Aomori · ShimokitaNo.831★★★Open in map →
Mount Osore
— A sulphur caldera temple, one of Japan's three sacred sites
A Soto Zen temple built inside an active volcanic caldera on the Shimokita Peninsula, where bare sulphur ground stands for hell and a white beach on the lake stands for paradise. It opens only from May to October.
- FromShimokita Station (JR Ominato Line)
- ~45 minBus, ~45 min (May-Oct)
- Mount Osore
Where it is
34 more notes in Aomori · open the map →What to look for — in walking order
- The two gatesan outer gate and an inner sanmon on the paved approach, stone lanterns to either side
- The bath hutsfour small wooden bathhouses along the approach, fed by springs rising on the grounds
- The sulphur grounda walking circuit over bare volcanic rock and steam vents, past cairns set with pinwheels
- Gokurakuhamathe white sand shore on Lake Usori that the tradition names paradise
How to actually get there
- Hachinohe or Aomori → Noheji (Aoimori Railway), then Noheji → Shimokita (JR Ominato Line).
- Shimokita Station → Osorezan (bus, roughly 40-45 min, open season only).
- Walk the approach through both gates, take the circuit over the sulphur ground, and finish at Gokurakuhama on the lake.
- Bus from Shimokita Station
- Shimokita is the last stop but one on the JR Ominato Line and the northernmost station on Honshu. The bus to Osorezan leaves from outside the station and climbs into the caldera in roughly 40 to 45 minutes. It runs only during the open season, so confirm the service is operating before planning the day around it.
- Return to Shimokita Station
- The same bus runs back down. Departures are few rather than frequent, so note the posted time at the Osorezan stop when you arrive rather than when you leave. From Shimokita the Ominato Line runs south to Noheji, where the Aoimori Railway connects on to Aomori and Hachinohe.
About the place
Bodai-ji stands inside a volcanic caldera in the middle of the Shimokita Peninsula, near the northern end of Honshu. Bare rock and pale sulphur crust cover the ground between the halls, and steam leaks from vents in it. At the centre of the basin lies Lake Usori, an acidic lake with a white sand shore. Buddhist tradition reads the whole bowl as a map of the world after death: the broken ground is hell, the beach across the water is paradise. Hot springs rise on the grounds themselves, and wooden bath huts stand along the approach for anyone who has passed the gate.
How to enjoy it
The gate opens at six in the morning and closes at six in the evening, and the hour after opening is the calmest on the circuit, before the coaches come up from Shimokita. The temple keeps its own lodging inside the grounds, which is the way to already be there when the gate opens. The season runs from 1 May to 31 October and the whole site is shut through the winter.
Background & history
The temple was founded in 862 by the monk Ennin, who had trained in the Tendai school, and it served as a Tendai hall before falling into disuse. It was revived later and is run today by the Soto Zen school. Osorezan is counted with Mount Koya and Mount Hiei as one of Japan's three great sacred sites. Its best-known custom belongs to the festival days rather than the temple year: itako, blind mediums from the region, pitch tents on the grounds and speak for the dead.
Before you go
- Cash
- Entry to the grounds is charged at the gate, and the temple publishes the current rate rather than fixing it here. Carry cash for both the bus and the gate.
- Good to know
- The site is closed from November through April and the bus does not run then. Weather on the caldera turns quickly even in summer, and the walking circuit crosses bare rock with live steam vents, so stay on the marked path.
- Another way
- By car the climb from central Mutsu takes about 30 to 40 minutes over the caldera rim. Drivers arrive at the same entrance as the bus, and the road is shut in the same winter months.
- After you get off
- The bus terminates at Osorezan, beside the temple entrance. From the stop the paved approach runs through the outer gate to the inner sanmon, and the walking circuit begins beyond the halls.
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Distances are straight lines on the map, not travel times.