View from the mountain trail is a mountain on the border of Sōma City and the former town of Ryōzen, in Date City,

Fukushima may refer to: Japan * Fukushima Prefecture, Japanese prefecture ** Fukushima, Fukushima, capital city of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan ***Fukushima University, national university in Japan *** Fukushima Station (Fukushima) in Fukushima, Fukushim ...

. It is in height. Along the hiking trail are the sites of what were Ryōzen Temple and Ryōzen Castle. The mountain is listed as one of the 100 Landscapes of Japan in a contest sponsored by the

Tokyo Nichi Nichi Shimbun Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.4 ...

and Osaka Mainichi Shimbun. It is also a national Place of Scenic Beauty as determined by the

Agency for Cultural Affairs The is a special body of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). It was set up in 1968 to promote Japanese arts and culture. The agency's budget for FY 2018 rose to ¥107.7 billion. Overview The ag ...

in Japan and is noted for its autumn foliage and a National Historic Site of Japan.

The mountain

Mount Ryōzen is part of the

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

volcanic plateau A volcanic plateau is a plateau produced by volcanic activity. There are two main types: lava plateaus and pyroclastic plateaus. Lava plateau Lava plateaus are formed by highly fluid basaltic lava during numerous successive eruptions throu ...

known as the Abukuma Highlands in northern Fukushima. It was regarded as a

sacred mountain Sacred mountains are central to certain religions, and are usually the subjects of many legends. For many, the most symbolic aspect of a mountain is the peak because it is believed that it is closest to heaven or other religious realms. Many rel ...

and was once known as a center for the ''

Shugendō is a highly syncretic religion, a body of ascetic practices that originated in the Nara Period of Japan having evolved during the 7th century from an amalgamation of beliefs, philosophies, doctrines and ritual systems drawn from local fol ...

'' mountain religion.

History

Ryōzen Temple

In the first year of the Jōgan Era (859),

Ennin , better known in Japan by his posthumous name, Jikaku Daishi (), was a priest of the Tendai school of Buddhism in Japan, and its third . Ennin was instrumental in expanding the Tendai Order's influence, and bringing back crucial training and re ...

, a Buddhist monk of the

Tendai , also known as the Tendai Lotus School (天台法華宗 ''Tendai hokke shū,'' sometimes just "''hokke shū''") is a Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition (with significant esoteric elements) officially established in Japan in 806 by the Japanese m ...

sect founded the temple Ryōzen-ji (not to be confused with

Ryōzen Shrine is a Shinto shrine located on Mount Ryōzen in the former town of Ryozen, within the city of Date, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. Its main festivals are held annually on April 22 and October 10. The shrine was founded in 1881, and enshrines the ...

). The name Ryōzen was adapted from that of Mount Ryojusen (or Gridhakuta) in India. The temple was burnt down in the wars of the

Nanboku-chō period The Nanboku-chō period (南北朝時代, ''Nanboku-chō jidai'', "North and South court period", also known as the Northern and Southern Courts period), spanning from 1336 to 1392, was a period that occurred during the formative years of the Mur ...

, but the

Date clan The is a Japanese samurai kin group. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)"Date", ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 5 retrieved 2013-5-5. History The Date family was founded ...

restored the temple during the late

Sengoku period The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...

. It was restored again in the early days of 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 ...

Ryōzen Castle

Acting in support of the

Southern Court The were a set of four emperors (Emperor Go-Daigo and his line) whose claims to sovereignty during the Nanboku-chō period spanning from 1336 through 1392 were usurped by the Northern Court. This period ended with the Southern Court definitively ...

Kitabatake Akiie was a Japanese court noble, and an important supporter of the Southern Court during the Nanboku-chō Wars. He also held the posts of Commander-in-Chief of the Defense of the North, and Governor of Mutsu Province. His father was Imperial advi ...

fortified the temple of Ryōzen-ji and turned it into his residence, which he proclaimed to be Ryōzen Castle. Acting as governor of the province of Mutsu, he proclaimed it to be the

provincial capital A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city that physically encompasses the g ...

. Kitabatake Akiie received the support of the 7th hereditary chieftain of the

, Date Yukitomo against the forces of the Northern Court led by

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 ...

. In 1337 he led a campaign south, waging battle several times before he was killed on May 22, 1338 at the age of 21. Ryōzen Castle remained for nine years after Akiie's death, before it was destroyed by the Northern Court's army. The site was excavated in 1980, with a large amount of artifacts discovered, including Seto ware pottery and coins from

Sung dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

China. The site was designated a National Historic Site of Japan in 1934.

Hiking Trail

Hōjudai

Hōjudai (宝寿台) is the point at the top of the cliff that stands upright from the foot of the mountain. From this point, one can see the Abukuma and Azuma Mountain Ranges.

Kokushisawa

From the bottom of the valley, Kokushisawa (国司沢) seems to stand at a nearly perfect right angle. There are ladders to reach this point on the trail.

Tengu no Sumō Jō

The "tengu sumo wrestling hall" (天狗の相撲) is a rock protruding towards the West with a flat surface the size of eight tatami mats. It is said that

tengu are a type of legendary creature found in Japanese folk religion (Shinto). They are considered a type of ''yōkai'' (supernatural beings) or Shinto ''kami'' (gods). The ''Tengu'' were originally thought to take the forms of birds of prey and a ...

prefer this spot for wrestling.

Gomadan

Gomadan (護摩壇) is the entrance to the area that was once the site of Ryōzen Castle. There is a low hanging rock to pass under before arriving at a large flat area where it is believed that Buddhist rituals were once performed.http://www.date-shi.jp/wp-content/uploads/brochure/tozan.pdf

Amenities

There is a restroom in the parking lot before the entrance to the main trail as well as one at the peak of the mountain, at the site of Ryōzen Castle. Below the parking lot is Ryōzen's Kōsaikan (a hotel and bathhouse).

Access

The entrance to the main path up the mountain is located in a parking lot connected to the Nakamura Highway (Route 115) and the Central Tohoku Expressway. It is about 45 minutes from the Kunimi Inter-change (IC) on the Central Tohoku Expressway. It is also about fifty minutes from the Fukushima-Iizaka IC, or thirty minutes by taxi from the local

Abukuma Express Line The is a railway line in Japan, owned and operated by the third sector operator AbukumaExpress. The line connects Fukushima Station in Fukushima Prefecture and Tsukinoki Station in Miyagi Prefecture. Both of these stations are also on the ...

Hobara Station is a railway station on the AbukumaExpress in the city of Date, Fukushima Japan. It was opened July 1, 1988. Lines Hobara Station is served by the Abukuma Express Line, and is located 12.8 rail kilometres from the official starting point of ...

References

External links

Video
by「Authentic Japan ゆめたびふくしま」(with English closed captions) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ryōzen, Mount Mountains of Fukushima Prefecture History of Fukushima Prefecture Date, Fukushima Sōma, Fukushima Historic Sites of Japan Sacred mountains of Japan Places of Scenic Beauty Two-thousanders of Asia