Yudono-san (Dainichibo and Churenji) May 1st

Hello.
During my years as a student I have been studying esoteric buddhism and the shugendo tradition, with special regard to the sokushinbutsu ascetic practices. I would now like to pay a visit to the temples cite above, where two sokushinbutsu are enshrined.

We will be sleeping in Tsuruoka and leaving in the morning to catch the 9:15 bus to Oami.
I have a couple of questions to ask:

- can you please confirm that I have it correctly and the Shonai Kutsu buses will be running regularly on May 1st (my wife emailed them but got no answer) and that the temples and Yudono Shrine will be open?

- are the sokushinbutsu (miira) actually visible to the visitors?

- is it significantly colder in mt. Yudono and do we have to dress accordingly?

Thanks in advance to all those who will help,

--
C E Z

Hello
- can you please confirm that I have it correctly and the Shonai Kutsu buses will be running regularly on May 1st (my wife emailed them but got no answer) and that the temples and Yudono Shrine will be open?

According to official HP of Dainichibo, it opens on the end of April.
This depends on snow situation.

http://www.dainichibou.or.jp/sokushinbutu/

I dont know much about bus situation around there but this place is very famous and many people including Japanese people visit here. So I believe the bus runs regularly on 1st May.

- are the sokushinbutsu (miira) actually visible to the visitors?

Yes.

- is it significantly colder in mt. Yudono and do we have to dress accordingly?

It might be under 10 degree(Celsius).
So I recommend you to bring warm clothes.

Hope these help your trip.

Great info! Thank you.