Why mountains?
Japan is a country of steep ranges, and most people have always lived in narrow plains and valleys with mountains close by. It is not surprising that mountains became the setting for many religious ideas. They are the source of rivers that water the fields, the home of animals and forests, and often a place where the dead were thought to go. Early beliefs, which later fed into Shinto shrines, treated certain peaks as dwellings of kami, and some mountains were worshiped from a distance without being climbed. Villagers marked boundaries beyond which ordinary people did not go.
This reverence is closely related to the broader love of nature in Japanese culture, though mountain worship involved concrete practices and not only a general feeling.
What Shugendo is
Shugendo is a tradition of mountain asceticism that took shape in Japan over many centuries, with roots usually traced to about the seventh century and further development in the Heian period. The name is often explained as the “way of cultivating (spiritual) power” (shu meaning practice, gen meaning effect or power). It draws on several streams: indigenous mountain worship, esoteric Buddhism, Chinese ideas about immortals and nature, and Daoist-influenced practices. Because of this mixture, it does not fit neatly into either Buddhism or Shinto.
Its legendary founder is En no Gyoja, a semi-legendary ascetic of the seventh century who is said to have trained in the mountains of Nara and to have commanded spirits. Historians treat the traditional stories with caution, but he remains central to Shugendo’s self-image and appears in statues and paintings.
The yamabushi
Practitioners are called yamabushi, literally “those who lie down in the mountains,” or shugenja. They have traditionally trained by walking, climbing, fasting, reciting texts, standing under waterfalls and spending long periods in the wild. The aim is often described as rebirth or purification through hardship, so that the practitioner gains spiritual strength, and in many accounts an ability to help others.
Their appearance is distinctive. A traditional outfit includes a small black cap, a white robe, a rosary, a bag, and a large conch shell trumpet (horagai) used for signaling and ritual. They carry a staff and sometimes a ritual wand. Each item has a symbolic meaning explained in the tradition, though interpretations vary between groups.
Yamabushi were also known historically as healers, diviners and guides. In villages they might perform prayers for safe travel, harvests or recovery, and they served pilgrims as guides on mountain routes. Claims about healing belong to belief, and this article does not present them as medical facts.
Sacred mountains
Several areas are strongly tied to Shugendo:
- Omine and the Kii Mountains in the Kumano and Yoshino region, where long ridge walks link sacred sites.
- Dewa Sanzan, the three mountains of Yamagata, still known for training courses in which participants take part.
- Mount Fuji, whose climbing confraternities blended mountain ascetic and popular devotion.
- Mount Hiko and Mount Ishizuchi, in Kyushu and Shikoku, among many regional peaks.
Many routes cross sections once walked by ascetics, so the pilgrimage routes of the Kii region carry some of this history. Kumano, with its waterfalls, caves and forests, was seen as a place where this world and the other world meet. Along these routes small shrines, stone markers and Jizo statues can still be found.
Ideas of death and rebirth
A recurring theme is symbolic death and rebirth. Some rites involve entering a cave or a ritual space understood as a womb, or being “reborn” at dawn. Mountains were also thought of as the realms of the dead, so a climb could be a journey to the other world and back. This ties into a wider Japanese outlook where the sacred is encountered through landscape. The austerity and stillness of mountain practice also have something in common with seijaku, the quiet that many people associate with sacred settings, although Shugendo itself is more physical than contemplative.
The Meiji ban and afterward
For centuries Shugendo was supported by temple and shrine networks. After the Meiji government separated Shinto and Buddhism, Shugendo was officially banned in 1872, since it did not fit either category. Many mountain temples were closed or converted, and practitioners were forced to choose affiliation or stop. This was a significant part of Meiji modernization and its effect on religious life. After the Second World War, religious freedom allowed Shugendo groups to reorganize, and several lines continue today, often tied to temples.
Shugendo today
Today, yamabushi training programs and festivals are sometimes open to the public, and some mountain areas draw hikers interested in the history. Visitors should remember that these are living religious practices. Fasting, waterfall standing and strenuous mountain walking carry real physical risks, and nobody should attempt them without qualified guidance. Respecting restrictions on certain peaks and paths is part of honoring the tradition.