Notes from "Why Do Japanese Revere Mountains?" by Spiritual Japan Journal
"...Mount Fuji, Tateyama, and Hakusan have been known as the Three Sacred Mountains of Japan...
In Japan, mountains have been understood not only as beautiful natural landscapes, but also as presences that produce water, nurture forests, irrigate fields, and support people’s lives. Mountains bring blessings. At times, they also show a severity beyond human control, through snow, storms, and landslides. People have directed both gratitude and awe toward that immense power...called sangaku shinkō（山岳信仰）, or mountain worship, in Japanese."
"The mountain holds snow, produces water, grows crops, especially rice, and sustains human life. At the root of Hakusan worship is this cycle.
At the center of the worship of Hakusan as a sacred mountain stands Shirayama Hime Shrine（白山比咩神社）in Hakusan City, Ishikawa Prefecture...
A shintaizan is a mountain revered as a sacred presence in itself. The faith does not end with the shrine buildings at the foot of the mountain. The mountain behind them is itself at the center of worship."
"...Shirayama Hime Ōkami refers to Kukurihime no Mikoto（菊理媛尊）. At Shirayama Hime Shrine, Kukurihime no Mikoto is enshrined together with Izanagi no Mikoto（伊弉諾尊）and Izanami no Mikoto（伊弉冉尊）...
Kukurihime no Mikoto is... said to have appeared in the scene where Izanagi no Mikoto and Izanami no Mikoto faced each other at the boundary of Yomi... acted as a mediator between the two deities. At Shirayama Hime Shrine, this Kukurihime no Mikoto has been enshrined as Shirayama Hime Ōkami...read as Kukurihime no Mikoto, and because kukuri is connected with the word kukuru, meaning “to bind” or “to bring together,” she is also revered today as a deity of harmony and good relationships."
"Shrines also have their own shaden（社伝）, or shrine traditions. These are the histories and traditions handed down within each shrine. They describe the enshrined deities, the origins of the shrine, its relationship with the land, and how people have worshipped its gods.
For this reason, understanding Japanese deities requires reading not only the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki, but also fudoki, shrine traditions, and regional legends together."
"...a monk from Echizen named Taichō is said to have climbed Hakusan. According to the shrine’s tradition, the following year he enshrined the Okumiya at the summit.
This tradition shows Hakusan as a sacred mountain revered from its foothills, while also becoming a mountain that people entered on foot in order to climb and pray. Worship from afar and worship through ascent came to overlap within Hakusan faith. In the traditions of ancient shrines, verifiable history and stories preserved within faith often overlap."
