Climbing Gassan, and visiting onsen in Atsumi

1st September 2009

Climbing the “moon mountain” Gassan, and visiting the onsen village of Atsumi.



Gassan (月山) is the second mountain in the “dewa sanzan” series of mountains. It is a holy mountain for Shugendo Buddhist monks, who believe that the souls of recently deceased visit the top of the mountain before being reincarnated.

As a result, there are small shrines on the mountain where visitors place items such as shoes and other personal effects that once belonged to the living which are offered to the dead for their journey onward in the Buddhist cycle of life and death.

Getting there

Buses to the trailhead at the 8th station (the most popular starting point) operate from Tsuruoka to the Gassan Mt rest house(月山レストーハウス) at the 8th station during the high season but are available only on weekends and national holidays after the 30th of August. We arrived a few days too late to be able to get a bus to the 8th station is situated.

We decided to hire a car from the Nippon rent-a-car shop in front of the station ( in retrospect, the Toyota rent-a-car shop, just a few metres away would have been a better option as they are considerably cheaper for the smaller models). However, the staff at Nippon were really friendly and helpful and readily assisted us in hiring a small car for 7,800 yen including comprehensive insurance, for 12 hours (international driving licence and passport required).

The drive to the Gassan rest house was an enjoyable series of winding roads and sharp corners, over Haguro san and onto the Gassan mountain.

The hike



As Gassan is a popular tourist destination, there is a short 20-30 minute return walk at the start of the track that was overrun with older people rugged up in wet weather gear for the adventure who were arriving in the busloads. This short course has a great display of wildflowers, reeds and other mountain flora, as well as plenty of volcanic sink holes that are fed from the free flowing mountain streams.


The signs suggest the trip to the summit should take about 2.5 hours with perfect hiking conditions. A large typhoon had dumped loads of rain onto Japan’s northeast the night before, so the weather was quite terrible, and visibility was low at about 15 metres.

My fitness is also what I might call ‘medium’ and as such the trip to the summit took 3hrs 10mins. The path seems to follows a small mountain stream almost the whole way to the top.


Mid sized stepping stones of about 50cm in diameter are strewn across the path, and it’s up to you to pick your way through it. Many people hired rain boots and white overcoats from the base shop, but we were equipped with good hiking gear so we enjoyed testing out its merits

The picture above shows a hiker in the hired clothing

There were some very steep slopes that rose high into the mountain clouds, and at times icy cold winds whipped around us and I felt like I was a real adventurer. We both ended up with lots of water droplets collected on our eyelashes, face hairs and condensation on our clothing as we were literally in the clouds.

Along the path we saw a small brown bird, that led Charles (my partner) forward for a few hundred metres. We also saw a few pockets of bright red leaves signalling the start of the autumn colours(紅葉). In a few weeks, the mountainside will be covered in a myriad of colours ranging from vibrant yellows to deep purples as the leaves undergo a transformation that is celebrated all over Japan.

Half way up we came to a natural resting place. I’m sure if it were a better day, it would have had a lovely view. Instead, we found some wild raspberries, tasty, cold, fresh and full of vitamins.

The path continued up a really rocky escarpment and then came to a challenging series of muddy, slippery boulders on the edge of a steep slope. We then came to a well planned ‘road’ that felt like a mountain hiker’s superhighway, about 6 rocks across and heading up the mountain for a few hundred metres. Small traditional rock shrines dotted the path, as hikers placed stones creating little mounds along the way.


We reached the first mountain hut and found a tea house and a small lake. The caretaker of the area was tending the shrines. I noticed the collection of small stones carved into the form of children, wrapped in swaddling cloth. The caretaker told me that parents of deceased children came to this shrine to pay respects to their child, and pray for their successful reincarnation. In the foggy mist, and on the deep dark blue lake, these small children seemed at once smiling and cute, and also on the edge of a well of tears. I was quite touched by the significance of the area.


