Mount Hakusan [白山]

Hakusan is a volcano on the prefecture's borders of Ishikawa, Gifu and Fukui.

It is located about 45 km south of Kanazawa city and there is Shirakawa-go about 16 km northeast of it.

It is an active volcano.
But the last eruption was in 1659, and the volcano has been tranquil since that.

It has main three peaks, and the altitude of the hightest peak is 2,702 meters.

"Hakusan" means "white mountain".

Snow covers the mountains in the cold season.
Snow on most mountains melts in spring, but snow on Mt.Hakusan is seen until June.
So we can find Hakusan easily as a white mountain from a distant place.

In 717, high priest Taicho performed the ascetic practices in this mountain.

Since that, Hakusan became one of the popular mountains to worship, along with Mount Fuji and Mount Tateyama.

But Mount Hakusan is not so easy to climb for general tourists.
If you climb Mount Hakusan, you must have enough equipments for mountain climbing.

However, Hakusan Shirakawa-go White Road runs on the north side of the mountain.

The western exit is about 12 km north of Mount Hakusan, it runs from east to west, and the eastern exit is near Shirakawa-go in Gifu Prefecture.
The total length is about 33 km.

Unfortunately, no route bus runs on the road.
So when we tour there, we must use a rental car.

And this road is opened only from June or July to early November.
In addition, all cars can't' run at night.

Hakusan Shirakawa-go White Road

Shirayama-hime Shrine (白山比咩神社)

Shirayama-hime Shrine is a Shinto shrine.
It is located about 18 km south of Kanazawa city.
Mount Hakusan is far from here and the distance is about 35 km from this shrine.

In Japanese myth, this shrine was founded in the 1st century B.C.

High priest Taicho climbed Mount Hakusan and the first shrine was built on the top of the mountain.
And this shrine was built as its base shrine.
This location is on the route to Mount Hakusan.

There are about 5,000 shrines named "Hakusan shrine" throughout the nation.
This shrine is the head shrine of them.

The first two kanji characters of the name "白山" is "Hakusan".
But they are read as "Shirayama" in this shrine.
"Hakusan" is from the pronunciation of Chinese, but "Shirayama" is from the reading of Japanese.

The main shrine is rebuilt around 1770.

There is a museum, and many cultural properties are stored and exhibited in the museum.

A goddess "Kukuri-hime" is enshrined in this shrine.
In Japanese myth, she connected a male god and a female god and they had god babies.

So, if you visit and worship this shrine, you may be able to succeed in love.

Shirayama Hime Jinja

Ubagataki (姥ヶ滝)

Ubagataki is a popular waterfalls near Hakusan Shirakawa-go White Road.

The height is 111 meters, and the water flows on the rocky cliff.
The water becomes a lot of white small streams, and they look like swinging hairs of old woman.
"Uba" means old woman.

From Jadani-enchi (蛇谷園地) Parking area, a walking trail lead to the waterfall.

In addition, there is an open-air hot spring bath Oyadani-no-yu (親谷の湯) just in front of the waterfall.

It is free but mixed bathing.
If you are woman, you should wear a swimsuit.
Instead, there is a foot bath.

How to get here

To Shirayama-hime Shrine, get on the train to Tsurugi of Hokuriku Railroad Ishikawa Line from Nomachi terminal.
Nomachi station is near Nishi-Chaya district and Ninja-dera temple in Kanazawa city.

To Tsurugi, it takes about 30 minutes.
From Tsurugi station, by route bus, about 5 minutes to Ichinomiya stop.
Then walk for 5 minutes.

To Ubagataki, use a rental car.

Other Tourist Attractions in Ishikawa Prefecture

Kaga area

Noto area

Return to Ishikawa Prefecture Return to Hokuriku Region