Kotohiragu

According to its website, there are 785 steps to the main building and plus 1368 steps to the building locates at the end.

The first building you will see is 大門（おおもん).　It literally means “a big gate.” Right after you go through the gate, you will find 5 stalls. There, you can buy candy shaped like a fan. We didn’t buy them though. Haha. When I visited there, I didn’t know but it is kinda long tradition at Kotohira. Only 5 certain stores have a permission to run business in the premise of the shrine.

The path you found right after the big gate is called “桜の馬場.（さくらのばば）” ”馬場“ is a place where you practice horse riding, so it means a horse-riding practice area with cherry blossoms. Unfortunately, cherry blossom season had already passed when we visited there. That’s why we missed the beautiful scenery. Hopefully, next time. Hahaha. After 桜の馬場, you will arrive at a Torii gate　called　西詰銅鳥居(にしづめどうとりい). Near the gate, there is a place where they keep white horses which are donated as gifts to the god. Luckily, we could see a horse walking.

Near the horse stable, there is a big statue of a ship proppelr. It is because this shrine is known for the safety of sailors and fishermen. Right after going through the gate and up the stairs, you will spot 表書院. There, you can see some wall Japanese paintings, but they charge entrance fee. Since our time was limited, we passed it. Haha.

The main temple is called 御本宮(ごほんぐう). Since many people regard this building as a goal (I think), here was the most crowded. There was also an observation deck where you could command a nice view below the mountain.

The biggest building is called 旭社(あさひしゃ). Its heigt is 18 meters tall. If you go further, you can visit 白峰神社(しらみねじんじゃ) and 厳魂神社（いつたまじんじゃ）. 厳魂神社 locates at the end of the route. You can see the stone masks of 烏天狗(からすてんぐ) and 天狗（てんぐ）hanging on the nearby cliff. 烏天狗 and 天狗 are Japanese legendary creatures. To get to this shrine was really tiring, but the sense of achievement was great.Even though it took a long time to go up the all stairs, going down was really smooth.