We continued on. Another hiker’s superhighway appeared, and I concentrated on not slipping. The rocks were slippery and I repeatedly felt my boot slip. I had to keep blinking more regularly than usual as my eyes filled up with water from the clouds, which caused a bit of blurring.

The mist really closed in and I lost sight of Charles ahead on the path. It was me and the swirling mist on the slippery superhighway. I was thinking about reincarnation, and the idea of the souls gathering on the top of the mountain before leaving toward another plane, onwards and upwards.

Charles ahead about 20 metres

Strong wooden planks drilled down into steel beams embedded into the mountain appeared againcreating a similar walkway to the one at the start of the walk. I had the sense that we were nearing the summit. It was getting much colder and people on their way down stopped saying ‘take care’ and started saying ‘well done’.


A few more hundred metres scampering over rocks and we found a small jinja, well ensconced into the edge of the mountain. Interestingly, a pair of white sneakers covered in writing was left as an offering, and I felt like an intruder scrutinising the shrine so carefully. It was apparent that the offerings were indeed regarding the recently deceased.


It was a steep escarpment up to the summit after that. At the top, the wind was icy cold. A temple attendant sold prayers, blessings and offerings to the pilgrims. The entrance fee was 500 yen each, and a prayer was also 500 yen. I purchased a small souvenir, and was surprised to find that the 100 yen price didn’t include the piece of paper that had the name of the mountain. That piece of paper was an extra 500 yen. I decided to write it myself some day.

We took a bit of a look around the summit, but the visibility and weather was so bad that it really didn’t offer much in the way of amazing views. We went around to the front side of the temple, found a rock and sat down out of the wind to eat our onigiri. They were delicious.

The trek down was much easier once I saw how an experienced mountain climber did it. Rather than going so slowly, he seemed to dance over the rocks, placing his feet lightly on the stones. I tried this method too and combined with the fact that I could still see where the man before me had placed his feet due to the footprint left behind, I picked up some pace.

We stopped again for a mini feast on the wild raspberries on the way down. They were a welcome treat - sweet, tart and tasty!



The descent took 1 hour 43 mins back to the starting point. At the end, we took a section of the circuit route we hadn’t seen yet and were rewarded with a stunning array of sinkhole ponds and a good selection of wildflowers. It was really pretty, with the sound of rushing water everywhere. The water seemed to come from somewhere beneath the surface, and there was no sense of there being any actual ground due to the floating timber planked path.

Atsumi

We drove down the windy road from the mountain and decided to make use of the remaining time left on the hire car to visit the nearby town of Atsumi. It was a lovely drive along the Sea of Japan coast that went past some spectacular cliffs. The town of Atsumi is built along a gently flowing river which the steamy onsen waters drained into.



Atsumi has a free footbath in the centre of the town, which seemed to be popular with the locals.


There are a good variety of onsen in the village, but almost exclusively visitors are expected to stay in the hotel as guests in order to use the onsen facilities. We decided to save about 20,000 Yen each by using one of the public sento for 200 yen and use the same mineral waters while also mingling with local people.

Cups provided in the centre of town for those wishing to imbibe the mineral waters

The local sento was a hive of early evening activity. A young girl of about 4 years of age was thrilled to have a gaijin in her local bathhouse. She introduced herself and wasn’t at all keen to go home when it was time. Then I met a lovely old lady who told me that lots of unsuspecting people had fainted and even had fits after the bath, due to the extreme heat.

The front entrance to the sento

The water really was HOT, about 46 degrees centigrade. I tried to immerse my body but it was too much for me. I turned on the cold taps and waited a good 30 seconds before getting in.

From inside the sento, looking into the bathing area

I was amazed later to see a mother with a baby that appeared to be a few weeks old hop in and hold the baby under the tap. That baby will grow up with super hot baths in mineral salts that ease the body and cure the mind of ills.

We drove back to Rashaad’s house tired and relaxed after eating in a local Izakaya. Rashaad cooked breakfast pancakes for us each day, which made each day feel special right from morning.