Osorezan Bodaiji Temple, Mutsu City, Aomori Prefecture

It's just under 30 minutes by car from Mutsu city on a well-maintained, beautiful mountain road.

When the ghost craze was happening on the TV show "A World You Don't Know," which is well known to those of the Showa generation, you can imagine that Mount Osore was a scary place even for children, with a desolate landscape and a medium who would speak to the voices of the dead through spirit mediums.

It would be unthinkable for me to come all the way to Mutsu city on the Shimokita Peninsula and not visit Mount Osore, so I came here early in the morning.
The weather was amazing, and the temple was surprisingly well-maintained. Even though the scenery was bleak with stonework everywhere that smelled of sulfur, the mountains behind were beautiful with autumn leaves🍁, so it didn't feel ominous😊

Temple name: Osorezan Bodaiji

Main image: Enmei Jizo Bodhisattva

Founder: Jikaku Daishi Ennin

Main temple: Soto Zen sect Entsuji

A sacred place opened by Jikaku Daishi Ennin 1200 years ago, with mountains surrounding Lake Usori, the rocky area where volcanic gas spews is likened to hell, and the white sand beach surrounding the lake is likened to paradise. It is a place of faith and prayer where people come to mourn the souls of their loved ones and remember the faces of the deceased.

It was good weather and there weren't many people early in the day, so we were able to take our time going around the route.
In some places, people were building stonework and windmills, and I also built stonework and prayed to my husband and ancestors.

When I got a goshuin at the shrine office, an old man said to me, "If you have time, you should come to the hot spring ♨️, it's free," so there's no way a hot spring lover wouldn't go 😆

The warm water of the sulfur spring
No one came in, so I had it all to myself to warm up 😊

#Osorezan
#Autumn leaves 🍁 season
#Free hot springs at sacred sites are the best ♨️
#Shimokita Peninsula
#Misawa Airport
#A trip to meet people
#Aomori is a great place