15. Mount Osore, Japan
In the center of the remote Shimokita Peninsula in the northeastern cape of the Japanese island of Honshu, lies a caldera volcano called Mount Osore. It last erupted in 1787, but the locals still call it the “burning mountain.” It is also, perhaps fittingly, thought of as an entrance to hell. Mount Osore literally means “Mount Fear” in Japanese, and the entrance to the underworld is marked by a small brook that neighbors the Sanzu River. This river is thought to be the boundary between the realms of the living and the dead, according to Buddhist belief. They also believe that based on how one lives their life, their soul’s journey across this boundary will be anywhere from easy to difficult, from crossing a bridge to wading through snake-infested waters. The charred landscape, bubbling pits, and sulfur fumes around Mount Osore lend to its image of being an entrance to hell.
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