Yamadera
From World travel guide
Yamadera (山寺) is a small town in Yamagata prefecture, Japan.
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Understand
Yamadera is a one-horse town named after its distinguishing feature, the temple of Ryūshakuji (立石寺). Matsuo Basho stopped by here on the Narrow Road to the Deep North and penned the following famed haiku poem:
- 静けさや岩にしみ入る蝉の聲
- shizukesa ya iwa ni shimiiru semi no koe
- Silence and penetrating into the rocks — the cry of the cicada
- — Matsuo Bashō
The meaning of this will be instantly apparent should you visit the temple (or, for that matter, most anywhere in Japan) during the late summer.
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Get in
Yamadera is 15 minutes from Yamagata on the JR Senzan line, which connects all the way to Sendai.
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Get around
The entrance to the temple is 10 minutes from the station on foot. There's still a lot of climbing left to do to get around the temple complex itself though!
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See
- Ryūshaku-ji Temple (立石寺), also Risshakuji. Founded in 860 AD by the priest Ennin, the monks here have spent the thousand years since digging holes into the mountain, which is starting to resemble Swiss cheese. It's a steep 1110 steps from the entrance to the complex all the way to the Oku-no-in sanctuary at the top. Entrance ¥300.
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Do
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Buy
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Eat
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Drink
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Sleep
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Get out
- If this only served to whet your appetite for mountains, the holy trio of Dewa Sanzan can be reached via Yamagata.
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External links
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