Mount Takao rises on Tokyo’s western edge, with forest trails leading toward Yakuō-in, a Buddhist temple established in 744. Its accessible summit routes draw day hikers, but the mountain’s identity also comes from centuries of Shugendō practice and devotion to Izuna Daigongen.
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The mountain trail is also a route through a living religious landscape. Yakuō-in, partway up Mount Takao, was established in 744 under imperial order as a center for Buddhism in eastern Japan.
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UpgradeQuick facts
- Yakuō-in was established in 744 under Emperor Shōmu.
- The temple’s revival in the fourteenth century connected it to Shugendō.
- Izuna Daigongen is enshrined as its principal image.
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