Kurama Station: The Monumental Long-Nosed Tengu of the Sacred Mountain

Why is it significant?

Step off the vintage Eizan Electric Railway train onto the wooden platform of Kurama Station, breathing in the cool, resinous air of the northern Kyoto cedar mountains.

Key Facts

Open the walk

Step off the vintage Eizan Electric Railway train onto the wooden platform of Kurama Station, breathing in the cool, resinous air of the northern Kyoto cedar mountains. As you exit into the station plaza, look up at the astonishing sculpture that dominates the mountain clearing: a colossal, three-meter-tall red mask of a Tengu, complete with a massive protruding nose extending more than two meters into the air, piercing yellow eyes, and flowing white whiskers. The forested slopes of Mount Kurama rise steeply behind it like a green wall. Take a moment to admire the playful yet imposing expression on the red mask, which has greeted mountain hikers and pilgrims through all four seasons.

In Japanese folklore, the Tengu are supernatural mountain deities, part bird of prey and part human, revered both as fierce guardians of sacred peaks and as master teachers of martial arts. This giant sculpture represents Sojobo, the Great King of the Tengu, who according to twelfth-century legends dwelt in the deep cedar ravines of Mount Kurama, training outcast samurai warriors in secret swordsmanship.

Mount Kurama has been venerated as an extraordinary spiritual power spot for more than twelve centuries. The mountain sits directly on Kyoto's northern kimon, or Demon Gate meridian, an inauspicious astrological direction through which negative energies could enter the capital. Kurama's temples and shrines were strategically founded to form an impregnable psychic barrier protecting the imperial city from pestilence and invasion.

Listen to the wind whistling through the giant cryptomeria pines overhead and the distant clatter of wooden hiking poles on stone stairs as pilgrims prepare for the sacred traverse. The fresh mountain air here is tinged with the scent of wild mountain streams and damp earth, preparing your spirit for the ascent.

Turn up the winding mountain village lane, passing traditional noodle shops toward the towering Niomon Gate of Kurama-dera.