笠取峠から木ノ芽峠へ歩く, 福井県南越前 The Old Hokuriku Road: From Kasatori Pass to Kinome Pass, Fukui [4K Binaural]
This video captures a hike along a historic mountain route in Fukui Prefecture, following a portion of the old Hokuriku Kaidō (北陸街道) from Kasatori Pass (笠取峠) to Kinome Pass (木ノ芽峠). Shot in immersive 4K with binaural audio in June 2025, the trail reveals remnants of Edo-period travel—stone pavements, boundary markers, and hidden memorials—framing Japan’s lost mountain pathways.
Kasatori Pass, named because the wind there was so strong it was said to take away travelers’ hats (“kasatori” means “hat-taking”), was once a challenging crossing point. Historical records note that even during the Edo period, travelers had to brace themselves against fierce winds to pass. Its route has been in use since the Heian to Kamakura periods and formed a critical link between Kyoto and the Hokuriku region.
Kinome Pass (木ノ芽峠) is a mountain pass on the border of Minami-Echizen and Tsuruga. Historical sources trace the route’s use back over a millennium; some accounts date the route’s significance to around AD 830. The pass’s elevation is recorded as about 628 m.
As you hike, you’ll traverse winding forest paths, steps carved through mossy slopes, and finally reach Kinome Pass, once the ancient gateway linking Fukui to Tsuruga. The atmospheric footage transports you back to the era when samurai, merchants, and pilgrims relied on this silent stone corridor.
この映像は、福井県南越前に残る旧北陸街道の一部、笠取峠から木ノ芽峠へのハイキングを録画したものです。苔むす石畳、道標、昔の里人が歩いた足跡など、江戸時代の旅情を残す山道を歩きます。
笠取峠は、その名の由来通り「かさを取られるほど風が強い峠」として知られ、江戸時代には旅人が風を避けようと必死に峠を越えたと伝えられています。峠は古来の峠道として今に名残をとどめ、石畳や風雪に耐えた道標が苔むす中に静かに佇んでいます。
木ノ芽峠は南越前町と敦賀市の境付近に位置する峠で、古代〜中世から使われてきた道の一部とされています。資料には、当該ルートが西暦830年前後から重要視されてきた旨の記述があり、峠の標高は約628mとされています。
道中には林に包まれた石段や旧道の残影があり、峠からの木ノ芽峠は、かつて福井と敦賀をつないだ重要な道だった歴史を物語っています。時を超えて響く風や鳥の声が、かつての旅人の気配を感じさせてくれます。
Route Map: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1Ioq9-5lFdXJZM7DgU2qAHv29fgPpY80&usp=sharing
0:00 Kasatori Pass 笠取峠
4:31 The “Don’t Tell” Jizo 言うな地蔵
13:29 Kinome Pass 木ノ芽峠
Date: 19th June 2025
🎧 This video contains Binaural Audio. Wearing headphones/earphones is recommended for the best immersive experience.
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2 Comments
English Translations for information boards
0:09 Kasatori Pass
From the Nara period through the feudal era, many travelers and samurai crossed over this pass.
When approaching this pass, they were troubled by strong northwest winds blowing from the direction of Mount Hachibuse. Led by packhorse drivers and porters, they walked carefully to prevent their hats from being blown away, pushing through light snow, trampling it down to create a firm path – this was one of the most difficult sections of the journey.
It is said that Kasatori Pass got its name from this circumstance (where people had to take care of their hats – "kasa").
There is a packhorse driver's song from when traveling from Nitsuya-juku to Kinome Pass that goes like this:
Setting out in the morning, horse reins over the shoulder
Climbing up Bando Rock
Hanging straw sandals at Kutsukake-ba
Crossing over Kasatori Pass
Drawing sweat at Yokowatari
And reaching Kinome Pass
(Awarded calligraphy by Takeuchi Kayuemon)
From here to Kinome Pass
Approximately 900 meters
Minamiechizen Town
5:57 The Legend of Iuna Jizo (The "Don't Tell" Jizo)
This Jizo statue is said to be Kobo Daishi (the Buddhist monk Kukai).
Long ago, there was a packhorse driver who carried a traveler possessing a large sum of money over this pass. The packhorse driver killed the traveler and stole his money, but then realized he had done this in front of the Jizo statue and muttered to himself, "Jizo, don't tell." The Jizo then replied, "Jizo won't tell, but you yourself must not tell." Deeply moved, the man repented and returned to being a good person.
Years later, when crossing this pass again, he found himself traveling with a young companion. They chatted about various things as they came before the Jizo statue. When the packhorse driver told him that this was a Jizo of remarkable spiritual power, the traveler asked about its origin. The packhorse driver then confessed his past evil deed and told the whole story. This young traveler was none other than the son of the man who had been killed years before, and he had been searching everywhere for his father's killer. The son felt as though he could ascend to heaven, but rather than take revenge in such a remote mountain location, they traveled together to Tsuruga, where he revealed his identity and killed the man.
Minamiechizen Town
14:03 Kinome Pass
Since ancient times, Kinome Pass has served as a strategic point on the Hokuriku Road, with extremely frequent passage of people and horses. For those crossing the pass toward Kyoto, as well as those leaving the capital and descending to the Hokuriku region, the impressions of the steep stone-paved road and the thatched-roof teahouses would have made their journeys particularly unforgettable.
In the summer of Kencho 5 (1253), Zen Master Dogen, who had established Eiheiji Temple, departed from Eiheiji accompanied by his senior disciples Koun Osho and Tettsū Osho for medical treatment due to illness.
When they reached Kinome Pass, the Zen Master explained to Tettsū Osho, who earnestly wished to accompany him to Kyoto, the great importance of protecting Eiheiji thereafter, and they parted with tears.
Kusa no ha ni / kadode seru / mi no Kinome-yama / kumo ni michi aru / kokochi koso sure
(Setting forth among the grass leaves, at Mount Kinome, it feels as though there is a path through the clouds)
This poem expresses all the deep emotions the Zen Master felt at that moment.
Never to cross the pass again, and perhaps this being their eternal farewell in this life, the hearts of master and disciple, who parted ways like the waters that divide at the ridge of the pass to flow south and north, must have been filled with truly profound emotion.
Soto Zen Kinome Pass Support Association
Such a wonderful trail and you really caught this beautiful atmosphere wonderfully!