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Chichibu-Tama-Kai NP, Yamanashi / Nagano
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Gojo Rock itself is treated as Kanazakura Shrine’s main sanctuary (honmiya); the shrine in the foothills is its satomiya. Local tradition says the deity Sukuna-hikona dwells in the rock.
That dramatic tower is a natural granite tor—not stones stacked by people. Geological researchers explain that uplift and erosion left this rock standing while the surrounding material wore away.
An old Kai record describes a small pool called Kaihami at the rock that supposedly never dried, even in drought. People revered the mountain as a guardian of water and crops—a belief, not a modern hydrology claim.
Finds around Gojo Rock—from 10th-century pottery to fragments linked to Buddhist sutra burials and medieval coins—show that people came here to worship for centuries.
Archaeologists found clay horse figures and an iron horse-shaped object near the rock. They interpret these as possible evidence of rainmaking rituals from medieval to early-modern times.
Pilgrims once reached this summit shrine by nine approaches from Kai Province, plus another northern route from Shinano, now Nagano Prefecture. Gojo Rock stood at the heart of a far-reaching mountain pilgrimage network.
Kanazakura Shrine identifies about 2,500 m² around Gojo Rock as its sacred precinct and explicitly forbids climbing. The request honors this living place of worship, not just a striking rock.
