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Fuji-Hakone-Izu NP, Yamanashi
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Before climbing Fuji, Fuji-ko pilgrims entered this womb-like cave to purify themselves, then returned to their oshi lodging for the next day’s ascent. Passing through was understood as a ritual rebirth.
The cave’s womb-like appearance is written into its geology: the main tunnel preserves tree-bark grain, while hanging lava drips, rib-like walls and floor stalagmites create a striking natural anatomy.
The sacred “main cave” is part of a cluster of 62 tree molds. Its central passage runs 14.5 m horizontally and is accompanied by 3 vertical molds—many vanished tree trunks preserved as stone-shaped voids.
In 1892, Fuji-ko guide Hoshino Kanzo, based in present-day Shiki, Saitama, discovered Yoshida’s cave and made it a pilgrimage site. A devotee from far beyond Yamanashi helped establish this local sacred place.
Yoshida was sometimes called the “new womb,” in contrast to the older Funatsu Lava Tree Molds about 700 m away. The neighboring caves formed a paired sacred stop on the Fuji pilgrimage landscape.
Deep within the cave, worshippers honor Konohanasakuya-hime, the goddess associated with Mount Fuji. The natural tree molds became not just a remarkable formation, but a place where the mountain’s sacred presence was worshipped.
Because the tree-mold passage was likened to a human womb, Yoshida became a place where people prayed for safe childbirth. Its sacred meaning reached beyond Fuji climbing to hopes for new life.
Each April 29, the Tainai Festival brings a Fuji-ko ceremony and otakiage, a sacred fire-offering rite, to the site. The cave is normally closed for protection and is generally opened to visitors for the festival.
The official cultural-property record notes natural charcoal alongside the tree molds. Yoshida preserves not only the hollow shapes of trees engulfed by lava, but also traces of carbonized wood.
