Japan Heritage story
Mount Takao and Hachioji, the city of silk
霊気満山 高尾山
West of central Tokyo, Hachioji was the only town in Japan called Soto, the capital of mulberry, thanks to its silk trade. Its story begins with a warlord's mountain castle, and the silk farmers and merchants who prospered here kept faith with sacred Mount Takao, which still feels, in the old phrase, full of spirit.
Key facts
- Theme
- Castles, Forests and timber, Festivals and rituals, Textiles and dyes
- Era
- Azuchi-Momoyama, Edo
- Region
- Kanto, Kansai
- Official name in Japanese
- 霊気満山 高尾山
- Official subtitle in Japanese
- ～人々の祈りが紡ぐ桑都物語～
- Official area (in Japanese)
- 東京都（八王子市）
The story
In the late Sengoku period, Hojo Ujiteru moved his base from Takiyama Castle to Hachioji Castle, a steep, stone-walled mountain castle facing Mount Takao, to guard the pass into Kanto from Kai. He prayed for victory at Yakuoin, the temple on Mount Takao founded in the Nara period, gave it land and banned tree cutting on the mountain. He also built a castle town with a textile market, the seed of Hachioji's weaving.
Under the shogunate, Hachioji became the biggest post town on the Koshu-dochu road. Raw silk from the area gathered here and, from the late Edo to the Meiji period, travelled to Yokohama for export along the so-called Silk Road. Silk farmers asked Yakuoin for charms to protect their silkworms from rats, merchants spread its talismans to their customers, and thankful pilgrims donated cedar saplings, a custom still recorded on boards along the path. The gate on the approach carries a plaque that sums it up: Reiki Manzan, a mountain full of spirit.
What to see
- Mount Takao and Yakuoin: the sacred mountain, its temple and the tall cedar avenue on the approach.Google Maps 高尾山薬王院 (opens in a new tab)
- Hachioji Castle ruins: Ujiteru's mountain castle, where a garden with a pond and imported Venetian glass were dug up.Google Maps 八王子城跡 (opens in a new tab)
- Takiyama Castle ruins: Ujiteru's earlier castle on gentle hills.Google Maps 滝山城跡 (opens in a new tab)
Plan your trip with the Tokyo guide and see more temples and shrines.
Good to know
- On the way up to Yakuoin, look for the Reiki Manzan plaque on the Joshinmon gate.
- Read the cedar sapling boards along the approach; many were offered by people from Gunma and Saitama with ties to silk.
- Look out for Tama-ori, the traditional silk weaving born from Hachioji's silk trade.
Questions travellers ask
Why was Hachioji called Soto?
Soto means capital of mulberry. Hachioji grew on silk, and it was the only town given that name.
What links Mount Takao to the silk trade?
Silk farmers and merchants worshipped at Yakuoin on Mount Takao, spread its charms and protected the mountain.
Where it comes from
More heritage stories from the same area
- Aizu's 33 Kannon pilgrimage: faith with a day out
- Asuka: the women who shaped the birth of Japan
- Date Masamune's dazzling culture in Sendai and Matsushima
- Gyoda: the town of tabi storehouses
- Hida no Takumi: 1,300 years of master woodworkers in Takayama
- Iga and Koka: in search of the real ninja
- Izumo: the sacred land where the sun sets
- Kakaa Tenka: the women behind Gunma's silk
- Kamenose: crossing the landslide heart of the Tatsuta Kodo
- Katsuragi Shugen: where mountain asceticism began
- Michinoku gold: where Japan's gold story began
- Nyonin Koya: the temples where women prayed instead of Mount Koya
Local foods from the same area
Crafts from the same area
Sources
We checked the facts on this page against these sources.