Mount Nijō (二上山, Nijōzan) is a mountain in the

Kongō Range The is a mountain range on the borders of Nara Prefecture, Nara and Osaka Prefectures on the island of Honshū in the southwest of central Japan. The range separates the Osaka Plain and the Nara Basin, and forms a natural place for the boundary ...

straddling the prefectural border between Taishi,

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

and Katsuragi,

Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent agency of the United States government within the executive branch, charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It is also task ...

in Japan. Mount Nijō has twin peaks, Odake (517m) and Medake (474m). From the top there are sweeping views of Nara's basin, Osaka plain and Osaka bay. Mount Nijō is located along the

Minami Osaka Line is a railway line operated by Kintetsu Railway. It runs between in Osaka and in Kashihara, Nara Prefecture. The line connects Osaka to southern part of the Nara Basin, running through Osaka's southern suburb cities of Matsubara, Fujiidera ...

of the

Kintetsu Railway , referred to as and officially Kinki-Nippon Railway, is a Japanese passenger railway company, managing infrastructure and operating passenger train service. Its railway system is the largest in Japan, excluding Japan Railways Group. The railw ...

and is accessible on several different hiking trails on all sides of varying difficulty and length. The mountain forms part of the diamond trail, which is a 45 km-long trail running along the Kongō mountain range separating

and

Wakayama Wakayama may refer to: * Wakayama Prefecture, a prefecture of Japan * Wakayama (city), the capital city of Wakayama Prefecture, Japan * Wakayama Station, a train station in Wakayama, Wakayama * Wakayama University, a national university in Wakayama, ...

Prefectures. Heading south along the diamond trail is

Mount Yamato Katsuragi or simply Mount Katsuragi is a mountain in the Kongō Range straddling the prefectural border of Chihayaakasaka, Osaka and Gose, Nara in Japan. The peak elevation is . The mountain is located along the Gose Line of the Kintetsu Railway. The bas ...

(about 8.6 km) and

Mount Kongō is a mountain in the Kongō Range in the Kawachi region of Osaka Prefecture, Kansai, Japan. It is near Mount Yamato Katsuragi. The mountain has lent its name to a series of naval ships and ship classes: the Imperial Japanese Navy's 1877 ...

(about 14.1 km). According to the

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 ...

, Mount Nijō was known as ''‘Futakamiyama’'' which means twin mountains. This mountain is worshipped by local people as a gateway to heaven. Mt Nijō was an active volcano millions of years ago. As a result of the eruptions it distributed

igneous rock Igneous rock ( ), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rocks are formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava. The magma can be derived from partial ...

, sanukite,

tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock co ...

and emery powder. Remnants of its eruptions can be seen at Donzurubō towards the north of Mount Nijō.

Access

A number of hiking trails are accessible from all sides of Mount Nijō. * The official start of the diamond trail starts at Donzurubō in the North. There is parking located close to Donzurubō, otherwise it is accessible by foot from

Kaminotaishi station is a passenger railway station in located in the city of Habikino, Osaka Prefecture, Japan, operated by the private railway operator Kintetsu Railway. The station is also the nearest station to the town of Taishi where no train station is loca ...

, Sekiya station, Nijō station and Nijōzan station. Following the diamond trail leads to the summit of Mount Nijō and takes about 1 hour 30 minutes. * Starting from Nijō station or Nijōzan station there are two separate hiking trails that leads to Mount Nijō. Both trails takes about 1 hour 15 minutes. * Starting your hike from Taimadera station in Katsuragi, the trail goes west for about 20 minutes until Taimadera temple. From the temple the ascent begins towards the summit of Mount Nijō passing through Kasadou, Toritaniguchi Kofun and Yusenji. In total, this course takes about 1 hour 45 minutes. * The diamond trail intersects with Takenouchi Kaidō and from Takenouchi Kaidō it takes about 35 minutes to reach the summit area of Mount Nijō. * If following the diamond trail from

, the path is roughly 8.6 km long and takes about 4 hours.

Places of interest

There are a number of notable relics, temples and shrines located close by to Mount Nijo. * Rokutanijiseki (鹿谷寺跡) * Prince Otsu's tomb (大津皇子墓) * Taimadera (當麻寺) * Donzurubō (屯鶴峯) * Kasadou (傘堂) * Toritaniguchi Kofun (鳥谷口古墳) * Yusenji (祐泉寺) * Iwaya (岩屋) * Kasuga Shrine in Kashiba (春日神社) * 26th

sutra mound A is an archaeological site where sūtras were buried underground. In Japanese Buddhism, it is a type of good deed, and was done as a type of puja. Examples of sutra mounds include the Katsuragi 28 Shuku in the Kansai region of Japan. Descr ...

of the Katsuragi 28 Shuku

Gallery

File:Mt.Nijyo.jpg, Mt Nijō in Autumn File:Mount Nijyo02.jpg, View from Mount Nijō File:Mount Nijyo odake2.jpg, Odake peak File:Nijyozan medake2.jpg, Medake peak - with sundial File:Tomb of Prince Otsu, haisho.jpg, Tomb of Prince Otsu - Located near Odake peak File:Rokutanji ato1.jpg, Rokutanji File:Nijyozan-Iwaya4.jpg, Iwaya File:Kasado.jpg, Kasadou File:Taimadera Mandarahall 201905b.jpg, Taimadera File:Dondurubo6.jpg, Donzurubo

References

External links

(In Japanese)
二上山 - 葛城市
(In Japanese)

(In Japanese)

(In Japanese) {{DEFAULTSORT:Nijō Mountains of Nara Prefecture Mountains of Osaka Prefecture