatsuma were said to undergo a rigorous training called "Hayagake", which included running from the foot of the mountain up to the summit of Mt. Takatsuma and then running back, all within the same day. When roads were underdeveloped and unmaintained, it was crucial to be immensely tough both physically and mentally to achieve this. Some probably got lost or misstepped and never returned. They put their lives at stake for this.