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Minami Alps NP, Yamanashi
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At Sai no Kawara below Jizodake’s spire, about 50 small Jizō statues mark a living prayer tradition: couples seeking a child carry one down, then return with two if their wish is granted.
In 2023, local mountaineering club Hakuho-kai marked its 100th anniversary by carrying 2 Jizō statues to Sai no Kawara, taking turns with the load and renewing the site’s child-blessing tradition.
Jizodake’s “Obelisk” is a roughly 20-meter rock spire also revered as Jizō-butsu. Walter Weston made its first recorded climb in 1904—an unusual meeting of a sacred peak and modern alpinism.
Jizodake’s summit marker stands not atop its needle-like Obelisk, but down in the open, sandy Sai no Kawara just below it. Reaching that marker counts as reaching the summit.
Jizodake’s striking Jizō-butsu helped spark debate over what counts as Hōōzan. In 1902, surveyors called the range’s highest peak Kannondake, but recorded local names Yakushidake, Nakanodake, and 農牛ノ岳.
The rocky slopes of Hōō Sanzan shelter Hōō-shajin, a delicate purple bellflower found only in this mountain range. It blooms among the granite, rather than in a lush alpine meadow.
Jizodake’s pale upper ridges can look dusted with snow even in warm weather, but the light color comes from granite. The weathered rock creates the striking white scree around the summit.
From Mukawa, Jizodake’s silhouette was seen as a bird spreading its wings, earning the old name Ōtorige-dake, or “Great-Bird Peak.” The bird shape is also one explanation for the range’s phoenix name, Hōō.
Jizodake is part of a Buddhist trio: Jizō is associated with protecting children and travelers, neighboring Kannondake takes its name from the bodhisattva of compassion, and Yakushidake from healing.
The Ministry of the Environment notes that ascetics were climbing Hōō Sanzan during the Heian period. Jizodake’s Jizō statues and sacred spire preserve a pilgrimage tradition centuries older than recreational mountaineering.
