A Slow Pilgrimage to a Sacred Mountain | Togakushi, Nagano — Hidden Japan in Autumn

This time, we headed to Togakushi in autumn, just as the leaves were beginning to turn!
Walking the Togakushi Kodo Trail, we visited Kotori-ga-ike Pond, Suzuri-ishi (the Inkstone Rock), and Kagami Pond, which mirrors the Togakushi mountains, while paying our respects at all five shrines of Togakushi Shrine: Okusha, Kuzuryusha, Chusha, Hokosha, and Hinomikosha ⛩️
For lunch, we enjoyed a buckwheat galette overlooking Kagami Pond. At night, we stayed at a shukubo (pilgrims' lodge) run by a family of Shinto priests, where we were served sacred sake and Togakushi soba.
Join us on a two-day autumn journey to meet the gods of Japanese mythology.

📕 Chapters
0:00 Intro
0:45 About Togakushi
2:26 Heading to Togakushi
3:38 Kotori-ga-ike Pond
7:28 Kagami Pond
8:51 Kagamiike Donguri House
12:47 Zuishinmon Gate, Okusha Shrine
15:06 Okusha Shrine & Kuzuryusha Shrine
17:14 Chusha Shrine
19:37 Shukubo Oyado Suwa
26:47 Hokosha Shrine
31:43 Hinomikosha Shrine
33:07 Soba Restaurant Tsuruya
35:08 Access to Togakushi