Iide Mountains

The Iide Mountains formed a sacred landscape shared by communities on the Aizu, Echigo and Dewa sides of northern Honshu. Pilgrimage routes approached the summit from several valleys. Religious administration also reached beyond the mountain: earlier custodial temples were followed by Rengeji at Nagaino in Aizu, whose authority was established through the ruling Ashina family's judgement in the sixteenth century.

During the Edo period, Ichinoki and Dainichisugi lay near the domain boundary on the road between Aizu and Yonezawa. They served both as stations for travellers and as bases for worshippers entering the mountains. Pilgrimage sought good harvests and marked entry into adulthood; mountain ascetics were prominent among the earlier visitors. The range's history therefore joins devotional journeys with movement between neighbouring domains. Its difficult paths led to shrines and ritual places while also sustaining settlements below, where accommodation, transport and religious obligations linked the high mountains to ordinary village life.