{"id":600254,"date":"2025-05-23T10:01:06","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T10:01:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wacoca.com\/tour\/600254\/"},"modified":"2025-05-23T10:01:06","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T10:01:06","slug":"hiking-the-sacred-twin-peaks-of-mount-tsukuba-%e7%ad%91%e6%b3%a2%e5%b1%b1%e3%81%ae%e5%8f%8c%e5%b3%b0%e3%82%92%e6%ad%a9%e3%81%8f","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wacoca.com\/tour\/600254\/","title":{"rendered":"Hiking the Sacred Twin Peaks of Mount Tsukuba | \u7b51\u6ce2\u5c71\u306e\u53cc\u5cf0\u3092\u6b69\u304f"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title = \"Hiking the Sacred Twin Peaks of Mount Tsukuba | \u7b51\u6ce2\u5c71\u306e\u53cc\u5cf0\u3092\u6b69\u304f\"   width=\"580\" height=\"385\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ZfQua2VYUco\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><br \/>\n<br \/>\nHiking the Sacred Twin Peaks of Mount Tsukuba | \u7b51\u6ce2\u5c71\u306e\u53cc\u5cf0\u3092\u6b69\u304f<br \/>\n<br \/>\nTurn on CC for subtitle in other languages. Hello everyone, welcome back to another video. Today, I&#8217;m heading out to hike Mount Tsukuba in Ibaraki. It\u2019s about two and a half hours away<br \/>\nfrom central Tokyo by train. You can take the Tsukuba Express line all the way to Tsukuba Station. From there, you&#8217;ll transfer to a bus. It goes directly to the Tsukuba-Jinja-Iriguchi stop,<br \/>\nright at the foot of the mountain. From there, it&#8217;s about a 10-minute walk<br \/>\nto the start of most trails. The trailhead begins near Tsukuba Shrine,<br \/>\n a sacred site at the mountain&#8217;s foot. Tsukuba Shrine has been a center of mountain worship for over a thousand years. It enshrines the deities of Mount Tsukuba\u2019s twin peaks, representing male and female spirits. This balance of energies symbolizes<br \/>\nharmony in nature and life. Pilgrims have long come here to pray<br \/>\nfor health, love, and safe passage. Mount Tsukuba itself is steeped in mythology<br \/>\nand seen as the home of divine spirits. According to legend, the gods Izanagi and Izanami<br \/>\ndescended here to shape the land of Japan. Knowing that story adds a bit more meaning to my hike. I made my way to the start of the hiking trails. There are several routes you can take to reach the summit. The Miyukigahara Trail is one of the main options.<br \/>\nIt\u2019s listed as a 90-minute hike. There\u2019s also the Shirakumobashi Trail,<br \/>\na slightly more rugged route. And the Otatsuishi Trail, which is longer<br \/>\nand less commonly used. I decided to go with the Miyukigahara Trail. It looked pretty straightforward and felt like a good balance, not too short, not too long. There weren\u2019t many hikers around since I came on a weekday. I\u2019ve heard this trail gets pretty crowded<br \/>\non weekends and holidays. So if you\u2019re looking for a quiet hike,<br \/>\nI\u2019d definitely recommend a weekday visit. The atmosphere was peaceful, and there<br \/>\nwas something sacred about it. Maybe I was just pre-conditioned to feel that way after reading about the history? Or maybe it\u2019s the struggle of hiking<br \/>\nand the quietness of the moment\u2026 The quietness that forces you inwards. I heard this is one of the core<br \/>\nprinciples of Shugend\u014d practice. You hike mountains to suffer, and through that,<br \/>\nfind enlightenment. What a beautiful concept. I came across a small rest spot<br \/>\nwith flowing water along the trail. It wasn\u2019t on the map, and there was no sign explaining it. Still, a nice place to pause for a moment. Not too far from there, I noticed a small shrine<br \/>\ntucked away in what felt like a random spot. It felt out of place, like it was hiding in plain sight. A quick search told me it\u2019s called Katori Shrine. It\u2019s dedicated to a god of martial arts and