The cherry trees of Yoshino are not ornamental. They are sacred. The mountain is the spiritual center of Shugendo, an ascetic mountain religion that blends elements of Buddhism, Shinto, and Taoism. Its central deity is Zao Gongen, a wrathful protector whose images are traditionally carved from cherry wood. For centuries, Shugendo practitioners carved statues of Zao Gongen and worshippers donated cherry saplings as votive offerings -- each tree a prayer rooted in the mountainside. The result is a forest that grew from devotion rather than landscaping. An alternative origin story holds that Prince Oama, later Emperor Temmu, dreamed of cherry trees blooming in midwinter while staying at the Yoshino Palace in the 7th century. Inspired, he seized the throne in the Jinshin War. Whether planted by pilgrims or planted by imperial ambition, the trees took hold and never stopped spreading.

Mount Yoshino has been planted with cherry blossoms since at least the Heian period, roughly the 9th and 10th centuries. The trees inspired Japanese waka poetry and folk songs across the centuries. The 10th-century anthology Kokin Wakashu includes poems about Yoshino's blossoms, and the mountain appears in several verses of the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu, the famous collection of one hundred poems by one hundred poets. Saigyo, the wandering Buddhist poet of the 12th century, became so associated with Yoshino that his name is inseparable from the place. He wrote of returning season after season, drawn by the blossoms and the solitude. Centuries later, the mountain inspired a celebrated Kabuki play -- Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees -- whose fourth act is set on these very slopes. Yoshino is not merely a place where cherry trees happen to grow; it is a place that shaped how Japan thinks about cherry blossoms.

Beyond the cherry groves, Mount Yoshino anchors a sacred geography that extends deep into the Kii Peninsula. Several important temples and shrines cluster around the mountain, including Kimpusen-ji, whose massive Zao Hall is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, along with Yoshino Mikumari Shrine and Kimpu Shrine. From Kimpusen-ji, the Omine Okugakemichi trail strikes south through some of the most rugged terrain in Japan, connecting Yoshino to the Kumano Sanzan shrines in southern Wakayama Prefecture. Established by the 7th-century ascetic En no Gyoja, the trail follows narrow paths along steep slopes and demands cliff climbs that test even experienced hikers. It was designated a National Historic Site in 2002 and included within the Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004. Pilgrims have walked this route for over 1,300 years.

The cherry forests of Yoshino were once far more extensive than they are today. During and before World War II, large sections were cleared and replanted with more economically valuable hinoki cypress and cryptomeria timber. The mountain that had been cultivated for spiritual beauty was repurposed for lumber. In the 21st century, restoration efforts have worked to reverse that loss, replanting cherry trees and extending the sakura groves back toward their historical range. The dominant variety here is Shiroyamazakura, a wild mountain cherry with delicate white-pink petals that open alongside fresh copper-tinted leaves. It is a more subtle bloom than the showier Somei-Yoshino variety found in city parks across Japan, and it suits the mountain -- understated, resilient, rooted in deep soil.

Yoshinoyama today is laced with hiking trails that meander through the town and up through the cherry forests. A full day of walking covers the four traditional groves -- Shimo Senbon (lower thousand), Naka Senbon (middle thousand), Kami Senbon (upper thousand), and Oku Senbon (innermost thousand) -- each at a higher elevation, each blooming a few days later than the one below. Multi-day trails connect onward to Mount Koya and the pilgrimage town of Hongu in Wakayama. Along the way, visitors find local specialties: sweets made from kudzu root and kakinoha-zushi, sushi wrapped in persimmon leaves. The mountain was designated a National Place of Scenic Beauty and National Historic Site in 1924, became part of Yoshino-Kumano National Park in 1936, and in 1990 was selected as one of Japan's 100 Best Cherry Blossom Spots. From the air in April, the mountain is unmistakable -- a pale pink ribbon laid along a green ridgeline, glowing against the darker forests below.