is a mountain in the city of Fujioka,

Gunma Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Gunma Prefecture has a population of 1,937,626 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 6,362 km2 (2,456 sq mi). Gunma Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture and Fukushima ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. It is in height, and was named one of the "100 Sakura Spots in Japan" during

Expo '90 or The International Garden and Greenery Exposition, organized as a part of the International Expositions Convention, was the first large-scale international gardening exposition in Asia and focused on the theme of the "Harmonious Coexistence of ...

by the International Flower and Green Expo Association. It is also a National

Place of Scenic Beauty is a collective term used by the Japanese government's Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties to denote Cultural Properties of JapanIn this article, capitals indicate an official designation as opposed to a simple definition, e.g "Cultural ...

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.

Overview

In premodern times, the mountain was called "Kokuzōsan" and was 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 cults for the worship of Kokūzō Bosatsu. In 1908, the mountain was planted with thousands of ''Somei Yoshino''

cherry trees A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The na ...

in commemoration of Japan's victory in the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...

. These trees have evolved or mutated, so that the bloom much earlier than in other locations and the flowers last longer. The mountain was designated as a National Place of Scenic Beauty in 1937. The trees on the mountain were designated a Living National Monument in 1948. The mountain became part of the Gunma Prefectural Sakurayama Forest Park in 1989. The mountain is located on the middle reaches of the and can be reached in about 35 minutes by car from Fujioka Interchange of yer Joshin'etsu Expressway.

Gallery

file:Mount Sakurayama.jpg, Sakurayama in spring file:桜山 - panoramio.jpg, Sakurayama in summer File:Sakurayama Park Autumn Season.jpg, Sakurayama Park in autumn file:Sakurayama_winter.jpg, Sakurayama in winter file:桜山山頂にて.JPG, Panorama from summit of Sakurayama with Mount Ontake

References

External links

{{commons category
Tourist Guide of Gunma Prefecture
Mountains of Gunma Prefecture Fujioka, Gunma Places of Scenic Beauty Hanami spots of Japan

Overview

Gallery

See also

References

External links