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Nageiredo at Mitokusan Sanbutsuji

— A National Treasure hall wedged into a cliff

historyOff the trail — and worth it

A National Treasure hall standing on stilts in a hollow of a cliff above Misasa, reached by a climb the temple governs with rules rather than treating as a hike. There is also a way to see it from the road.

FromKurayoshi Station
~40 minHinomaru bus, about 40 min
Get off atMitokusan Sando-iriguchi stop (Hinomaru Bus, Agei-Misasa route)
On foot
Nageiredo at Mitokusan Sanbutsuji

Directions ↗

The sweet spot

Nageiredo is not obscure. It is the building Tottori is best known for, photographed from the same angle by everyone who gets up there. The useful knowledge is the entry rules, which turn away more people than any crowd would: two climbers minimum, footwear inspected at the desk, reception shut in the early afternoon, the mountain closed in snow or rough weather. That is why the viewing point on the road below deserves a place in the plan rather than a place in the consolation prize.

Where it is

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What to look for — in walking order

Sanbutsuji main hallthe lower precinct on level ground, open without any climbing
The climbing receptionthe desk where footwear is inspected and straw sandals are sold
Monju-do and Jizo-doImportant Cultural Property halls built out over the drop on the way up
Nageiredothe National Treasure itself, on stilts in a hollow of the cliff
The Nageiredo viewing pointa stand with a telescope on the prefectural road below the temple

How to actually get there

Kurayoshi Station to Mitokusan Sando-iriguchi, about 40 minutes on the Hinomaru bus up the Misasa valley.
Walk up the approach from the stop to Sanbutsuji and pay at the lower precinct.
To go higher, present yourself at the climbing reception in a pair and have your footwear checked.
On the way out, stop at the viewing point on the road east of the temple and look up.

Bus from Kurayoshi Station: Kurayoshi Station to Mitokusan Sando-iriguchi, about 40 minutes on the Hinomaru Agei-Misasa route running toward Mitokusan and Kamiyoshihara. The road follows the Mitoku river inland past Misasa.
Return to Kurayoshi Station: The same route back down the valley. This is a rural service rather than a tourist shuttle, so read the return departures before you start up the mountain. Coming down is not a stretch to hurry.

Directions from my location (Google Maps) ↗

About the place

Sanbutsuji spreads up a mountainside in two parts. The lower precinct, with its main hall and sub-temples, is an ordinary temple visit on level ground. Above it the mountain itself is the object of worship, and the way up is a scramble over roots, chains and bare rock to a hall called Nageiredo, standing on stilts in a hollow of the cliff. The temple's own legend says En no Gyoja built it below and threw it into place. What matters at the gate is that the climb is treated as a religious act rather than a hike, and the conditions of entry follow from that.

How to enjoy it

Reception for the upper precinct runs from 08:00 to 15:00, which makes a morning bus the only comfortable plan. Come as a pair, because a single climber is turned away at the desk whatever the weather is doing, and expect your soles to be examined there; straw sandals are sold to anyone whose shoes fail. If the mountain is closed, the telescope at the roadside viewing point still puts the hall in front of you.

Background & history

Tree-ring dating places the timber of Nageiredo in the late Heian period, and the hall is a National Treasure. The temple traces its founding to En no Gyoja, the semi-legendary ascetic at the root of Shugendo, with the three Buddhas of its name enshrined later. Monju-do, Jizo-do and Nokyo-do, the halls passed on the way up, are Important Cultural Properties in their own right. In 2015 Mitokusan and the hot spring at Misasa below it were named together as a Japan Heritage site.

Before you go

Cash: Admission to the lower precinct is 400 yen for adults and 200 yen for primary and junior-high pupils. Going on toward Nageiredo costs a further 800 and 400 yen, so a full adult visit comes to 1,200 yen. Group rates apply.
Good to know: Entry to the upper precinct stops in the early afternoon, well before the lower precinct closes. The mountain is shut altogether in snow, normally from December into March, and on days of rain or rough weather. Solo climbers are refused, and so are skirts, heeled shoes, boots with spikes or metal fittings, walking sticks and pets.
Another way: By car it is about 50 minutes from the Innosho interchange on the Chugoku Expressway by Route 179, or about 50 minutes from the Yubara interchange on the Yonago Expressway by Routes 313, 482 and 179.
After you get off: The stop stands on the prefectural road at the mouth of the temple approach. The lower precinct is a short walk up from there, past the sub-temples that line the path.