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Chubu-Sangaku NP, Nagano
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The pond’s boat rite began in 1951, though its pageant looks much older: priests in Heian-style robes circle in 2 boats with dragon and mythical water-bird prows, accompanied by court music. The bird was believed to brave wind and waves.
The god enshrined here, Hotakami no Mikoto, is described as the ancestral deity of the Azumi, a people associated with seafaring in northern Kyushu. It’s a remarkable maritime thread linking that distant coast to this mountain pond.
The still waters may owe their existence to a dramatic event: researchers argue that a rockslide from Mt. Myojin sent huge boulders downslope, damming a stream channel and helping form Myojin Pond.
Myojin Pond never freezes completely, even in winter: groundwater keeps welling up beneath its surface. In the clear water, the aquatic plant ichou-baikamo grows among swimming char—a living detail in this quiet sacred place.
A 1770 donation register and a rain-prayer diary show the Okumiya was already active then. People came into these mountains to pray for rain—a glimpse of the sanctuary’s life before modern hiking brought today’s visitors.
Local tradition says Hotakami no Mikoto descended onto Mt. Oku-Hotaka. His worship spans 3 elevations: the main shrine in Azumino, this Okumiya beside Myojin Pond, and a Mine-miya at the mountain summit.
After the boats circle Myojin Pond on October 8, the shrine holds a memorial for people who died in the Japanese Alps. Families of the deceased join prayers for the departed, for their loved ones, and for mountain safety.
Myojin Pond was once called Kagami-ike, or “Mirror Pond,” for its reflective surface. On a still morning, the water can mirror the surrounding forest and peaks—a name that hints at why people regarded this place as sacred.
