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Sanriku Fukkō NP, Miyagi
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The red summit has a springtime seafood twin: nearby Iri-mae’s tiny shirouo swim upstream from the sea to spawn and are caught in W-shaped stone traps; festival-goers can try them dancing-fresh.
Town records have described about 50,000 azaleas blooming on Tatsugane. Fittingly, tsutsuji is Minamisanriku’s official flower, chosen among the town symbols after 594 residents offered ideas in 2006.
When the ridge was developed as pasture, a 0.46-hectare patch of native yamatsutsuji was preserved as a garden. Its oldest shrubs are estimated to be about 200 years old.
These 11 late-Heian mounds held sutras, buried in metal cylinders so Buddhist teachings could survive for future ages. Their summit site also overlooks historic Sanriku gold districts tied to Oshu Fujiwara gold culture.
Excavation of mound No. 5 uncovered a bronze sutra cylinder containing a Lotus Sutra scroll, with a “pine-feeding cranes” mirror fitted into its base—a remarkable treasure hidden beneath a simple stone mound.
About 70 m below the summit, excavators found building remains and medieval pottery on a flat terrace. They identify it as the likely site of Jakkōji, one of 3 temples traditionally associated with Tatsugane.
On Gyoja-no-michi, an old ascetic trail that local tradition says Kūkai walked, Anataki waterfall hides a large cave in its center; local records describe the falls as a purification place for mountain monks.
A staircase on the Kesennuma side passes 33 Kannon statues, recalling the belief that Kannon appears in 33 forms to aid people. The azalea mountain has a second, stone-carved pilgrimage.
One local theory makes the mountain’s name a dragon story: Tatsugane may be shortened from Tatsugamine (“Dragon Peak”), and the ridge is said to lie like a dragon stretched toward the Pacific.
