Yamadera in Yamagata Prefecture
The hydrangeas are in bloom and it’s the perfect time of year to climb those thousand steps to Yamadera (literally “mountain temple”), a famed pilgrimage spot since the year 860. The view that will reward us after climbing the thousand stone steps to the top is pretty spectacular…
…but it’s the experience along the way that makes it all worthwhile. While the summer heat makes dashing from air conditioned office to air conditioned apartment a race against melting in the city, Yamadera sits above it all in the same cool, shady splendor it has enjoyed for over a thousand years. June is the best summer month for climbing, because wild blue hydrangeas add their splashes of blue amid the greenery.
From the grand temple bell…
the stairs wend up the cliffside between cedar sentinels and watchfully benevolent saints…
The climb is steep, but hundreds of stone lanterns peek from the jungle lushness…
…and mossy Jizo figures beckon from the undergrowth all along the way—young, old, grumpy, serene—each one different.
Some are quite a challenge to spot…
…and some survey passing pilgrims from niches high on the cliffside.
We will be reminded of how many other pilgrims have come this way over the centuries by small signs of their passing…
And as we catch a glimpse of our goal ahead…
…we finally join the many others who made it, and left this quaint samurai-era graffiti to show they were here.
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Jonelle Patrick writes novels set in Japan, produces the monthly Japanagram newsletter, and blogs at Only In Japan and The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had
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