1368 steps to the inner shrine of Kotohira -gu

Kotohira shrine in Kagawa prefecture in Shikoku is a shrine dedicated to sailors and seafarers. It is situated at 521 m - halfway to the top of Mount Zozu.

The journey starts from the Kotohira town where there is a row of souvenir shops and restaurants, and it will gradually go uphill with a long stretch of stairs. There is a large tori at the entrance of Kotohira- gu, while the two sides stood many stone pillars marking the “millions “ of yen contributed to the shrine over the years.

There were many large and small shrines as we walked up the long flight of stairs, and we made our first stop at 477 steps where there were two beautiful white horses that werr 14 and 18 years old. There was also a cafe at 500 steps but it was already closed when we arrived.

Our next stop was the Main Shrine at 785 steps. The view of the nearby towns and fields from there was quite spectacular! However as it was closed to 5pm we noticed the workers started to close some of the windows of the shrine. Just as we were about to start uphill again, we were told that the premise gate will close by 6pm, and we should start to go downhill. As much as we wanted to reach the top, we couldn’t make it this time.

If you are planning to complete the whole journey uphill, I would recommend to start from 2 or 3 pm latest as there are many interesting things to see and photos to be taken. You would also want to take your time to walk slowly and rest from time to time. There is no admission fee to visit Kotohira gu.

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Post by Curious Traveller | Jun 21, 2023