ancient times. From the Heian period, it gradually became a training ground for Shugendō, as an avatar of Yakushi Nyorai. From the south was a pilgrimage path to the summit. In the middle of the Edo period the mountain drew many pilgrims and had 33 chapels at its base., with additional routes to its summit opened in the north. There is also a tradition that the island of Tobishima in the Sea of Japan was originally a part of the summit of Mount Chokai. Three ships have been named after Mount Chōkai: Chōkai, an early steam gunboat, and the cruiser (sunk in 1944), which were both in the Imperial Japanese Navy, and the JDS Chōkai, a Kongō class guided missile destroyer currently in service in the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. See also List of volcanoes in Japan References External links Chokaisan - Japan Meteorological Agency - Japan Meteorological Agency Chokaisan - Smithsonian Institution: Global Volcanism Program Tohoku Tourism home page https://www.thehiddenjapan.com/mtchokai - English Information Mountains of Akita Prefecture Mountains of Yamagata Prefecture Volcanoes of Akita Prefecture Volcanoes of Yamagata Prefecture Volcanoes of Honshū Stratovolcanoes of Japan Active volcanoes Historic Sites of Japan Two-thousanders of Asia Pleistocene stratovolcanoes Holocene stratovolcanoes