Takachihogawara

Takachihogawara is an open plateau on the slopes of the Kirishima mountains. It lies at about 970 metres, inside Kirishima-Kinkowan National Park, on ground of bare volcanic rock.

In the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki, Takachihogawara is where Ninigi no Mikoto, grandson of the sun goddess Amaterasu, came down from heaven to rule the land below. The event is called tenson korin, the descent of the heavenly grandchild, and the line it began is held to lead to the imperial family. A stone pillar marks the place where he is said to have come down. The ground is still used for religious observance, including the mountain training of Shugendo.

Kirishima Shrine stood here before it stood where it does now. Eruptions from the mountains around destroyed it more than once, and it was moved in the end to lower ground. What is left of it remains at Takachihogawara, along with a small shrine and stone monuments.

The path up Takachihonomine begins here. The peak is 1,574 metres, and the walk up and back takes two to three hours over open volcanic ground. At the top stands the Ama-no-Sakahoko, a spear set upside down in the rock, said to have been left there by Ninigi.

These mountains are active. The visitor centre at the head of the path holds displays on the geology, the plants and animals and the myth, and gives the current state of the mountain.