Kitaguchi Hongu Fuji Sengen Shrine

Kitaguchi Hongu Fuji Sengen Shrine has served as the traditional starting point for Mt. Fuji pilgrimages via the Yoshida Trail for over 1,000 years. The shrine sits at the base of Mt. Fuji in Fujiyoshida City, surrounded by a sacred forest of massive cedars — some trees exceed 1,000 years old and tower 50 meters tall. The approach to the shrine passes through a vermillion torii gate and a 400-meter stone-paved path flanked by these ancient cedars, creating a cathedral-like atmosphere even before reaching the main shrine buildings.

The shrine complex includes the main hall (rebuilt in 1615), a sacred spring where pilgrims traditionally purified themselves before ascending Fuji, and numerous small shrines dedicated to different Shinto deities. The shrine is particularly atmospheric during the Yoshida Fire Festival (August 26–27), when giant torches line the streets of Fujiyoshida and climbers gather at the shrine for blessings before ascending Fuji. The festival is considered one of Japan's three greatest fire festivals.

The shrine's position at the head of the Yoshida Trail reflects Fuji's long history as a mountain worshipped rather than simply climbed — for most of the shrine's existence, ascending the mountain was itself an act of pilgrimage governed by ritual, and the purification step at the sacred spring was not an optional photo opportunity but a required part of the climb for the mountain guilds (koshi) who organized group ascents from the Edo period onward. Traces of that older pilgrimage culture survive in the streets of Fujiyoshida below the shrine, where former pilgrim lodges (oshi houses) that once hosted climbers before their ascent still stand, some now open to visitors as a way of understanding the mountain's religious dimension before the modern hiking trail existed. The cedar forest around the shrine has been left largely undisturbed for the same reason the pilgrimage route itself was — cutting sacred trees near a shrine this significant was traditionally avoided, which is part of why the grove has been able to reach the scale it has today.