Mount Yasumandake

Mount Yasumandake is considered a mesa[3] and is covered with primeval oak forest.[4][5] The mountain's surroundings form part of Saikai National Park,[6] and the mountain's highest point is 534 metres (1,752 ft) above sea level, the highest peak on Hirado Island.[7] Mount Yasumandake used to have a large native Sika deer population, but, due to hunting by locals and U.S troops, the population has declined. In hopes to preserve the mountain's deer population, a protected zone was designated near the mountain's center; it has been designated a Prefectural Natural Monument.[8]

Yasumandake was a site of mountain worship for Buddhists and Shintoists in Hirado. The mountain's primary shrine, the Hakusan-hime shrine, was first built in 718; however, due to its later destruction, it was reconstructed in modern times.[5] The mountain's frontal approach has been paved with stone since the Edo period and is considered the main access point for the mountain.[5] This approach is part of the Kyushu Nature Trail, a roughly 2,000-kilometre (1,200 mi) hike around the island of Kyushu.[9] The mountain was a pilgrimage destination for Yamabushi in surrounding areas.[10] When Christianity was banned in Japan many Hidden Christians began to consider the mountain sacred,[11] and they began making Christian pilgrimages to the mountain's Hakusan-hime shrine under the guise of being Shinto.[12] In 2015 the mountain received roughly one hundred visitors per month.[9]

In 2018 Mount Yasumundake was included as a part of the World Heritage Site, "Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region".[13] It was inscribed with Kasuga Village and Nakaenoshima under the name "Kasuga Village and Sacred Places in Hirado".[14]