Dewa Sanzan 出羽三山
Paths of the ‘yamabushi’ (mountain priests)
The Dewa Sanzan (’the three mountains of Dewa’) are sacred mountains in Yamagata Prefecture that are important in Shugendō mountain worship.
Practitioners, known as yamabushi, perform ascetic feats of endurance as a means of transcending the physical world. Training includes long pilgrimages and endurance of the elements.
To try your hand at being a yamabushi at Dewa Sanzan, check out Yamabushido.
Each of the three peaks has a shrine on or near its peak. Haguro-san represents birth, Gas-san death and Yudono-san rebirth - and the mountains are usually visited in that order.
While there are challenging traditional routes that the yamabushi use, these days, it’s relatively easy to get to the top (or close to it) of all three by driving on sealed roads.
Gas-san, at 1984m, is the highest and inaccessible during snow months. You can drive up to within 5km of the top once the snow has gone though. It’s an enjoyable hike from there.
The best time to visit is between July and mid September. The Dewa Sanzan are part of Bandai-Asahi National Park.