(恐山) Osorezan

Fear Mountain. No joke. Some other posts call this mountain the Mountain of Dread. I mean, it's only believed to be one of the gates to the underworld.  Well, time to come knocking. 

Budget: JPY6,120 (~USD59)

• JPY500. Entrance fee. 
• JPY1,620. Bus, Shimokita Station to Osorezan (JPY810 one way)
• JPY4,000. One day's worth allocated with JR East's Welcome Rail Pass 

Visit Date

• October 17, 2020.
• I did this as a "Osorezan, Hachimantai and Hakkoda" trip, with the detailed itinerary here. 

When to Go

• The temple is only open from May to October. 
• There is an annual festival - held every July 22-24, which is the cultivation of the rituals of the itako (traditionally blind female mediums), where they are in deep and perfect trance that allows the living to communicate with their lost loved ones (source).  

Special Notes

• Background. This place one of the three holiest places in Japan, along with Kyoto's Hieizan and Wakayama's Koyasan.  Therefore, understanding it a bit more provides a much deeper appreciation of the place.  
• Osorezan is NOT Mt. Osore. It's actually not a mountain. It's a flat spot next to lake, surrounded by eight mountains. 
• The eight peaks represents a lotus flower of eight petals, the symbol of the world of Buddha. 
• The central area have 108 ponds of boiling water and mud, which corresponds with the 108 worldly desires and  hells linked to each of them
• Given these and the other features of the land, this area met the sacred mountain as described in the dream of En'nin, a Japanese Buddhist. And so since 1,200 years ago, this place has been considered a holy place for Japanese Buddhism. 
• Some people believe that when they die, their souls go to Osorezan. I asked a Japanese lady about this, she said the Japanese are not really religious, and thus this is not true haha. 
• BUT, a lot of things in the area signify the grieving of the bereaved, particularly those who lost their children, or have had miscarriage or abortion. These souls are deemed "unfilial" having had passed before their parents, and are forced to build the piles of stones to the heavens to atone for their sins. Hence, grieving families help them here on earth source. 

• Bodai Temple (菩提寺) is Osorezan. There's no official mountain, but just this shrine. I did try to look for the map, and ignorant hiker that I am, even asked the guy at the shrine where the mountain was when buying the ticket. He said the area is Osorezan, and there's no summit, there's no hike. 

• Accommodations: 恐山宿坊. If you wish to stay there, it's JPY12,000 a night with breakfast at 7:30am, and dinner at 5:30pm. Vegan, I think.  Call them at 0175-22-3826 at least a week in advance for reservations. 

• Access. There are very few trains going to Shimokita Station, and and even fewer buses. The itinerary below utilizes the only rapid train, which is about 10 minutes faster. 
• Train, Aomori Station/Hachinohe Station to Shimokita Station (下北駅)
• Bus schedule. Go to this website and look for "恐山線 ", which is near the bottom of the page. For 2020, bus schedule is as follows:

Itinerary

• 07:32am. Bullet train, Tokyo Station to Hachinohe Station.
• 10:24am. Arrived at Hachinohe Station. I got up the stairs, exited, turned right, passed by some local sellers for about 2 minutes, and soon to my right was the entrance to Aoimori Line (not Aomori). The JR East Pass worked here too. I went to platform 5 and waited for my train.
• 10:54am. Train, Hachinohe Station to Shimokita Station. I got on the Special Resort Rapid train, which is 100% reserved seating (I was kicked out of my seat that's how I know I needed reservation). I went to the counter to ask where I can buy the tickets but was directed down to back the platform. So I just showed my ticket to the guy inside the train, and he said just take any seat. In hindsight, if you don't have the ticket you can just buy it inside the train. 
• 12:35pm. Arrived at Shimokita Station. Upon exiting the train, a train employee collects the tickets. I showed him my JR East Welcome Pass, exited and turned left. Bus stop is a bit past the tourist information center. There are two bus stops, the bus stop for Osorezan is the one closer to the taxi stop (bus stop 1).
• 12:45pm. Bus, Shimokita Station to Osoresan.  Cash only, so I took the ticket upon entry. The bus went all over the city first for about 20 minutes, then finally headed to Osorezan.
• 01:12pm. The bus stopped at 冷水, where some passengers got off and took some water, then returned to the bus. 
• 01:23pm. Arrived at Osorezan Bus Stop. Bus stopped outside the main gate, which is right across the lake. It is very picturesque, with the area nestled amongst the mountains and the flowering water and slow waves from the lake making it a surreal location. I walked around the route, starting with the main shrine and doing the loop counterclockwise. It can be done in about 30 minutes I think. I wish there were some explanations on the spots in the area (e.g. piles of rocks, offerings on piles of rocks, pinwheels all over), as most of them were done for a reason. I had plenty of extra time, so I even went to the free onsen and soaked my feet for a while. 
• 03:00pm. Bus, Osorezan to Shimokita Station. Took the ticket upon entry again. 
• 04:03pm. Train, Shimokita Station to Aomori, transferring at Noheji Station. I had to convince the guy at the counter to give me a ticket for free as it is part of my pass, but he said this was Aoimori Line, not JR East. So I opened the JR East Welcome Pass site, opened the map of coverage, and showed him the pass covers trips til Ominato (which is the last train station in Shimokita Peninsula). Once he saw the map, he believed me and gave me the ticket. 
• 06:01pm. Arrived at Aomori Station! Or, if you are doing this as a day trip to Tokyo, back to Tokyo!

The Resort train from Hachinohe Station to Shimokita Station. Talk about leg room!

Upon exiting the station, turned left. Bus stop 1 is close to the taxi stop. 

The bus is easily identifiable. It says For Osorezan. 

The stop right before Osorezan. Passengers can go down the bus to drink the water. Some people filled up their water bottles too. 

Osorezan! Finally!

I first went to buy the ticket. 

Then saw these six Buddhas (?) welcoming me.  

The ticket at the entrance. 

This entry way is representative of the path of the spirits. The main temple is to the left, the pilgrim's inn is the long halls to the right. 

Pinwheels, which is for the aborted and miscarried babies, were all over the place. 

The view after passing the main temple. To the left you can see the onsen for women, and to the right the onsen for men. The onsen for women is fully closed, but the one for men had their windows open. 

The onsen for women. There are two buildings, each with two baths, so a total of four. The two buildings are practically identical. 

The place to put stuff and clothes at before going to the onsen.

This area made me feel that if there's an entrance to the underworld, I wouldn't be surprised if it looks like this. The view looks like this, and there are sections with smoke coming from the rocks. 

The most majestic of them all, as far as I my experience goes. 

For the non Japanese readers, this means "Careful of the Mamushi". Oh, and Mamushi is one of the most dangerous snakes in Japan. No warnings in English, so if you don't speak Japanese... well, remember this post. 

A section with white cloth tied to the trees, with slippers. One blog I think mentions that this is also done by grieving families. 

Pinwheels and an offering. 

One guy ringing the bell while the other guy prays. 

Soon enough, I was on the train back home. Thankful for the surreal experience with Osorezan!