Three Mountains of Dewa
People started to visit Dewa Sanzan mountains regularly after it was established as a place for religious beliefs. They would sometimes travel thousands of miles during the summer months to pay their respects at the shrines. The mountains were important to many religions and were a place of learning for various belief systems, but especially for shugendō. Famous people like En no Gyōja, who created shugendō asceticism, and Kūkai, who founded the Shingon Sect, made the pilgrimage to Dewa Sanzan.