Kagura Translation
Mt. Hayachine and religion Mt. Hayachine (1,917 meters high), the highest peak of the Kitakami Highlands is surrounded by Mt. Kengamine in the east, Mt. Nakadake, Mt. Keitouzan and Mt. Kenashimori in the west. The figure of the mountain extends approximately ten kilometers or so from east to west. On the mountain over 1,300 meters high, rugged, large, unique rocks composed of peridotite and serpentine are exposed. In interstices of the rocks, there are Leontopodium hayachinese and 200 other kinds of alpine plants in riotous profusion. The mountain is accounted as one of the best mountains in Japan by Hisaya Fukada. Kenji Miyazawa, poet and fairytale writer, was fascinated by Mt. Hayachine’s overwhelming presence and its pretty alpine plants, and wrote many poems and fairy tales related to the mountain. Mt. Yakushi, which stands facing to Mt. Hayachine, is composed of granite, and harbors unique forest and plant communities. Since the vegetation is totally different from Mt. Hayachine’s , the area is designated as national special natural asset of “Alpine belt, forest and plant communities of Mt. Hayahine and Mt. Yakushidake,” and the surrounding area is protected as quasi-national park. Mt. Hayachine’s ancient name is Adzumanedake, or East Peak Mountain, and has been a spiritual attraction from ancient times. In a legend of the Ohasama area, a man named Tanakano Hyoubu reached the top of the mountain, tracing a white deer with a golden star-like mark on its forehead, and opened the mountain in 807. In the feudal clan era, Mt. Hayachine was influential because it was thought to protect the territory of the Morioka Feudal Clan.
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