Pool of Purification

Pool of Purification Kanji 禊ヶ淵 Game Located at Mount Hikami Function Natural feature Status Still extant

The Pool of Purification (Japanese name: Misogi-ga-fuchi) is a famous spot on Mount Hikami, alongside the old shrine path. There are several waterfalls along the shrine path, rich in water, in particular Kannagidaki, which flows into the waterfall basin, and Misogi-ga-fuchi, a beautiful pool, which is said to be a special place where pilgrims and shrine maidens would purify themselves before proceeding up the mountain. These days, there are incessant rumours that the bodies of murdered shrine maidens were once discovered here, and it is called the "Maiden Pool" (Miko-ga-fuchi) in occult magazines, among other places. When the mountain was turned into a tourist spot, the area was used to reenact the purifying rituals the shrine maidens used to perform, but the tourists stopped coming when the mountain was abandoned.

In the late Edo period, a man called Kyozo Kururugi came to the mountain and killed every shrine maiden he could find, gouging out their eyes and setting their bodies adrift in the river. They finally washed up in the Pool of Purification, tainting the waters with their blood. Kyozo Kururugi also died there, setting himself aflame in front of the waterfall.