January 26th, 2026 : the English website for the Rokujurigoe Kaido has officially been launched!
For many years, the pilgrimage route to Mt. Yudono: the Rokujurigoe Kaido; has been promoted almost exclusively to a Japanese audience.
With the launch of this new website, developed as part of the 2025 “Inspiring Experiences and Adventure Travel Creation Project in National Parks” led by Japan’s Ministry of the Environment, the local administrations of Tsuruoka City (Asahi Branch and local DMO) and Nishikawa Town seek to open this remarkable yet little-known historic route to international hikers in the beautiful Bandai-Asahi National Park.
Long used by pilgrims traveling to the sacred Mountain of Love, Mt. Yudono, third mountain in the sacred group of the Dewa Sanzan, the Rokujurigoe Kaido is more than a hiking trail: it is a cultural corridor shaped by Shingon Buddhist faith, sokushinbutsu mummification practice, nature, and centuries of human passage. Through this website, visitors can now access reliable information that allows them to understand, experience, and respectfully walk this historic road.
The website is administered by DEGAM Tsuruoka Tourism Bureau, Tsuruoka City’s local Destination Management Organization, in collaboration with Argodia’s Research Group—a volunteer collective dedicated to researching the history of the pilgrimage route and maintaining the trails on Tsuruoka City’s side—under the supervision and review of Tsuruoka City’s Asahi Branch.
Start first by learning the history of the Rokujurigoe Kaido here: