Abe-oku/Shichimen-san

Abe-oku is an area beyond the Abe River, just as its name implies. Shizuoka City is also home to places such as Hatanagi and Sawarajima, which serve as trailheads to the main ridges of the Southern Alps and lie deep within the area where the headwaters of the Oi River can be found, but tracing back to the source of the Abe River, which is a major river in Shizuoka City along with the Oi River, will bring you to the Abe-oku area. The main mountain range in Abe-oku is surrounded by the towns of Hayakawa, Minobu, and Nanbu, all located in Yamanashi Prefecture close to the Shizuoka border and hidden away approximately 40 – 50 km from the center of Shizuoka City. The mountains stand at an elevation of around 2,000 meters and the ridgelines and peaks are covered in trees, but the occasional glimpses of Mt. Fuji or the Southern Alps offer stunning views that are difficult to see from other areas.
If you head further north from Abe-oku, you will come upon Mt. Shichimen-san, which is one of Japan’s 200 famous mountains. Though you may not be familiar with it, along with Mt. Minobu, Mt. Shichimen-san is a sacred place for followers of the Lotus Sutra as the holy mountain where Nichiro, a senior disciple of the high priest Nichiren, enshrined Shichimen-Daimyojin at Keishin-in Temple, an enormous temple complex located at an elevation of 1,700 meters just below the mountain’s summit. Large numbers of Nichiren Buddhism followers from all over Japan come here, as do hikers, to visit the faith’s main dojo (worship hall). Even those without any religious affiliation feel the presence of a divine spirit in the moment the sight of Mt. Fuji at sunrise comes into view from the sanmon gate.