Historically, Dewa Sanzan is a training ground for yamabushi: devotees of Shugendo, an ancient tradition of mountain asceticism incorporating elements of both Buddhism and Shinto. Together, its three peaks are considered an important pilgrimage site for Shugendo votaries and those merely seeking spiritual solace in nature.
Mount Haguro, located in the city of Tsuruoka, in the vast Shonai coastal plains, has remained at the centre of Shugendo for well over 1,500 years. This is where worshippers come to celebrate the present before going on to pray for the past at Mount Gassan and the future at Mount Yudonosan.
Sanjingosaiden (also known as Dewa Sanzan Shrine) sits atop the summit of Mount Haguro. With various pit stops along the way, as well as parking facilities nearby, the journey there is perfectly suited to the novice hiker.
Quite the contrary, the 1,984-metre (6,509-ft) ascent to the summit of Mount Gassan can easily devour a day. Its extremities in the clouds and near-absence of handrails and demarcated trails make it for the most part the domain of experienced hikers.
Novices might take the route from the nearest car park, located at the eighth station. At the top of the mountain is the Gassan Shrine, built about 1,000 years ago, which is widely worshipped by the general public as the god of agriculture and navigation.
Mount Yudono, with its towering red pagoda standing in stark contrast to the forested slopes, is the final destination on the Dewa Sanzan pilgrimage (or Sankan Sando, meaning ‘three gates, three passages).
Barefoot followers of Zen Buddhism come here dressed in white and clasping a horagai shell, in search of ecstatic inspiration. A series of steps seemingly leading to the sky meanders up the slope toward the mountain’s object of worship: a conspicuous rock spouting hot water.