In October 2005, a slope car with a total length of 849 meters was built along the approach to Hikosan Jingu, making it possible to reach the shrine in about 15 minutes from the base of the mountains.

A large jade bead dating from the late Jomon period was also found, which is rare in Fukuoka Prefecture and was brought from Itoigawa, Niigata, about 1500 kilometers away in a straight line, indicating that active trade existed at the time.

The final purpose of Shugendō is for practitioners to find supernatural power and save themselves and the masses by conducting religious training while treading through steep mountain ranges.

However, Mount Hiko became famous as a training ground for yamabushi, with a focus on the martial arts, and at its peak, it is said to have had thousands of warrior monks, a military force comparable to that of a feudal lord.

Shugendō gradually fell into decline during the Edo Period, and was banned by the Meiji government in 1870 with its Shinbutsu bunri edict separating Shinto from Buddhism, and many of the chapels and temples on the mountains reverted to forest and rice fields.