Places & destinations
JapanPlaces & destinations
Yamadera
A thousand steps cut into the cliff to a temple hanging above the valley, and Bashō’s most famous haiku.
On the mapYamagata
Founded in 860, Risshaku-ji climbs a slope of volcanic rock where the buildings cling between pines. One thousand and fifteen steps lead to the Godaidō lookout above the Yamagata valley. Bashō stopped here in 1689 and wrote "such stillness — the cries of the cicadas sink into the rocks", one of the most commented lines in Japanese. The climb is long but steady, about an hour, and stays open in winter.