Osorezan Bodaiji Temple: Why You Will Love Fear Mountain, Aomori

Taking a look at the other side of Japan: Mount Osore

Osorezan (恐山), also known as fear mountain or Mount Osore, is one of the three holiest sites of Japan. It is kind of in the middle of nowhere as it is located at the very end of the main island Honshu. However, I think that it is a journey that is definitely worth taking to see something otherworldly and learn some interesting history about the influence of Buddhism in Japan. While we were doing our roadtrip of Tohoku during Autumn season, we made the journey to Japan’s Fear Mountain to visit the other side.

The reason why this site is so sacred in Japan is because bodhisattva Jizo represents salvation for humanity. Jizo vows to suffer hell in order to save those condemned to hell for their earthly desires, and to lead those who abstain from these vices into eternal salvation. Buddhism identifies 108 earthly desires known as bonnō (煩悩) in Japan. Every buddhist must resist these, and they range from abuse to conceitedness.

This holy site was founded in the ninth century by the great buddhist master jikaku En’nin. The history of this temple comes from 1200 years ago when the Japanese Buddhist priest En’nin was studying in China. He envisioned coming back to Japan and going eastward, where he would find a sacred mountain. When he came back to Japan, he started the long and difficult journey on foot and finally found the mountain, where his goal was to share buddhism and carve a statue of the bodhisattva Jizo. 

The thing that made Osorezan so special to En’nin was Lake Usori, as it is surrounded by the eight peaks (Mount Kozukushi, Mount Hokkoku, Mount Kamafuse, Mount Ozukushi, Mount Byobu, Mount Tsurugi, Mount Jizo, and Mount Keito), which represented the lotus flower, the symbol of Buddhism. En’nin also noted the 108 springs along the rocky landscape covered in white sand, which to En’nin, represented the 108 vices of our earthly desires and the hells linked to them.

What can you do at Osorezan?

View the Taiko Bridge over the Sanzu River

You’ll see this when you’re entering Osorezan so make sure you pull over and take in the moment. This is considered the bridge where you cross over from this world to…

Walk the grounds of the other world

Walking around the path from the temple then to the west towards the lake and back to the main gate will take you over rocky paths, covered in white sulfuric stone, where you’ll find scattered Jizo statues (small child-like statues that are creepy af), and steam bellowing out of the small hot springs.

Visit the Osorezan Bodaiji Temple

The temple name is Osorezan Bodaiji (菩提寺) and the main object of worship here is the bodhisattva Enmei Jozo (Jizo granting long life). The temple is open between the 5th of January and the 31st of October from 6am to 6pm. Religious services run three times a day from 6.30am, 11.00am, and 2pm (however this is open to change during the festival dates). The entrance fee was 500 yen for adults when I went and we had no problem finding a parking spot as the parking lot is expansive and was mostly empty when we went (which was at the peak of autumn but not during the festival dates).

Enjoy the onsen

There is a small, rugged onsen available for travellers and pilgrims.

Stay at the pilgrims Inn

You can also stay overnight at the pilgrim’s inn, which is 12,000 yen per person and includes two meals. I didn’t do this because I didn’t know it was possible until I arrived, but if you want to give it a try you can contact the Osorezan Jimusho office at +81175223825.

Enjoy Lake Usori

This was a really spectacular spot to sit and enjoy the view of lake Usori (宇曽利湖). There are some seats on the beautiful white sand where you can sit and enjoy the view of the beautiful turquoise water. It is honestly so crazy that such a beautiful place exists in such a dread-inducing place.

When is the best time to visit mount Osore?

The biggest festival for the bodhisattva Jizo from the 20th of July to the 24th of July, however there is also an autumn festival that lasts three days starting on the weekend before the second Monday of October (which is Sports Day in Japan). I think this would be a great time to visit if you wanted to see more ceremonial acts and enjoy the location with other people. We went outside of these times (around 2pm on a weekday, during late October) and we were some of the only people there. This definitely added to the creepy, otherworldly feeling as you wander the hellish landscape which we liked.

How to get to Osorezan?

The closest train station is Shimokita Station (下北駅) which is about a 25 minute drive away. You could rent a car or get a taxi to Osorezan from there. However, we were doing a road trip so we rented a car which made things a lot easier. If you’re wanting to travel all over Akita and not just go up to the Shimokita Peninsula, I recommend getting a car. There are also tour buses that go to Osorezan (see below), however there is no public transport directly to Osorezan.