Ōeyama (Japanese: 大枝山), also known as Ooe-yama and Mount Ooe, is a mountain in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. The mount is 480m high. The mountain is located in the boundary between Nishikyo Ward,

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

, and

Kameoka is a city in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 87,518 in 29,676 households and a population density of 390 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Kameoka abuts Kyoto to the east and is loca ...

. It is also called 大江山 (Ōeyama) (in

Man'yōshū The is the oldest extant collection of Japanese (poetry in Classical Japanese), compiled sometime after AD 759 during the Nara period. The anthology is one of the most revered of Japan's poetic compilations. The compiler, or the last in ...

) or (大井山) Ōiyama (大井山) (in

Nihon Kōki is an officially commissioned Japanese history text. Completed in 840, it is the third volume in the Six National Histories. It covers the years 792–833. Background Following the earlier national history ''Shoku Nihongi'' (797), in 819 Empero ...

). Oinosaka-toge Pass (老ノ坂峠) is located on the north-side slope of this mountain. In the past, the slope where pass of Mt. Oe was called 'Oeno-saka Slope' (大江坂), but is now referred to as Oino-saka Slope (老の坂). It is the most famous for the legend of

Shuten-dōji Shuten-dōji (, also sometimes called , or ) is a mythical ''oni'' or demon leader of Japan, who according to legend was killed by the hero Minamoto Raikō. Although decapitated, the demon's detached head still took a bite at the hero, who avoid ...

, an

oni An is a kind of ''yōkai'', demon, orc, ogre, or troll in Japanese folklore. Oni are mostly known for their fierce and evil nature manifested in their propensity for murder and cannibalism. Notwithstanding their evil reputation, oni possess i ...

. It is now the site of a

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North ...

, about 20 minutes by bus from Miyazu Station on the KTR Miyazu Line.Ski Resort
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History

Before the capital was moved to

Heian-kyō Heian-kyō was one of several former names for the city now known as Kyoto. It was the official capital of Japan for over one thousand years, from 794 to 1868 with an interruption in 1180. Emperor Kanmu established it as the capital in 794, mov ...

, this route was used for going to Heijō-kyō via

Yodo River The , also called the Seta River (瀬田川 ''Seta-gawa'') and the Uji River (宇治川 ''Uji-gawa'') at portions of its route, is the principal river in Osaka Prefecture on Honshu, Japan. The source of the river is Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefectur ...

. People using the

San'indō is a Japanese geographical term. It means both an ancient division of the country and the main road running through it. ''San'in'' translates to "the shaded side of a mountain", while ''dō'', depending on the context, can mean either a road, o ...

Road from Heian-kyō, passed through Oeno-seki (the Oe gate station) placed on Oeno-saka Slope, located in the boundary between

Yamashiro Province was a province of Japan, located in Kinai. It overlaps the southern part of modern Kyoto Prefecture on Honshū. Aliases include , the rare , and . It is classified as an upper province in the ''Engishiki''. Yamashiro Province included Kyoto its ...

and

Tanba Province was a province of Japan in the area of central Kyoto and east-central Hyōgo Prefectures. Tanba bordered on Harima, Ōmi, Settsu, Tajima, Wakasa, and Yamashiro Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was . In terms of the Gokishichidō system ...

, in order to bid farewell to the capital; therefore, it was known as a place of

utamakura is a rhetorical concept in Japanese poetry. Definition is a category of poetic words, often involving place names, that allow for greater allusions and intertextuality across Japanese poems. enables poets to express ideas and themes concisel ...

. Due to its strategic location from a transportation and military perspective, it was recorded that, in Jowa Incident and in

Hōgen rebellion In Japanese, Hōgen may refer to several words. Among them: * Hōgen (era) (保元, 1156–1159), an era in Japan * Hōgen rebellion, a short civil war in 1156 * dialect (方言) — for example: "eigo no hōgen" (English dialect) See also * ...

, many were stationed to prevent suspicious persons from entering or exiting the capital. It is also known that famous military commanders passed through here: it is said that

Minamoto no Yoshitsune was a military commander of the Minamoto clan of Japan in the late Heian and early Kamakura periods. During the Genpei War, he led a series of battles which toppled the Ise-Heishi branch of the Taira clan, helping his half-brother Yoritomo conso ...

Ashikaga Takauji was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate."Ashikaga Takauji" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 625. His rule began in 1338, beginning the Muromac ...

attacking Rokuhara Tandai and

Akechi Mitsuhide , first called Jūbei from his clan and later from his title, was a Japanese ''samurai'' general of the Sengoku period best known as the assassin of Oda Nobunaga. Mitsuhide was a bodyguard of Ashikaga Yoshiaki and later a successful general under ...

, passed through here on their way to battle. A sekisho (checking station) was placed here in the

Muromachi period The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate (''Muromachi bakufu'' or ''Ashikaga bakufu''), which was officially established in 1338 by t ...

. This place was designated as one of (four boundaries) to prevent unclean influences from outside from entering the Capital of Heian-kyo and to rid the capital of

filth Filth or The Filth may refer to: Common uses * Dirt, unclean matter * Police officer, a pejorative in British slang Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Filth'' (film), a 2013 film based on the novel * ''Filth'', an alternative title for ''S ...

generated from within. For this reason, it was known that thieves ousted from Kyoto lived in the areas around Ōeyama and it was also believed that

lived there as well. In the past, Kyoto and Kameoka were connected via Oino-saka-toge Pass, but now, the Shin-Oino-saka tunnel for national road 9 and for the KyotoJuka expressway was constructed directly under the pass.

Folklore

It was known in popular mythology as the residence of

, an oni. A

kubizuka Kubizuka (首塚, literally ''neck mound'' in Japanese, often translated as ''head tomb'') is a burial mound built in Japan with purpose of rest for the souls whose heads were severed because they were killed in battles and fights, captured, or pu ...

where the head of Shuten-dōji is supposed to lay is said to exist on the south side of Oino-saka-toge Pass.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oeyama Mountains of Kyoto Prefecture Ski areas and resorts in Japan