This is a photo of hotoke-no-ana (仏の穴), a cave that sits just above the center of Otaki Village.  Hotoke-no-ana means literally “hole of buddha”.  However, the character 穴 ana can also be translated as “portal” or “tunnel”.  This translation may be more fitting, as I’ve heard from some villagers that hotoke-no-ana used to be one entrance to an underground tunnel that ran for a couple of kilometers to an entrance known as 岩の戸 iwa-no-to, meaning “door of stone”.

According to those I’ve talked to, the tunnel was a lava tube created as the volcanoe Mt. Ontake (御嶽山) was formed.  Apparently there are many such lava tubes–I’ve heard of another that opens into a large space with flowing water and so was used in the past by bear hunters as a winter camp.  However, it’s said that the tunnel connecting these two entrances collapsed during a massive earthquake that hit Otaki in 1984.

Mt. Ontake is a holy mountain famed for its healing powers and long used by 山伏 yama-bushi (mountain ascetics).  Hotoke-no-ana is one of many spots that is used by those seeking the power to heal. In the past, it seems that practitioners would pass through the tunnel as part of their spiritual training.  I’m not sure how often the spot gets used these days, though there are still many who aspire to spiritual attainments on Mt. Ontake.

For the rest of us, it’s a nice little hike.

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Contributor Bio: I am a doctoral student of environmental anthropology currently living and conducting research in a mountain village in Nagano. In my research I explore modernity as it is expressed in a rural mountain community. Specifically I look at national management structures, as well as social discourses, related to forests and probe the impacts these have on local human communities. I have lived and worked in Japan for 5 years. My interests also include Buddhism, literature, music, and mountaineering. Read more at my personal blog: In the Pines.
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