One of Japan's most sacred spots, Osore-zan - essentially meaning "Mt. Dread" - sits in the center of the axe-shaped Shimokita-hantō in northeastern Aomori Prefecture. An extinct volcano still venting a steady scent of hydrogen sulfide, it is home to a 9th-century Buddhist temple complex, with a still caldera lake running along its sulfur-stained, rocky edge. The volcanic landscape around the temple is littered with pinwheels, jizō statues, and numerous stone cairns, the latter said to be built by the spirits of deceased children. Having passed on before their parents, they are condemned to eternally pile rocks as a sort of penance, which mischievous demons continually tear back down every night.