The Kuragari Pass is a historic road that cuts through the mountains of Ikoma, crossing the border between Nara and Osaka. It’s quite quaint, with a number of temples, stone Buddhas, and teahouses dotting the cobbled passage, but you must expect a tough hike to complete the trek. It is, after all, the steepest slope in Japan. In everyday Japanese, kuragari is a word meaning “shade” or “darkness.” In the case of this pass, it seems to have been named after the thick woods that surround some believe that it…
