Ideha Shrine

Ideha Shrine is located at the summit of Mount Haguro, 414 meters above sea level. The deities worshipped are Inakuratomikoto and Inakuratomikoto. It is one of the three mountain shrines of Ideha.

Gassan, Haguro, and Yudono in the Shonai region of southern Ideha Province (on the Sea of Japan side of Yamagata Prefecture) are collectively known as the Ideha Sanzan and have been the object of mountain worship.

Gassan symbolizes the past, Haguro the present, and Yuden the future, and each of these three mountains has its own shrine: Gassan Shrine, Ideha Shrine, and Yudenyama Shrine.

Haguro is the center of the Ideha Sanzan and has been one of the centers of Shugendo, which is a fusion of ancient Shinto as well as Buddhism.

The main approach to the shrine, which begins at the Zuishimon gate of Mt. Haguro, is about 1.7 km long with 2,446 stone steps, lined on both sides by 350- to 500-year-old cedar trees. There are more than 400 of them, and they are designated as a special natural monument of Japan.

In the middle of the avenue of cedar trees stands the five-story pagoda, a national treasure, 29 meters high, made of suki-zukuri (a type of wood with a persimmon roof), with a three-room, five-storied tower.

It is said to have been the five-story pagoda of Takisui-ji Temple in ancient times, and there were many temples in the vicinity. The five-story pagoda, said to have been rebuilt about 600 years ago, stands gracefully to the left at the top of Ichinosaka.

At the top of the mountain, there is the Sanjin Gosai Denshitsu, the Hagurosan Belfry built in 1618, and the Museum of History, which can be visited throughout the year.

The Sanjin Gosai-den, a compound of the main hall in the rear and the worship hall in the front, was rebuilt in 1818. It is the largest wooden straw mushroom structure in Japan and is designated as a National Important Cultural Property.

It takes about 90 minutes one way to reach the summit by climbing the stone steps from Zuijinmon Gate. Hagurosan toll road connects directly to the summit from the prefectural road as a back approach to Mt.

Hagurosan five-story pagoda is about 10 minutes one way from Zuijimon Gate at the foot of Mt.