Hirase Pilgrimage Ascent Route
The Hirase Pilgrimage Ascent Route is one of the principal routes for ascending Mt. Hakusan from the Hida side, leading from Hirase in Shirakawa Village, along the Oshirakawa River, to Gozen Peak. This route was a path of faith: practitioners of Shugendo and pilgrims would revere Shiramizu Falls as a sacred boundary, purify themselves, rest at Oshirakawa Hot Spring, and then proceed toward the summit.
Early modern records describe the journey in detail: departing from the settlements of Hirase and Miboro, traveling upstream along the Oshirakawa River, crossing steep valleys and Hell Valley, and joining the Mino Zenjodo pilgrimage route at Minamiryugabanba. Numerous accounts remain of places barred to women and legends of ascetic practitioners, conveying both the severity and the sanctity of Hakusan worship.
From the Meiji period onward, this route continued to be used by pilgrims. However, when the Hakusan Park Prefectural Road was developed in 1966, it became possible to reach Shiramizu Falls and the trailhead by car, greatly changing the style of climbing. Today, a maintained hiking trail known as the Hirase Route allows many climbers to aim for Mt. Hakusan. The Hirase Pilgrimage Ascent Route—once walked by ascetics with prayers in their hearts—continues to be passed down as a historic path where nature and faith intersect.
