Yamagata Prefecture is home to Dewa Sanzan, the Three Mountains of Dewa: Mt. Haguro, Mt. Gassan and Mt. Yudono. Yudono is the innermost sanctuary of the three. There is an old saying here: "Do not speak of it, do not ask about it."
Not speaking of what you have seen or heard
At the main sanctuary of Yudonosan Shrine, it has long been held that you must not talk outside about what you see and hear during your visit. Nor do you ask others about it. So in this article, too, I will not write about what is inside.
There is a set manner of worship. Photography is forbidden; you go forward barefoot and receive purification before praying. All that is passed on is that the sacred object is not a shrine building but a great rock from which hot spring water wells up.
Mt. Yudono stands about 1,500 meters high. It is a training ground of Shugendo, mountain asceticism, and yamabushi still train there today. An opening festival is held around June 1 each year, and the mountain is closed during winter.
The last mountain of the journey of rebirth
Dewa Sanzan is traveled as a "journey of rebirth": Mt. Haguro for the present, Mt. Gassan for the past, and Mt. Yudono for the future. Mt. Yudono is regarded as the mountain where you are born anew.
What is protected by not speaking
The rule "do not speak of it" may seem inconvenient, but I think it is well made. The moment an experience is put into words, it turns into an explanation and wears away little by little. Some things can be kept at their full weight by not speaking of them.
I feel painting has a similar function. Feelings you cannot explain well can be set down in color and form without explaining them. In the sense of holding something without putting it into words, it has something in common with the teaching of Mt. Yudono.
I think of Mermaid nao's commissioned art, too, as work for leaving the part that cannot be put into words as it is, in a single painting.
Sources
ANA Japan Travel Planner (Mt. Yudono, Yamagata: the innermost sanctuary of Dewa Sanzan, a mountain of training wrapped in mystery)
Tsuruoka Tourism Navi (Dewa Sanzan, a "journey of rebirth" where nature and faith live on)
Kyukamura Association press release (Mt. Yudono, a mountain of training alive with mystery, "do not speak, do not ask": opening festival on June 1)
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