Nadagiri Pass is located near the town of Mogami, in Hanazawa district, Yamagata prefecture. It featured in a haiku poem from Matsuo Bashō's book 'The Narrow Road to Oku' ('Oku no Hosomichi'). Bashō illustrates the pass as a black spot because he was anxious about the bandits that haunted it and the roughness of the path.

Even nowadays, the pass is still rough. Along the way, a statue of Jizo, the guardian deity of children, has been placed and there is a festival held here on July 24th each year. There is also a tree called the 'children blessing pine' beside the stone statue. Its strange shape has led people to imagine that a forest god is inhabiting it.

People back then, including Bashō, must have had a hard time getting over the pass.