Climbing Mount Haku to View a Stunning Sunrise

Mount Haku (Hakusan) is a major geological formation spanning four prefectures: Fukui, Ishikawa, and Toyama on the Sea of Japan and inland Gifu. It is said that Taichō, a Buddhist monk from the region, became the first to ascend it and make it a site for worship and the practice of asceticism in 717. Today, many ordinary people climb Mount Haku, stopping to pray along the way. A special attraction for climbers is the view of the rising sun from Gozengamine, the highest of the mountain’s peaks, with an elevation of 2,702 meters.

(Originally published in Japanese. Created in cooperation with Kanazawa Cable Television.)