Mount Osore: Japan’s Gateway to the Underworld

Perched at the end of the remote Shimokita Peninsula in Aomori Prefecture, Mount Osore (Osorezan), also "Fear Mountain" or "Dread Mountain," is more than a natural wonder. It is a spiritual maelstrom where Buddhist cosmology, volcanic desolation, and profound bereavement meet. Sanctified as one of three most sacred sites in Japan (the others being Mount Kōya and Mount Hiei), the landscape here mirrors Buddhist conceptions of the afterlife, drawing pilgrims, mourners, and paranormal seekers.

A Gateway to the Underworld: History and Landscape

Rediscovered by monk Ennin (Jikaku Daishi) in 862 AD, Mount Osore's history is veiled in divine prophecy. While studying in China, Ennin had been presented with a vision that commanded him to go east in Japan. After traveling for 30 days, he arrived at a volcanic wasteland that recalled Buddhist accounts of the underworld:

Sulfur vents out hot, toxic gases, a ghostly "barren moonscape" of spiny, carbonized rocks.

Lake Usori, a picturesque but lethal caldera lake whose acid water can corrode metal.

The Sanzu-no-Kawa River, like the River Styx, which souls must cross to reach the afterlife. A vermilion bridge marks where the righteous pass with ease, while the wicked struggle in vain.

This hellish terrain—encircled by eight mountains representing lotus petals in Buddhist cosmography—cemented Osorezan's status as a literal jigoku (hell) on earth. Ennin's Bodai-ji Temple was a pilgrim site, although history was leveled by war and conflagration. The building today dates from the 16th century.

Ghost Evidence: Where Spirits Walk the Earth

Ghostly apparitions are woven into rituals, folklore, and raw experiences:

Sai-no-Kawara: The Riverbed of Lost Children

A desolate area near the temple is reputed to catch children who died before their parents. Story goes that the spirits pile rocks to escape hell but are tormented by demons who destroy their cairns. Toys, pinwheels, and rock heaps are left by tourists to assist them, creating an unhappy mosaic of grief. Whirling pinwheels are a sign of reincarnation—a glimmer of hope amid purgatory.

The Itako Mediums: Voices from the Void

At the heart of Osorezan's haunting fame are the itako—blind female shamans trained from birth in brutal ascetic disciplines (ice-water baths not withstanding) to converse with the dead. Twice annually (July 20–24 and October), they hold kuchiyose séances, summoning spirits with rasping cries and unnatural poses. Less than two dozen itako remain today, their rituals a fading thread binding the spirit world.

The Wandering Jizo Statue

At Bodai-ji, a 2-meter-tall image of Jizo—the bodhisattva who releases souls from hell—stands wearing monk's robes. Locals say it roams the grounds after dark; tattered robes are attributed to desperate souls grasping it in hopes of salvation.

Ethereal Encounters

Visitors remember sulfur-odored breezes that appear ghostly whispers, black specters near fumaroles, and a choking sense of being watched. As one visitor noted: "If you close your eyes, you can almost feel the spirits going by" near Sanzu River bridge.

Between Hell and Paradise: A Landscape of Duality

Well away from its hellish imagery, Osorezan is all about duality:

Gokuraku Beach, a white beach on Lake Usori, is Buddha's pure land. Pilgrims make prayer here, offering goods for the deceased.

Healing hot springs at Bodai-ji—employed for centuries—defy deterioration with waters said to heal conditions such as neuralgia and eye illness.

The Itako Taisai festival turns fear to catharsis, attracting thousands in search of closure through mediums, memorial stupas (tōba), and shared rituals.

Cultural Legacy: Art and Modern Pilgrimage

Osore's mystique infuses contemporary culture:

Artist Yoshitomo Nara (Aomori) subconsciously borrows from its doll-clad landscapes in works like Not Everything But/Green House.

Director Terayama Shuji used it as a focal setting in Pastoral: To Die in the Country, amplifying its creepy ambience.

Accessibility: It's open May–October, and the journey takes a 40-minute bus ride from Shimokita Station (fare: ¥810). The final approach along beyond the Sanzu River is akin to entering a parallel world.

Why It Still Haunts

Mount Osore is not your typical "haunted" site—it's where human sorrow, religion, and geology converge. As folklorist Marilyn Ivy suggests, it's a gigantic system of memorializing unbound dead (muenbotoke), in which grieving is ritualized into form 6. Here, in this in-between space, the distinction between the living and the dead is existentially fragile, so that any spin of a pinwheel and whoosh of a sulfur vent becomes witness to eternity's echo.