Mount Osore
A volcanic mountain at the northern tip of Honshu where blind women mediums, the itako, call the spirits of the dead each July.
Practised and told of here
Best time: July 20 to 24, for the Osore Taisai; the mountain is open from May to October.
Osorezan is a barren caldera with sulphur vents, grey ground and a lake. Buddhist tradition counts it among the three sacred mountains of Japan and places the entrance to the land of the dead here.
The itako
Itako are female mediums, traditionally blind, who trained under a master and passed through a rite of initiation. At the Osore Taisai in July, mourners queue for a session in which an itako calls the spirit of a dead relative and speaks in that person's voice. Their number has dropped and few new ones are trained, as blindness is now treated early.
Scholars
Anthropologists treat the sessions as a form of structured grief, in which families receive words of reassurance from the dead. Some describe them as theatre and others as healing. Fees are modest.
Visiting
The mountain is a place of mourning. Ask before photographing and do not take pictures of mourners or of the itako at work. Heaps of small windmills and toys mark the graves of children.
A respectful visit to Mount Osore
Living communities are not a show. Ask before photographing a person or a ceremony, and follow local rules.
- Bodaiji temple Enter the main temple and its hot spring baths.
- The Sai no Kawara Walk the grey stone field where cairns are built for children who died young.
- Lake Usori Look at the pale water and the sand shore.
Written by the EveryJaadu desk with AI assistance. Background: "Mount Osore" on Wikipedia. Opening hours, markets and ceremonies change; check locally before travelling. If something is wrong, tell us.
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