protection. I stopped there for a short break before moving on. After almost two hours of hiking,<br \/>\nI finally arrived at the mountaintop. This area is known as Miyukigahara, a broad,<br \/>\nopen space near the summit. It\u2019s where the cable car line ends, so it\u2019s often<br \/>\nthe busiest part of the mountain. You\u2019ll also find small restaurants, cafe and vending machines around here. Its a comfy spot to refresh before going to the summit. From Miyukigahara, you can choose to hike<br \/>\nto either of Mount Tsukuba\u2019s twin peaks. The Nantai-san peak, also called the male peak, takes about 15 to 20 minutes to reach. The Nyotai-san peak, or female peak, is a bit farther, around 20 to 30 minutes. I decided to go for Nantai-san first. I made it to Nantai-san, the male peak of Mount Tsukuba. According to legend, the gods Izanagi and Izanami once descended to this mountain. They were the creators of the Japanese islands. The two most important deities in Japanese mythology. The story goes that Mount Tsukuba welcomed them,<br \/>\nwhile Mount Fuji did not. Because of that, Tsukuba became lush and full of life,<br \/>\nwhile Fuji remains barren. This tale is often used to explain why Mount Tsukuba is green and fertile year-round. After a short break, I continued toward the other peak. Along the trail, I stumbled upon Gama Ishi, the \u201ctoad rock.\u201d It\u2019s named for its shape, which looks like a toad<br \/>\nwith its mouth open. Legend says tossing a small stone<br \/>\ninto the mouth brings good luck. The story ties back to a toad that taught<br \/>\na merchant the secret of healing oil. After about 30 minutes of walking, I reached the other peak. Nyotai-san means \u201cfemale body mountain\u201d<br \/>\nand is the twin to Nantai-san. It\u2019s associated with feminine energy<br \/>\nand the nurturing side of nature. This peak is slightly higher than<br \/>\nNantai-san by just a few meters. It\u2019s also more picturesque, with large stones<br \/>\nand a wide, open view. Here you get a clear view of the Kanto plains<br \/>\nstretching far into the distance. I soaked in the majestic view for a bit<br \/>\nbefore making my way back down. I decided to take the cable car back down<br \/>\nto save time. The trail is simple enough, but the rocky<br \/>\nterrain was more than I expected. The official map says the hike takes about 90 minutes,<br \/>\nbut it could take up to 2 hours. So if you\u2019re planning to hike it, be sure to come prepared. Hiking Mount Tsukuba has been<br \/>\non my bucket list for a long time. I\u2019m glad I finally did it and learned<br \/>\nabout its cultural importance. It sparked my interest in Shugend\u014d<br \/>\nand other spiritual spots in Japan. I\u2019d love to visit more places like this and learn as I go. With Tsukubasan behind me, I wrapped up the day&#8230; Feeling tired, but very fulfilled. Thank you for watching this video. I hope you enjoyed it and maybe learned something new. I make these videos as a way to practice,<br \/>\nreflect, and explore. If it inspired you in any way, I\u2019d really appreciate it<br \/>\nif you subscribed. See you in the next one.<br \/>\n<br \/>\nThis spring, I finally hiked the twin peaks of Mount Tsukuba in Ibaraki. The trail led me through quiet forests, unexpected shrines, and legends from Japan\u2019s mythology. It was a peaceful yet challenging walk that deepened my interest in Shugend\u014d and spiritual paths in nature.