kansainara
Yoshino
Yoshino is a mountain town of temples and shrines along a ridge in the south of Nara Prefecture, in the Kansai region, the birthplace of the Shugendo faith and famous for its tens of thousands of cherry trees.
- Prefecture
- Nara
- Region
- Kansai
- Journeys
- The Custom Tour of Japan
overview
A ridge of temples in the mountains of Nara, planted with cherry trees as offerings.
Mount Yoshino is not a single peak but a long ridge rising south from the Yoshino River towards the Omine mountains. In the seventh century, according to tradition, the mountain ascetic En no Gyoja meditated on Mount Omine and called down Zao Gongen, a fierce protector deity, whom he carved in cherry wood. From that time the cherry became sacred on the mountain, and pilgrims have planted trees as offerings ever since. Today some thirty thousand grow on the slopes, mostly the wild mountain cherry, in four groves from the foot of the ridge to its summit.
Yoshino has also played a part in the history of Japan out of all proportion to its size. The hero Minamoto no Yoshitsune hid here from his brother's soldiers in the twelfth century, and in 1336 the Emperor Go-Daigo fled Kyoto to set up his court on the mountain, beginning almost sixty years when Japan had two rival emperors. In 1594 Toyotomi Hideyoshi brought some five thousand followers to Yoshino for a celebrated party beneath the cherry trees.
The temples and shrines of Yoshino, with the Omine pilgrim road that runs south to Kumano, are part of the Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range, a World Heritage Site. A single street runs along the ridge past temple lodgings, sweet shops and shops selling the arrowroot and paper the mountain is known for, with views across the valleys on either side.
see and do
What to see in Yoshino
Kinpusen-ji
The head temple of Shugendo, the mountain faith that joins Buddhism with the worship of the mountains, founded by tradition by En no Gyoja and the centre of life on the ridge.
The Zao-do
The main hall of Kinpusen-ji, rebuilt in 1592, some 34 metres high and one of the largest wooden buildings in Japan. It enshrines three great blue statues of Zao Gongen, about seven metres tall, shown to the public only on special occasions.
Yoshimizu Shrine
Once a monks' residence, where Yoshitsune hid, Go-Daigo held court and Hideyoshi stayed for his cherry party, with rooms kept from those times and a celebrated view across the groves known as hitome senbon, a thousand trees at a glance.
Nyoirin-ji
A temple on the eastern slope beside the tomb of the Emperor Go-Daigo, which faces north towards Kyoto, the capital he never saw again.
Yoshino Mikumari Shrine
A shrine of the water deity high on the ridge, with buildings rebuilt by Toyotomi Hideyori in 1604 around a quiet courtyard, prayed at for rain and for the safety of families.
Chikurin-in
A temple that receives guests, with a strolling garden, Gunpo-en, said to have been designed by the tea master Sen no Rikyu, borrowing the mountains for its view.
Kinpu Shrine and Oku Senbon
The highest grove of cherry trees on the ridge and the old shrine in the cedar forest above it, a quiet place where the town gives way to the mountain.
experiences
The best of Yoshino
A night in a temple lodging
A night in one of the temples of the ridge that receive guests, with a garden view, vegetarian dinner and the morning prayers of the Shugendo priests in the hall.
The fire rite of Shugendo
The goma of the yamabushi, the mountain priests in their conch shells and checked robes, a ceremony of fire, chanting and prayer that has been performed on the mountain for centuries.
The craft of the mountain
A visit to a maker of Yoshino washi, paper made by hand from mulberry bark and once prized for lacquer filters, or a workshop of Yoshino cedar, the forest that has supplied timber for temples and sake barrels for some five hundred years.
The flavours of Yoshino
Kuzu, the fine arrowroot starch of Yoshino, made into cool translucent sweets and noodles, with kakinoha-zushi, mackerel and rice wrapped in persimmon leaves, a speciality of the Nara mountains.
plan your visit
Yoshino on a journey through Japan
- How long to stay
- Yoshino can be seen in a long day from Osaka, Nara or Kyoto, but a night in a temple lodging on the ridge lets you see it quiet in the evening.
- Getting there
- From Osaka Abenobashi, the Kintetsu limited express reaches Yoshino in about ninety minutes, and from Kyoto in about two hours with one change. By private car Yoshino is about an hour from Nara, about ninety minutes from Osaka and about an hour and three quarters from Kyoto. Koyasan is about two hours away by road.
- Pairs well with
- Yoshino lies south of Nara on the way into the Kii Mountains, so it pairs naturally with Nara before and Koyasan or the Kumano shrines after, on a journey through the sacred mountains from Kyoto or Osaka.NaraKoyasanKumano KodoKyotoOsaka
journeys
Yoshino on a private journey
We shape a journey to Yoshino as a Custom Tour of Japan: created around your party alone, on your dates, with a Tour Director beside you.
questions
Yoshino: questions answered
What is Mount Yoshino famous for?
Mount Yoshino is famous for its temples and shrines, above all Kinpusen-ji, the head temple of Shugendo, and for some thirty thousand cherry trees planted on its slopes as offerings over the centuries.
How do you get to Yoshino from Osaka?
By the Kintetsu limited express from Osaka Abenobashi in about ninety minutes, or by private car in about the same time.
Is Yoshino a World Heritage Site?
Yes. Yoshino and the Omine pilgrim road were inscribed in 2004 as part of the Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range, with Koyasan and the Kumano Kodo.
What is Shugendo?
Shugendo is a Japanese faith that joins Buddhism with the ancient worship of mountains, practised by the yamabushi, mountain priests. Kinpusen-ji in Yoshino is its head temple.
Can you stay overnight in Yoshino?
Yes. Several temples on the ridge receive guests for the night, as do small ryokan, and an overnight stay lets you see the town in the quiet of the evening.
Can Yoshino be part of a private tour of Japan?
Yes. The Custom Tour of Japan is created around your party alone, on your dates, with a Tour Director beside you, and it can include Yoshino. For independent travel, the Expert Japan Itinerary plans every day for you.
kansai
More in Kansai
Yoshino, planned for you.
Tell us when you would like to travel and what draws you to Yoshino. We will answer with a journey shaped around it: one of our tours, a journey of The Private Collection, or a Custom Tour of Japan created around your party alone.