, also known in English as Sentsūzan, is a mountain located on the border of Nichinan,

Tottori Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Tottori Prefecture is the least populous prefecture of Japan at 570,569 (2016) and has a geographic area of . Tottori Prefecture borders Shimane Prefecture to the west, Hir ...

and

Okuizumo is a town located in Nita District, Shimane Prefecture, Japan. It was formed on March 31, 2005 from the merger of the towns of Nita and Yokota. As of March 1, 2017, the town has a population of 12,655 and a density of 34 persons per km². T ...

Shimane Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Shimane Prefecture is the second-least populous prefecture of Japan at 665,205 (February 1, 2021) and has a geographic area of 6,708.26 km2. Shimane Prefecture borders Yamag ...

, in Japan. Mount Sentsū has an

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § ...

of and is one of the highest peaks in the Chūgoku Mountain Range and part of the

Hiba-Dogo-Taishaku Quasi-National Park is a Quasi-National Park that spans areas of Tottori Prefecture, Shimane Prefecture, and Hiroshima Prefecture, to the east of the island of Honshu, Japan. It was founded on 24 July 1963 and has an area of . As its name suggests, the Hiba-Dogo-Ta ...

. Mount Sentsū was historically on the border of the ancient provinces of

Hōki Province was an old province of Japan in the area that is today the western part of Tottori Prefecture. It was sometimes called . Hōki bordered on Inaba, Mimasaka, Bitchū, Bingo, and Izumo Provinces. The ancient capital was in the area that i ...

and

Izumo Province was an old province of Japan which today consists of the eastern part of Shimane Prefecture. It was sometimes called . The province is in the Chūgoku region. History During the early Kofun period (3rd century) this region was independent a ...

. The base of Mount Sentsū is primarily composed of

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies und ...

. This granite is a rich source of iron sand, and the mountain was historically known as a source for this material.

Etymology

The name of Mount Sentsū in

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

is formed from two

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subse ...

. The first, , means "

boat A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically found on i ...

" and the second, means "to cross".

Association with Susanoo legend

According to the

Kojiki The , also sometimes read as or , is an early Japanese chronicle of myths, legends, hymns, genealogies, oral traditions, and semi-historical accounts down to 641 concerning the origin of the Japanese archipelago, the , and the Japanese imperi ...

, Mount Sentsū is the scene of the legendary battle between

Susanoo __FORCETOC__ Susanoo (; historical orthography: , ) is a in Japanese mythology. The younger brother of Amaterasu, goddess of the sun and mythical ancestress of the Japanese imperial line, he is a multifaceted deity with contradictory charac ...

and

Yamata no Orochi , or simply , is a legendary eight-headed and eight-tailed Japanese dragon/ serpent. Mythology Yamata no Orochi legends are originally recorded in two ancient texts about Japanese mythology and history. The 712 AD transcribes this dragon nam ...

. Yamata no Orochi, an 8-headed and 8-tailed

Japanese dragon Japanese dragons (, ''Nihon no ryū'') are diverse legendary creatures in Japanese mythology and folklore. Japanese dragon myths amalgamate native legends with imported stories about dragons from China, Korea and the Indian subcontinent. ...

, tormented residents of the Izumo area. Susanoo, the

Shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintoist ...

god In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

of the

sea The sea, connected as the world ocean or simply the ocean, is the body of salty water that covers approximately 71% of the Earth's surface. The word sea is also used to denote second-order sections of the sea, such as the Mediterranean Sea, ...

and

storm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderstorm), ...

s, slew Yamata no Orochi at the foot of Mount Sentsū, and his blood flowed into the Hi River (today known as

Hii River The is a river on the island of Honshu in Shimane Prefecture and Tottori Prefecture, Japan. With a length of 153 km and catchment of 2540 km2, it is the largest river in the east of Shimane Prefecture. It flows through the cities of Izu ...

). Yamata no Orochi's corpse produced

Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi is a legendary Japanese sword and one of three Imperial Regalia of Japan. It was originally called , but its name was later changed to the more popular ("Grass-Cutting Sword"). In folklore, the sword represents the virtue of valor. Legends ...

, a Japanese

sword A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed t ...

and one of three

Imperial Regalia of Japan The are the imperial regalia of Japan and consist of the sword , the mirror , and the jewel . They represent the three primary virtues: valour (the sword), wisdom (the mirror), and benevolence (the jewel).

that legitimate the rule of the Emperor. Susanoo then presented the sword to his sister, the Sun Goddess Amaterasu, who passed it to her descendants, the

Imperial family of Japan The , also referred to as the Imperial Family or the House of Yamato, comprises those members of the extended family of the reigning Emperor of Japan who undertake official and public duties. Under the present Constitution of Japan, the Emperor i ...

Transportation

Mount Sentsū is a popular

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A His ...

destination. It is accessible from the

Shōyama Station is a passenger railway station located in the town of Nichinan, Tottori Prefecture, Japan. It is operated by the West Japan Railway Company (JR West). Lines Shōyama Station is served by the Hakubi Line, and is located 95.4 kilometers from t ...

in Nichinan via the

JR West , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, and ...

Hakubi Line The is a railway line operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West) in the mountainous area of the Chūgoku region of Japan. It begins at the south end of Okayama Prefecture at Kurashiki Station in Kurashiki, passing through Niimi Station ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mount Sentsu Sentsu Sentsu Tourist attractions in Tottori Prefecture Tourist attractions in Shimane Prefecture Nichinan, Tottori