Mount Yoshino, in the mountains of Nara Prefecture, is famous throughout Japan for one thing above all: cherry blossom. Some thirty thousand trees cover its slopes, planted over the centuries as offerings, and each spring they bloom in waves from the lower slopes to the summit. Kimpu Shrine, Kimpu-jinja, stands near the top of the mountain, in the area known as Oku Senbon, the inner thousand trees, and it is part of the UNESCO-listed Sacred Sites of the Kii Mountain Range.
The shrine is dedicated to the god of the mountain and is said to protect the gold of the mountain, which is what its name means. It is a simple, quiet place compared with the busier temples further down, surrounded by tall cedars. Nearby is a small hut where the warrior Minamoto no Yoshitsune, one of Japan's most romantic historical heroes, is said to have hidden while fleeing his brother's forces in the twelfth century. Yoshino has many such stories: it was also the seat of the Southern Court during a period of rival emperors in the fourteenth century.
The main street of Yoshino runs along the ridge, lined with temples, inns and shops selling kuzu, a starch made from the arrowroot plant that grows in the mountains and is used to make sweets and noodles. Kinpusen-ji, with its huge wooden hall, is the head temple of Shugendō, the mountain ascetic tradition.
The roads up Yoshino are narrow and steep, and during cherry blossom season traffic is restricted and parking is extremely limited. Outside that season, the mountain is quiet and the roads into the surrounding mountains are wonderful: narrow, winding routes through forested valleys toward Dorogawa, Kawakami and the deep south of the Kii peninsula. Japan drives on the left, and mountain roads often have single-lane sections and blind corners.
Yoshino town, about six kilometres away, has fuel and convenience stores. Inns on the mountain serve local cuisine, including persimmon-leaf sushi and dishes with mountain vegetables. Autumn, when the maples turn red and gold, is a beautiful and much less crowded alternative to spring.