Hasetsune Course: Mt Mitake To Mt Hinode

Distance	2.2K
Elevation Gain	135m
Elevation Drop	115m

2.2K from historic Mitake to the last peak on the course

As you enter the town of 御岳山 – Mitakesan, the trail ceases to run a border between municipalities. Where it had been separating 奥多摩町 – Okutama to the north and 檜原村 – Hinohara to the south (just before Mitake, Hinohara gave way to あきる野市 – Akiruno), on the approach to Mitake, the trail enters 青梅 – Ome. For this section alone, the trail remains entirely in Ome.

Mitake Shrine

By far the largest establishment on the Hasetsune course, 武蔵御嶽神社 – Musashi Mitake Shrine has a long history.

Musashi Mitake Shrine points of interest:

As mentioned in the previous section, Mitake Shrine is one of the local wolf deity (大口真神 – Oguchimagami) shrines
As with the rest of the history in the area, 日本武尊 – Yamato Takeru has a part in the origin story. The cause of the wolf reverence is due to a white wolf coming to Takeru’s aid at some vulnerable point in his wanderings.
This Shrine is one of the many which were at once Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, but were broken up in the 明治時代 – Meiji Period. A remnant of its Buddhist past can be found in the main gate after the first flight of stairs. You see gates like this generally in temples, not shrines.
From the founding of the shrine, it has been considered a power spot in the 修験道 – shugendo – mountain worship world.
侍 – Samurai since the　鎌倉時代 – Kamakura Period came to pray and pay respects, and often donated swords and armor, and even horse saddles.
It is said that the last great unifier of Japan, 徳川家康 – Tokugawa Ieyasu himself, had the large Hall of Offerings rebuilt to face 江戸 – Edo (Tokyo) and provide protection from the west.
Due to the wolf worship, the god Oguchimagami is also know as 大犬様 -Oinusama, Musashi Mitake shrine is a favorite among dog lovers. The 手水舎 – Temizuya, water purification station, even has a special pool of water for pets
A few demons are carved into the stairs up to the main shrine complex. More stone work adorns benches lining the stairs as well.

Note there are toilet facilities on the same landing as the temizuya, around the corner. There is also a drink vending machine just before the street dips into the commercial section.

A Trail of Two Halves

You can split the trail from Mt Mitake to 日の出山 – Mt Hinode easily split into two halves.

The Hasetsune course continues from below the torii at the foot of Musashi Mitake Shrine. It goes straight down the 商店街 – shotengai – shopping street. At the end, the course takes a right, followed by a quick left. There is then an ‘N’ turn down a ramp to the right and cutting back down the steep concrete. The concrete turns to multi-colored tiles. After some more concrete, the trail returns to packed dirt.

The trail undulates for a good kilometer, with some rocky sections and plenty of roots.

This first half of this segment comes to an end at a torii, which by rights is an exit from the sacred mountain.

The Climb Up to Mt Hinode

The next kilometer is the climb to Mt Hinode. In the end you net about 100m in ascent. As a reminder to be on the look out, a large boulder sits in the middle of the course about 100 meters up the trail from the Mitake torii. This hunk of rock fell from the mountain side in the late summer of 2022.