<\/p>\n<p>\ud83c\uddef\ud83c\uddf5 \u65e5\u672c\u8a9e:<br \/>\n\u3053\u306e\u6625\u3001\u8328\u57ce\u770c\u306b\u3042\u308b\u795e\u8056\u306a\u5c71\u30fb\u7b51\u6ce2\u5c71\u306e\u53cc\u5cf0\u3092\u3064\u3044\u306b\u767b\u308a\u307e\u3057\u305f\u3002\u9759\u304b\u306a\u68ee\u3084\u7a81\u7136\u73fe\u308c\u308b\u795e\u793e\u3001\u65e5\u672c\u795e\u8a71\u306b\u307e\u3064\u308f\u308b\u4f1d\u8aac\u3092\u8fbf\u308b\u65c5\u306f\u3001\u7a4f\u3084\u304b\u3067\u3042\u308a\u306a\u304c\u3089\u6311\u6226\u7684\u3067\u3082\u3042\u308a\u307e\u3057\u305f\u3002\u4fee\u9a13\u9053\u3084\u81ea\u7136\u306e\u4e2d\u306e\u4fe1\u4ef0\u306b\u3001\u3088\u308a\u95a2\u5fc3\u3092\u6301\u3064\u304d\u3063\u304b\u3051\u306b\u3082\u306a\u308a\u307e\u3057\u305f\u3002<\/p>\n<p>\ud83c\uddee\ud83c\udde9 Bahasa Indonesia:<br \/>\nMusim semi ini, saya akhirnya mendaki dua puncak Gunung Tsukuba di Ibaraki. Jalurnya membawa saya melewati hutan sunyi, kuil-kuil, dan kisah legenda dari mitologi Jepang. Perjalanan yang tenang tapi melelahkan ini membuat saya semakin tertarik dengan Shugend\u014d dan jalur spiritual di alam.<\/p>\n<p>Chapters:<br \/>\n00:00 &#8211; Intro<br \/>\n00:25 &#8211; Tsukuba station to Tsukubasan Jinja Iriguchi<br \/>\n01:06 &#8211; Tsukubasan Shrine<br \/>\n02:09 &#8211; Different hiking trails in Mount Tsukuba<br \/>\n03:07 &#8211; Shugendo?!<br \/>\n03:38 &#8211; Small shrine<br \/>\n04:26 &#8211; Miyukigahara mountaintop<br \/>\n05:16 &#8211; Nantai-san, Izanami &#038; Izanagi legend<br \/>\n06:10 &#8211; Gama Ishi &#8220;toad rock&#8221;<br \/>\n06:35 &#8211; Nyotai-san &#038; summit<br \/>\n07:18 &#8211; Cable car down &#038; outro<\/p>\n<p>#MountTsukuba #Tsukubasan #HikingJapan #SpiritualHike #JapaneseMountains #TwinPeaks #Shugendo #NatureWalkJapan #JapanTravel #\u7b51\u6ce2\u5c71 #\u767b\u5c71 #\u65e5\u672c\u306e\u81ea\u7136 #\u4fee\u9a13\u9053 #\u795e\u8056\u306a\u5c71 #\u7537\u4f53\u5c71 #\u5973\u4f53\u5c71 #\u8328\u57ce\u65c5 #\u30ac\u30de\u77f3 #\u65e5\u5e30\u308a\u767b\u5c71 #GunungTsukuba #PendakianJepang #WisataAlamJepang #JalurSpiritual #LegendaJepang #Shugendo #PuncakKembar #HikingMusimSemi #GamaIshi #TravelJepang #shotoniphone<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hiking the Sacred Twin Peaks of Mount Tsukuba | \u7b51\u6ce2\u5c71\u306e\u53cc\u5cf0\u3092\u6b69\u304f Turn on CC for subtitle in other languages. Hello ev<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":600255,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[144709],"tags":[351477,154441,351475,314101,253054,351469,218449,351467,351471,351472,351474,32868,351473,351476,351470,351468,15631,144763,6200,144761,144762,35864,159104],"class_list":{"0":"post-600254","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ibaraki","8":"tag-gama-ishi","9":"tag-hiking-japan","10":"tag-hiking-vlog-japan","11":"tag-ibaraki-travel","12":"tag-japan-nature-walk","13":"tag-japan-spiritual-hike","14":"tag-japanese-mythology","15":"tag-mount-tsukuba","16":"tag-nantai-san","17":"tag-nyotai-san","18":"tag-sacred-mountains-japan","19":"tag-shotoniphone","20":"tag-shugendo-hike","21":"tag-toad-rock-japan","22":"tag-tsukuba-twin-peaks","23":"tag-tsukubasan","24":"tag-15631","25":"tag-144763","26":"tag-6200","27":"tag-144761","28":"tag-144762","29":"tag-35864","30":"tag-159104"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wacoca.com\/tour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wacoca.com\/tour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wacoca.com\/tour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wacoca.com\/tour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wacoca.com\/tour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=600254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.wacoca.com\/tour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600254\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wacoca.com\/tour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/600255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wacoca.com\/tour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=600254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wacoca.com\/tour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=600254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wacoca.com\/tour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=600254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}