Mount Seppiko
Encyclopedia
is a mountain or mountains in Himeji
Himeji, Hyogo
is a city located in Hyōgo Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. As of April 1, 2011, the city has an estimated population of 535,945, with 206,409 households. The total area is 534.43 km².- History :...

, Hyōgo
Hyogo Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region on Honshū island. The capital is Kobe.The prefecture's name was previously alternately spelled as Hiogo.- History :...

, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. This mountain is one of the San-hiko-san, three Hiko Shugendō
Shugendo
is a highly syncretic Buddhic religion or sect and mystical-spiritual tradition which originated in pre-Feudal Japan, in which enlightenment is equated with attaining oneness with the . This perception of experiential "awakening" is obtained through the understanding of the relationship between...

 mountains in Japan, and also one of Hyōgo 50 mountains, and Kinki 100 mountains.

Outline

There are contradicting definitions of Mount Seppiko. Yumesaki
Yumesaki, Hyogo
was a town located in Shikama District, Hyōgo, Japan.On March 27, 2006 Yumesaki, along with the town of Ieshima, also from Shikama District, the town of Yasutomi, from Shisō District, and the town of Kōdera, from Kanzaki District, was merged into the expanded city of Himeji and is no longer an...

, which was merged into Himeji City in 2005, officially define Mount Seppiko as the name of a group mountains of Mount Horagatake (884m), Mount Hokotate (950m), and Mount Mitsuji (915m). However, maps of the Geographical Survey Institute of Japan show the peak of Mount Mitsuji as the peak of Mount Seppiko. Many mountain guide books write that Mount Otenjo, one of the peaks of rocky Mount Horagatake, is the default peak of the Seppiko. Other people define the Seppiko as a name of another group of mountains consisting of Mount Horagatake, Mount Hokotate, Mount Mitsuji, and Mount Myojin
Mount Myōjin
is a  mountain, on the border of Matsusaka, Mie and Kawakami, Nara, Japan. This mountain is one of Daikō Mountains.- Route :To the top of Mount Myōjin, there are two major routes. One is from Maakodani Tozanguchi, it takes about three hours. The other is via Myōjindaira from Ōmata Bus Stop of Nara...

, Mount Nagusa. This mountain is a part of Seppiko-Mineyama Natural Park of Hyōgo Prefecture.

Religion and history

Mount Seppiko is a place for the ascetic practices of Shugendō in this region. According to the official history of the Kaya Jinja, a Shinto shrine in the middle of the mountain, the shrine was established in the 7th century in the time of Empress Suiko
Empress Suiko
was the 33rd emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.Suiko's reign spanned the years from 593 until her death in 628....

. Mount Seppiko also is considered to be developed for Shugensha, practitioners of Shugendō. Kaya Jinja was originally a typical example of Shinbutsu shūgō
Shinbutsu Shugo
, literally "syncretism of kami and buddhas" is the syncretism of Buddhism and kami worship which was Japan's religion until the Meiji period...

, literally "fusion of practices from both Shinto and Buddhism", and had a Buddhist temple, Seppiko-san Kongo Chingo-ji, just beside the Shinto shrine. However, the temple was abolished by the Shinbutsu Bunri
Shinbutsu Bunri
The term in Japanese indicates the forbidding by law of the amalgamation of kami and buddhas made during the Meiji Restoration. It also indicates the effort made by the Japanese government to create a clear division between native kami beliefs and Buddhism on one side, and Buddhist temples and...

 Order, literally Shinto-Buddhism-separation Order of the Meiji Government in 1868.

Mount Seppiko is one of the mountains which still have some areas which women are prohibited from entering, in order not to disturb the training of Shugensha.

Tourism

Mount Seppiko is also very famous for rock climbing
Rock climbing
Rock climbing also lightly called 'The Gravity Game', is a sport in which participants climb up, down or across natural rock formations or artificial rock walls. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a pre-defined route without falling...

. It attracts many climbers in Kansai area.
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