Womb Realm Mountain

Still one of Yamagata's best peaks

Mar 25, 2024

Kia ora Koutou, Tim Bunting, Kiwi Yamabushi here on the Japan you never knew you wanted to know.

Taizo-san. Named after Taizo-kai, or in English, The Womb Realm. Often depicted in tapestries, Yamabushi believe Buddhist Mandalas are projected onto many of the mountains in Japan. Mandalas depict the wisdom of Buddha, i.e. the wisdom of the cosmos, and by walking on the mountains, we too can absorb that wisdom. This is why during yamabushi training there is only minimal talking. It interrupts the wisdom from getting in! Maybe that’s why getting out into nature is so beneficial. Either way, Yamabushi think you should do it quietly, and consciously too.

And so, yesterday I joined a group doing a “snowshoe hike” up Taizo-san, Mt. Taizo, here in Sakata City. Besides Kyogakura-yama, the peak of sutras, this is the closest mountain mountain to me (the others are hills), and is one of my definite favourites. Also, besides the Dewa Sanzan, and by extension Kinbo-zan, this is the mountain I’ve climbed the most, a whopping three times!

“Snowshoe hike”

I put “snowshoe hike” in speech marks because we only started snowshoeing about 2/3rds up the mountain. One of the participants on earlier trips said that last time they started snowshoeing before they had reached the trailhead! As such, they reckon there was about 1/3 the snow. Apparently that was why we were able to open the shrine gates at the summit, a normally impossible task in the middle of winter.

This is the sort of experience you can only do if you speak Japanese, and if you keep your feelers out too. Well, I found out about this event because my wife found it in the local community newspaper. I even had to make a phone call to book my spot, I bet the 75-year-old man who answered had a good surprise! Even though I spelled my name out: ‘te’ and then a small ‘i’, he still put me down as Kim (Japanese speakers will know what I mean). Still, he made it to the summit; an incredible feat for someone of his age (but mainly his size. He’s younger than Master Hoshino!).

Still. We took the long way up from Mototazawa, so good on him, and thank you for organising such a fun event.

Here’s my video from last year on Taizo-san: