located in

Minato-ku, Osaka is one of 24 wards of Japan, wards of Osaka, Japan. It has an area of 7.9 km², and a population of 84,961. Literally translated, Minato-ku means "Harbor Ward". Landmarks *Kaiyukan (Osaka Aquarium) *Port of Osaka *Tempozan Harbor Villag ...

is commonly recognized as Japan's lowest mountain. The definition of a "mountain" used here is any elevation described as a mountain on a

topographic map In modern mapping, a topographic map or topographic sheet is a type of map characterized by large- scale detail and quantitative representation of relief features, usually using contour lines (connecting points of equal elevation), but historic ...

published by the

Geographical Survey Institute of Japan The , or GSI, is the national institution responsible for surveying and mapping the national land of Japan. The former name of the organization from 1949 until March 2010 was Geographical Survey Institute; despite the rename, it retains the same ...

, though it is disputed that the mountain lacks credibility because it is not a natural part of the landscape. The mountain's peak is 4.53 meters above sea level, and will bear more resemblance to a hill than a mountain to the casual observer. A small port is located nearby, and much of the mountain's surface has been converted into a park.

History

Mount Tenpō was formed in 1831 ( Tenpō year 2) as the deposit for earth dug up from

dredging Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing da ...

the Ajigawa river to allow easier access to Osaka for large ships and to prevent floods. The mountain had an elevation of about 20 meters at the time, and served as a marker for ships entering the Ajigawa river to head to the city of Osaka. Cherry blossom and pine trees were planted on the mountain as people began to set up shops in the area, and the mountain gradually became the visitor attraction that it is now. Images of children playing in this area were sketched in

ukiyo-e Ukiyo-e is a genre of Japanese art which flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries. Its artists produced woodblock prints and paintings Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surfac ...

Utagawa Hiroshige Utagawa Hiroshige (, also ; ja, 歌川広重 ), born Andō Tokutarō (; 1797 – 12 October 1858), was a Japanese ''ukiyo-e'' artist, considered the last great master of that tradition. Hiroshige is best known for his horizontal-format l ...

and other artists. Part of the mountain was leveled to set up an artillery unit to protect the river pass after the fall of the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

. As industrialization progressed in the Taishō and Shōwa periods, overuse of

groundwater Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidate ...

resulted in

subsidence Subsidence is a general term for downward vertical movement of the Earth's surface, which can be caused by both natural processes and human activities. Subsidence involves little or no horizontal movement, which distinguishes it from slope move ...

, lowering the mountain's elevation even further. This caused the mountain's name to be erased from topographic maps until it was reinstated due to fierce protests from local residents.

Location

The mountain is located about 400 meters north of the Ōsakakō Station stop of the Chūō Line.

Mount Tenpō Park

The mountain's surface is currently known as . Surrounded by a large

levee A levee (), dike (American English), dyke (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is a structure that is usually soil, earthen and that often runs parallel (geometry), parallel to ...

, the park itself contains large hills (the deposits for earth dug up in constructing underground train tunnels) which have much higher elevations than the actual "peak" of the mountain. A stone memorial of the

Meiji Emperor , also called or , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession. Reigning from 13 February 1867 to his death, he was the first monarch of the Empire of Japan and presided over the Meiji era. He was the figure ...

's first sea-borne military parade in 1876 is located next to the triangular peak of the mountain. The park's clock-tower was originally a prop for a television show produced by the

Kansai Telecasting Corporation JODX-DTV, virtual channel 8 ( UHF digital channel 17), branded as or , is the Kansai region key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and Fuji Network System (FNS), operated by the . Kansai TV is a company affiliated in Hankyu Hanshin Holdin ...

, but was later donated to the prefecture. The park contains several art depicting the area during the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

Surrounding area

The mountain is located near several leisure and amusement facilities, including the

Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan The is an aquarium located in the ward of Minato in Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan, near Osaka Bay. When it first opened, it was the largest public aquarium in the world. It is a member of the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums. The a ...

and the

Suntory Museum The is an arts museum located in Tokyo Midtown, Roppongi, Tokyo. It is owned by the Suntory corporation. The collection theme of the art works is "Art in life" and they mainly have Japanese antiques. History In 1961, Suntory President Keiz ...

. It is also a short ferry ride away from

Universal Studios Japan is a theme park located in Osaka, Japan. Opened on March 31, 2001, it is one of six Universal Parks & Resorts, Universal Studios theme parks worldwide and was the first to open outside the United States. The park is owned and operated by a whol ...

on via the Tempozan Ferry Terminal. The

Hanshin Expressway The is a network of expressways surrounding Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto, Japan. Operated by , it opened in 1962. Portions of the Hanshin Expressway about east of Fukae Station collapsed during the Kobe earthquake on 17 January 1995. These section ...

also has an exit named after Mount Tenpō.

Mount Tenpō Mountaineering Club and Rescue Team

In 1997, in reaction to Mount Tenpō being listed as a mountain on the topological maps in 1996, two citizens founded the ''Mount Tenpō Mountaineering Club'' with the goal of establishing Mount Tenpō as a tourist attraction. The club held annual "climbing events" on new year's day and April 5th (in reference to Mount Tenpō's 4.5 meter elevation) which by 2000 drew the attendance of around a thousand people as well as newspaper and television coverage. In the spirit of いちびり (ichibiri, an Osaka dialect term meaning "taking a joke to the extreme") they issued commemorative "mountain climbing certificates" at these events and also to anyone who would apply and pay the issuance fee of 10 Yen. The club also formed a ''Mount Tenpō Rescue Team'', staffed by two members. In 2005, the club ceased its operation out of a café in the vicinity of Mount Tenpō. The reopening of the club was announced for 2010, but their website since closed and current operations are unknown.

References