Mount Osorezan (Osorezan Mountain) or Mount Fear is one of the most unusual places in Japan, where, according to popular belief, the world of the living intersects with the world of spirits. The site was discovered over 1000 years ago by a Buddhist priest in search of a sacred mountain and is now the site of the Bodaji Temple.
Ora is considered the gateway to the afterlife, as the surrounding landscape resembles a Buddhist hell: rocky terrain, the smell of sulfur, a poisonous lake, many snakes, eight surrounding peaks and the Sanzu no Kawa River, which must be crossed by all dead souls on their way to the afterlife. Before the river of the dead, two demons meet, who take off his clothes and hang them on a tree branch. According to where the branch has deviated, it is determined what way of life a person led and his further fate is decided.
Around Osorezan you can see Jizo statues and toy windmills made from piles of stones and pebbles, laid out by the parents of deceased children in the hope that the sacred stones will help the souls of children find their way to heaven.
The Bodaji Festival is held here every year. People come to it hoping to communicate with lost loved ones through Itako, blind women who have undergone extensive spiritual training. To communicate with the souls of the dead, Itako undergo a three-month purification ritual before the festival, and during it they go into a deep and long trance.
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The outcome of the seance is not known. Sometimes the soul of the deceased does not respond, but it also happens that Itako begins to speak in someone else's voice and name information about a particular person that they simply could not know.