Mt. Kyo-gatake

Mt. Kyo-gatake is located at the northern tip of the Central Alps and is one Japan’s 200 most famous mountains. Its name is derived from the word “sutra” as the characters that make up its name suggest. It is said the high priest, Jikaku Daishi of Hieizan Enryakuji Temple, who established Chusenji Temple at the foot of the mountain, was told in a dream to carve a statue of the eleven-headed Kannon bodhisattva and offer it to Shinano Daijin Gozan, as the mountain was called at the time. He wrote sutras, called “kyo,” on the remaining wood from the statue and offered them together. Since then, Daijin Gozan has been called “Mt. Kyo-gatake.” The Central Alps appear to be divided into north and south (geologically speaking, there is a big difference) by the Gonbee Kaido highway (Gonbee-Toge Pass), which links Kiso and Ina and sits on the southern end of Mt. Kyo-gatake, and there are those who do not include Mt. Kyo-gatake as part of the Central Alps. This mountain is also on the central divide in terms of water systems. The west, the Narai River flows into the Sai River, which flows in the Shinano River before flowing into the Japan Sea, and to the east, the Tenryu River flows into the Pacific Ocean.