戸隠神社 ⛩️❄️ Winter hike to Togakushi Shrine tucked away in Nagano, Japan | Solo travels in Japan

戸隠神社 ⛩️❄️ Winter hike to Togakushi Shrine tucked away in Nagano, Japan | Solo travels in Japan

Happy new year everyone! We are starting 2025 with a vlog of my hike to Zuishinmon as part of the Togakushi Shrine complex which is located in Mt Togakushi, Nagano, Japan.

Togakushi Shrine has a special place in Japanese mythology. According to the legend, the Sun Goddess, Amaterasu-Omikami once hid herself in a cave behind a stone door, which brought darkness to the world. Other deities tried to lure her out of the cave and the deity of power, Ame-no-Tachikarao-no-Mikoto, threw away the door to the cave to prevent the Sun Goddess from hiding again. The stone door flew all the way to Togakushi, which is also how the area got its name – Togakushi (戸隠) literally means “hiding door” and the various shrines of Togakushi enshrine deities from the myth.

The hike is doable as a day trip from Tokyo if you are able to get an earlier train to Nagano and I definitely recommend adding this to your itinerary; the sense of awe I felt while walking down the trail lined with cedar trees that were over 400 years old is something that I’ll never forget.

🚍 Alpico Bus information: https://visit-nagano.alpico.co.jp/timetable/nagano-togakushi-winter

⛩️ Togakushi Shrine official website: https://www.togakushi-jinja.jp/english/

🏨 Accommodation: Tokyu Rei Nagano
↳ https://www.trip.com/t/0E975lf2hZ1

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00:00 Intro
00:20 Tokyo to Nagano
00:45 Bus to Togakushi
02:11 Chusha (middle shrine)
03:34 Hike towards Okusha (upper shrine)
04:37 Soba noodles for lunch
05:16 Hike to Zuishinmon
08:46 Bus back towards Nagano / Zenkoji
10:05 Accommodation: Tokyu Rei Nagano
10:44 Fujifilm