I visited the seven-sided Great Tennyo Iwaya in Kakuda, Nishigama-ku, Niigata City. The location is near Kakudahama Beach on National Highway 402.

This place is also famous as a test of courage spot.

I came here in the light of day because I didn't want to test my liver.

I remember coming here 20 years ago with a friend.

Huh? I don't remember the grass being this bare.

It goes on and on and on. It is gradually getting chilly. Yes, we can see a fallen tree.

The first thing that comes to mind when talking about rockhouses is this fallen tree. Huh? I thought it was just a fallen tree, but it's a living tree. It's got a lot of moss on it, it didn't used to have moss on it.

It is a good way to see the growth of the trees around you and the passage of time.

After crossing a fallen tree, you finally reach a rockery.

The whole rock formation is quite large, as it is called the Iwaya. You feel as if you are going to be swallowed. There is a signboard, so I looked at it.

You have many stories to tell. Kakudasan Myokoji Temple manages it.

Looking towards the back, there is a white haze. You can smell incense. Has someone paid their respects? White smoke in such an atmosphere... makes me nervous. There was also a statue standing.

It appears to be a bronze statue of Nichiren Shonin.

There was also a well.

The fact that the lid is slightly displaced and open again adds to the scare. What if someone comes out of the well? Didn't your mother tell you to close it when you opened it? (Scared and taking it out on eight)

I should have come in the light of day, but I'm being tested quite a bit on my liver... I want to go home now.

I couldn't see the back of the rockery, so I put the flash on and pressed the shutter. Can you see a little bit of the back of the house?

That...? Um~? Is it called an orb...? Is there something on the screen? A round thing... Light? Dust? Moisture? Or...

Can I go home after all? Is this the one with the bad pattern? Eh... what should I do?

But... I've come all this way, so I'm going to go in at the back! Helmet and headlamp on my head, flashlight in my hand! I feel like a Hiroshi Kawaguchi explorer! (I'm alone.) I proceed slowly, illuminating the inside. We proceed with caution and maximum alertness.

Oh there it is, the stone. There are quite a few here and there. It would be a disaster if I accidentally knocked over a pile of stones...

And it would be a horror story if this had been building up on its own at night.

There was a shrine at the back.

It is illuminated by a flashlight. A shrine seen in such pitch black. It's too atmospheric...

There was a Jizo with a red cloth on the side a short distance away.

I illuminated it with a flashlight. We prayed with our hands to both the shrine and the Jizo.

Looking back and looking out from inside the rock door. I'm confident I'd faint if someone approached me from behind now...

We checked the back of the cave at one point and finally came out. I think it was a short time, but it felt like a long time.

I was going to go home, but I was curious about the Kakudasan Myokoji Temple, which is said to be managed by the temple, and decided to drop in.

It is a nice, spacious and very quiet place.

There was a seven-faced Great Tennyo on the premises.

Main hall. While wandering around the grounds, we were able to speak to a Myokoji temple official.

'Iwaya is often treated as a test of courage and a haunted place, but it is widely believed to be a perfectly ordinary place. It is a place where Nichiren Shonin taught the serpent to become a god and is enshrined".

Apparently I had had a wrong image of it. I was just scared by the atmosphere, but when I heard about the history of Iwaya and that it is widely worshipped, I realised that in my opinion, Iwaya is not a test of courage or a haunted place, but a place full of love.

However, the rockery is very atmospheric. If you are interested, why not visit?