Mount Daisen (Sacred "Hoki Fuji") & Yuushien Peony Island Garden

Category: Sacred Volcano National Park & Classical Peony Strolling Garden | Location: Tottori

Soaring commandingly to 1,729 meters as the **highest peak in the entire Chūgoku region**, sacred **Mount Daisen** in Tottori Prefecture has been revered since antiquity as an inviolable dwelling place of mountain kami and a premier ascetic retreat for Shugendo mountain hermits. Viewed from the west, its graceful parabolic cone bears an uncanny resemblance to Mount Fuji, earning it the beloved honorific *Hōki Fuji* (the Fuji of ancient Hoki Province). Protected within Daisen-Oki National Park, its upper ramparts shelter the largest virgin Japanese beech (*Buna*) forest in western Japan, naturally filtering world-famous pure alpine mineral waters. Nestled along the mountain's ancient approaches is **Daisen-ji Temple**, a revered 8th-century Tendai monastery that once commanded armies of warrior monks rivaling Mount Hiei. Nearby stands Ogamiyama Shrine Okumiya, featuring Japan’s largest and longest wooden gongen-style sanctuary adorned with magnificent gold-leaf ceiling paintings. Autumn (late October to November) ignites the volcano's dramatic avalanche slopes in an ocean of blazing vermilion foliage, while winter blankets the massif in powdery snow, creating one of Japan's most scenic ocean-view ski resorts overlooking the Sea of Japan. Just across the scenic causeway in Lake Nakaumi between Tottori and Shimane lies Daikonshima Island, home to **Yuushien Garden** (*Yūshien*). Spanning 40,000 square meters, this peerless classical pond-strolling landscape is Japan’s undisputed capital of Peony cultivation. Utilizing advanced climate-controlled peony pavilions, vibrant peonies bloom with breathtaking lushness 365 days a year regardless of season. During the annual springtime *Chisen Botan* festival, tens of thousands of freshly harvested pink, white, and crimson peony blossoms are floated directly atop the vast central pond, transforming the waters into an ethereal floating floral tapestry, complemented by nourishing dishes prepared from the island's locally harvested volcanic Asian ginseng (*Otake*).