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Gassan Shrine

Gassan jinja

月山神社

Description:

The very first mention of the Gassan Shrine dates back to the 10th century. It worships the god of the moon: Tsukiyomi no Mikoto ツキヨミノミコト. On top of being the god of the moon, Tsukiyomi had to take on the responsibility for food, crops, and fishery after he killed the goddess of food: Ukemochi no kami. Hence, the Gassan shrine is worshipped by both farmers and fishers.

The shrine opens its gates on July 1st for the Mitobiraki ceremony 御戸開き and closes on September 15th with the Mitojime ceremony 御戸閉め. (exceptionally, the shrine will cease its activities on August 31st in 2021.)

Gallery:

Practical Information:

To go to Gassan Shrine, get on the bus bound for Haguro-Gassan (bus timetable) and get off at Gassan Hachigome 月山八合目. Walk 3 hours up to the top of the mountain.

Mt. Gassan's official climbing season starts on July 1st and ends on September 15th (exceptionally shorter in 2021 due to coronavirus). The mountain is still hikeable until Early October, but we highly recommend not climbing the mountain later than this period due to dangers related to snow.

Around there:

Midahara Shrine

A shrine for couple bonding, happy marriages and plentiful harvests.

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Gassan's wild flowers

You can spot around 70 species of plants in Mt. Gassan throughout the year.

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Hiking trails:

Hike to the top of Mt. Gassan

Hike to the top of Mt. Gassan

Also called "The Realm of the Dead", or "The Mountain of the Past", Mt. Gassan is the most important step in the Dewa Sanzan's yamabushi training.

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On the Map:

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