Mount Iizuna

Mount Iizuna (飯縄山, Iizuna-yama), also written as 飯綱山 (Iizuna-yama), is a stratovolcano located ten kilometers north-northwest of the heart of Nagano, Nagano Prefecture, Japan. The mountain straddles the city of Nagano and Iizuna town in Kamiminochi District, Nagano. Together with Mount Reisenji (霊仙寺山, Resenji-yama) 1875.0 m, Mount Menō (瑪瑙山, Menō-yama) 1748 m, and others, it forms the Iizuna range. It has an elevation of 1,917 metres. Mount Iizuna is located within Myōkō-Togakushi Renzan National Park, and is one of the "Five Mountains of Northern Shinshu" (北信五岳) that also includes Mount Myōkō, Mount Kurohime, Mount Togakushi, and Mount Madarao. The mountain is one of the 200 most famous mountains in Japan (日本二百名山 Nihon 200 meizan), and one of the 100 most famous mountains in Nagano (信州百名山). This mountain is a sacred site for mountain-based religious sects such as Shugendo, and said to be the home of a tengu named Saburō. According to legend, there was once a strange, edible sand somewhere on the mountain, which the tengu would distribute in times of poor harvest. At the entrances of the hiking trails, there are several torii and komainu, the South Trail includes 13 stone Buddhas, and there is a shrine located near the summit.