ESAN

Esan (恵山) is one of many active volcanoes in Japan, located in the greater Hakodate City area of Hokkaido.  The mountain appears to rise straight from the sea, surrounded by small fishing towns and natural sulfur hot springs.  Though Esan is not one of the officially recognized sacred mountains, it does possess evidence for a long history of mountain worship in the Japanese archipelago.  Besides being an understandable source of awe and mystery, forest-covered mountains were often viewed as the residing place of spirits and the dead.  All along the pathways leading up Esan are small stone statues of a Shinto deity named Dōsojin (later known as Ojizō-sama in Buddhism), who watches the border to the underworld, protects travelers, and guards the souls of deceased children.  Small stones and pebbles are placed as offerings to Ojizou-sama, sometimes stacked high enough to completely hide the figures.

Text and images by guest contributor Emma Yasui,  Phd student of archeology at the University of Toronto