Three Mountains of Dewa

And they're very knowledgeable about all the things to do in Yamagata.

And they take people into the mountains, like Yudono and the Dewa Sanzan and Mount Zao.

And they arrange everything.

So I went with them.

In typical Japanese fashion, there's a shrine and there are 2,446 stone steps to get to the top and they're not cleared of the snow.

So it's not going to be an easy climb.

And Zhao is really the only thing, sure, mountain in the winter, but it's not actually part of the Dewa Sanzang.

If I were someone visiting, either rent a car to get around to the different mountains or just take a tour.

Okay, so are all the three sacred mountains of

the Dewa Sanzan, are they all the same, like you can't speak? No, no, no, just Yudono Sanchui.

And climbing Gassan or Haguro-san, we can speak.

You can, just not Yudono.

Yeah, that's right, the Doctrine.

So, sorry, where were we? Mummified monks and sutra mounds.

So, the fact that many sutra mounds from Japan's medieval period have been found near the Dewa Sanzan, including Mount Yudono, that means that they were considered to be very sacred mountains.

So, this is our first clue that the mountain ascetics would worship this area.