Dewa Sanzan Shrine

We visited Mt Haguro in Mid-May 2025 as a day trip from Yamagata, entirely via public transport. A beautiful place and totally worth the 3-4 hour commute (one way) from Yamagata towards Mt Haguro . We started early and first took the 7.23am Utoria bus by Yamako bus company from bus bay 1 at Yamagata Station (bus timings are easily accessible in English via the Yamako bus website if you google “Yamagata to Tsuruoka bus”). It is a highway express bus (which looks like a coach) which makes the commute much faster compared to train, and no reservations are required. We paid by tapping our Suica cards (about 26000Y for a one way trip) as per any local bus. The ride took ~2 hours and we arrived at 9.20am. Upon reaching Tsuruoka S-Mall bus terminal, we then took the Tsuruoka local bus from bus bay 1 towards Zuishinmon bus stop, which is the stop that you want to get off at if you are planning to hike up Mount Haguro. The ride took ~40 minutes and cost ~840Y, payable by Suica, with no ticket/reservation required. At the Tsuruoka bus terminal, we were initially confused regarding where to board the right bus but the ladies at the service counter very kindly directed us the right way, even using translation apps to ensure we got the right information when my limited Japanese was insufficient. Once getting off at Zuishinmon station at ~10.20am, we did a 1.5hrs from the base to the summit of the mountain. If you do not plan to make the hike, the same Tsuruoka local bus (at selected timings) can bring you directly to the summit of Mount Haguro, where the main shrine is located. However, if you are up for it, I would highly recommend the hike up as it brings you past other key attractions within Mt Haguro - such as the Five-Story Pagoda, the 1000-year-old Cedar tree, a beautiful forest full of towering Cedars, and also a lovely family-owned tea house perched at the 3/4 point of the hike which sells some delicious rice cakes and matcha. There are numerous stone steps (~2000) with some steep segments but the steps are generally low and manageable with short rest breaks here and there to catch your breath. Overall, a beautiful and serene experience (we are from Singapore and 90% of the people around us were local Japanese). The weather was starting to warm up slightly but it’s cooling within the cedar woods. 100% recommend as a day trip if you are staying in Tsuruoka/Yamagata City! Public transport options were viable and made the trip feasible (better to get there earlier as the round trip commute + hike takes a full day).

Visiting this place is an amazing and supper recommended experience! The stairs are too many (2400) but if you go there by car it's a good idea to leave it at the top and go down. Then you can go up with a very beautiful hike in the woods and a little bit easier than the stairs.

Power spot inside the mountains. Amazing view of the mountains, specially when some snow is remaining. Hiking course is famous, which is around 1 hour from the start. According to the local people there are around 2000 steps to climb. Haven’t seen this kind of a big roof in a shrine. Design, thickness of the roof are rare to watch. At the entrance in the main road you have to pay ¥400, for washrooms ¥100 minimum for welfare purpose. Big enough car park is there.

This was my second time climbing Mt. Haguro. Today, I initially planned to only walk to the Five-Story Pagoda and back, but I ended up going all the way to the top. The stairs can be steep in some areas, so take your time and walk carefully. I’ve climbed in both sunny weather and after rain, and I felt safe on both occasions. It wasn’t busy on either the weekends or weekdays. I wouldn’t mind doing the climb a third time if I’m in the area. If you’ve done it once, it feels easier the next time.