"Where En no Gyoja was born and Shugendo began"
Mt. Katsuragi
Gose, Nara Prefecture, Japan
The Katsuragi Mountains are where Japanese mountain mysticism was born. In 634 CE, En no Gyoja—the legendary founder of Shugendo—entered the world at the foot of these peaks. Here he first practiced, here he buried 28 chapters of the Lotus Sutra in sacred mounds, and here the tradition of mountain asceticism that would shape Japanese spirituality took form.
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Quick Facts
Location
Gose, Nara Prefecture, Japan
Coordinates
34.4531, 135.6897
Last Updated
Jan 12, 2026
Learn More
En no Gyoja's birth at the foot of the Katsuragi Mountains in 634 CE and his subsequent practice there established the foundation for Shugendo.
Origin Story
En no Gyoja (En no Ozunu) was born in 634 CE in the village of Chihara at the foot of the Katsuragi Mountains—present-day Gose City, Nara Prefecture. In these mountains he first practiced asceticism, developing the spiritual powers (genkuriki) that would earn him renown. Before moving his practice to Mount Yoshino and Mount Omine, he buried 28 chapters of the Lotus Sutra across the Katsuragi range, creating the kyozuka that remain pilgrimage destinations today. The tradition he founded—Shugendo—combined elements of Buddhism, Shinto, and folk religion into a distinctive path of mountain spirituality.
Key Figures
En no Gyoja (En no Ozunu)
Founder of Shugendo (634-701 CE); born at the foot of Katsuragi Mountains
Spiritual Lineage
Mount Katsuragi represents the source of Shugendo, the tradition that would later flourish at Mount Yoshino, Mount Omine, and throughout Japan. The 2020 Japan Heritage designation officially recognizes this foundational significance.
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