Yoshimizu Shrine

Yoshimizu Shrine is a shrine on Mount Yoshino. It was originally called Yoshimizu-in and served as a lodging for Shugendō practitioners. In the early Meiji period, it was renamed Yoshimizu Shrine. Its shoin (study hall/residence), designated an Important Cultural Property, is said to be the oldest surviving example of residential architecture in Japan. Inside, there is a room known as the place where Minamoto no Yoshitsune once hid. The site is also historically significant as the place where Emperor Go-Daigo fled Kyoto after escaping confinement at Hanayama-in and took refuge; it was designated as the Southern Court’s temporary imperial palace, making it a starting point of the Nanboku-chō period. In addition, Toyotomi Hideyoshi—who unified the country—held a cherry-blossom-viewing banquet here with warlords such as Tokugawa Ieyasu, Maeda Toshiie, and Date Masamune, and later used it as a headquarters, making it a frequent stage in Japanese history. Today it is part of the UNESCO World Heritage site "Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range." From the Osaka area, travel from Kintetsu Osaka-Abenobashi to Yoshino Station in about 1.5 hours, take the ropeway near Yoshino Station up to Yoshinoyama Station (about 5 minutes), then walk about 20 minutes to reach the shrine.