Dining Options

Here at Mt. Yudono you can enjoy shojin ryori, the traditional buddhist monk cooking of the Yamabushi Mountain Monks.

The Yamabushi developed this cuisine during their long periods of mountain training where they would often isolate themselves for weeks or months in the mountains.  This form of cooking utilizes ingredients naturally found on the Dewa Sanzan mountains and allowed them to sustain themselves without having to rely on the outside world.

The consumption of shojin ryori also represents a significant part of the training of the yamabushi.  This cuisine centers around natural seasonal vegetation and is believed to help balance the spirit and mind of the monks.  Distinctly different from the strictly vegetarian Zen Buddhist forms of shojin ryori, the cooking of the yamabushi on Mt. Yudono actually utilizes fish.  This meat dish is believed to help facilitate the rebirth that these monks go through on Mt. Yudono and is believed to help facilitate their return to their corporeal bodies after training in the afterlife on Mt. Gassan.