Japan Winterim 2015: Hakone Shrine and Mount Fuji

Today, Hakone houses a well-known holiday resort, but the village itself is still shrouded in rich tradition and history. It’s at the base of Mount Fuji, the largest and most prominent Mountain in Japan. It strikes a formidable peak beyond the beautiful town - which is part of the Fuji Hakone Izu National Park. The town itself has a population of little more than 13,000 and is primarily a tourist town, with few local residents.

The town was founded in the 9th century when Buddhist mountain asceticism came to existence. A Buddhist priest by the name of Mangan visited there and had a revelation in a dream telling him to continue spreading Shinto and Buddhism. He then built the shrines that once existed there. At one point there were three shrines in the territory that the village encompasses, though only one is still standing - the Hakone Gongen. Another story says that when Priest Mangan visited the village, there were already three shrines (Mt. Kami, Mt. Komagadake, Han’nyaji), but combined the three into one to form the Hakone Gongen, at the base of Mt. Fuji.

During the Heian Period a clear path was created leading to the village, prompting hundreds of people to make a pilgrimage to the village, in the way Priest Mangan did. During the 19th Century Meiji Restoration the government implemented strict policies to separate Shinto and Buddhism. Initially, Buddhism was embraced and values were absorbed into the Shinto religion, but the Meiji Restoration sought to restore the two separately to the best of their ability. Therefore every Shinto/Buddhist shrine had to pick a side. The Hakone Gongen leaned towards Shinto, so the shrine was allowed to stay standing, though it had to be rid of any Buddhist relics or symbols. These relics were sold overseas or otherwise thrown away, leaving the shrine a sparse shell of its former glory. Over the decades, following the Meiji Restoration, the shrine was able to gain back some of its former Buddhist roots.

Mt. Fuji

Mount Fuji is the highest peak in Japan, including the smaller islands surrounding the main island. Towering more than 12,000 feet above sea level, the (almost) inactive volcano is a landmark of great pride in Japan. The mountain is the center of much worship on account of its mysterious nature. Until the mountain was properly explored, it was considered to be created by the Sun God, which is where the name Fuji comes from.

Onsen

Yumoto is Hakone’s most famous hot spring. Along it are numerous bathhouses and inns. The Onsen are not only a place for literal bathing, but throughout history have served as an unofficial baptismal site. Today, while the religious purposes still apply, they are primarily used by the spa and those that seek to bathe in the natural hot springs. Hot springs are created by rain runoff soaking into centuries-old sedimentary rock, where it then enters a fault line in the tectonic plates where it is heated by the thermal energy of the earth and sent to the surface.