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Mount Hiei

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Overview

Wikivoyage guide · 10 sections

▸Introduction316 chars

Mount Hiei (比叡山 Hiei-zan) is a mountain that lies to the northeast of Kyoto in the Sakamoto (坂本) district of Otsu city. It is famed for the extensive temple complex near the summit. Since many travellers come here from Kyoto, they often enter from the town of Yase (八瀬) at the base of the mountain on the Kyoto side.

▸Understand330 chars

The temple of Enryakuji, the first Japanese outpost of the esoteric Tendai sect of Buddhism, was founded atop Mt. Hiei by Saichō (Dengyō Daishi) in 788. The temple complex was razed by Oda Nobunaga in 1571 to quell the rising power of the Tendai's warrior monks, but it was rebuilt and remains the Tendai headquarters to this day.

▸Tourist information site91 chars

The local tourist associations has a multilingual guide site, also covering Lake Biwa area.

▸Get in56 chars

Facts

Rank

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Coordinates

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Source

WBP almanac

External sources

Wikivoyage

Media

From Wikipedia803 words

Introduction

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Find sources: "Mount Hiei" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (November 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this message) Mountain in Japan Mount Hiei比叡山The view from Kyoto with Cherry blossoms (April 2005)Highest pointElevation848.1 m (2,782 ft)ListingList of mountains and hills of Japan by heightCoordinates35°4′0″N 135°50′18″E / 35.06667°N 135.83833°E / 35.06667; 135.83833GeographyLocationHonshū, Shiga Prefecture, JapanTopo map(s)Geographical Survey Institute 25000:1 京都東北部, 50000:1 京都及大阪 Relief map of Mount Hiei West side Mount Hiei (比叡山, Hiei-zan) is a mountain to the northeast of Kyoto, lying on the border between the Kyoto and Shiga Prefectures, Japan. The temple of Enryaku-ji, the first outpost of the Japanese Tendai (Chin. Tiantai) sect of Buddhism, was founded atop Mount Hiei by Saichō in 788 and rapidly grew into a sprawling complex of temples and buildings that were roughly divided into three areas: The Saitō (西塔; "West Pagoda") area near the summit, and technically in Kyoto Prefecture. The Tōdō (東塔; "East Pagoda") area, also near the summit, where Enryaku-ji Temple was first founded, and located just within Shiga Prefecture. The Yokawa (横川; "Along the river") area near the northernmost end of Mount Hiei. Due to its remoteness, as a temple complex it experienced periods of revival and decline, starting with Ennin, later revived by Ryōgen and made famous by the scholar-monk Genshin. Due to its position north-east of the ancient capital of Heian-kyō (Kyoto), it was thought in ancient geomancy to be a protective bulwark against negative influences on the capital, which along with the rise of the Tendai sect in the Heian period (8th - 12th centuries) meant that the mountain and the temple complex were politically powerful and influential. Later schools of Buddhism in Japan were almost entirely founded by ex-monks of the Tendai sect, such as Hōnen, Nichiren, Dōgen and Shinran, who all studied at the temple before leaving Mount Hiei to start their own practices. The temple complex was razed by Oda Nobunaga in 1571 to quell the rising power of Tendai's sōhei (warrior monks). It was rebuilt and remains Tendai headquarters to this day. The 19th-century Japanese ironclad Hiei was named after this mountain, as was the more famous World War II-era battleship Hiei, the latter having initially been built as a battlecruiser.

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▸By train1,323 chars

From Kyoto, the JR Kosei line goes directly to the Hieizan-Sakamoto station which is a 1,200-m walk from the Sakamoto Cable Car or the trailhead to climb Mount Hiei on foot. Alternatively, take the Keihan Main Line to Demachiyanagi and transfer to an Eizan train to Yase-Hieizan-guchi (八瀬比叡山口). From here the Eizan Cable Car makes the trip to the top of Mount Hiei for ¥850/1080 one-way/return (incl. the ropeway: ¥820/1700 one-way/return), every 30 minutes daily from 08:30 to 17:30 (or longer, schedules vary a bit depending on the season). The last leg of the trip to the summit is a 3-minute ride on a ropeway, which departs at intervals of 10-20 minutes between 09:00 and 18:00.

Or, you could also take the Keihan Line to Sanjo Station and transfer to the Tozai Line bound for Hamaotsu Station in Otsu. From Otsu, you can take the JR Kosei line or Keihan Ishiyama-Sakamoto line to Sakamoto, although the Keihan station (the last station on the line) is more centrally located. The Hiyoshi Taisha shrine and the cable car to Mt. Hiei are about 15 min away on foot, both fairly well signposted.

Be careful: there are two different cable-cars up the hill, each ran by a different company. So, if you buy a two-way-ticket from one company, you cannot use this for the other railway and you'll need to buy a new ticket.

▸Get around899 chars

Sakamoto and Mt. Hiei are best covered on foot. For going between the two, you can use the Sakamoto Cable Car, which costs ¥840/1570 one-way/round-trip and runs daily from 08:00 to 17:00 once every 30 minutes. At over 2 km, this is the longest cable car in Japan and takes about 11 minutes for the journey. This cable car line was built in 1927 and refurbished in 1993. The European style cars have large windows with wonderful views of Lake Biwa.

A real pilgrim would of course scoff at mechanical contraptions and climb the mountain, which is fairly easy. The traditional route is a convenient path of mossy steps known as Honzaka (本坂), starting from Sakamoto, but it's still 500 m (vertical) to the top. There are also many other routes, with numerous small temples and waterfalls along the way, but watch out as signposting (even in Japanese) is lacking. You may see monkeys along the way.

▸See2,174 chars

Both the Sakamoto cable car from Lake Biwa side and the Hieizan Ropeway from the Kyoto side terminate near two broadcast towers and the Garden Museum Hiei, whose ticket booth has maps to Hiei's more traditional attractions, which can be reached by about twenty minutes' walk through atmospheric forest.

Garden Museum (ガーデンミュージアム比叡). The Garden Museum features spectacular views of Lake Biwa, garden flowers, art galleries, a cafe, large outdoor reproductions of famous works of French Impressionism, and a lily pond with arched bridge that aims to replicate the Japanese garden designed by Claude Monet in Giverny, France and featured in many of his late paintings. It also houses the grave of Saichō (Dengyō Daishi) the founder of Japan's Tendai Buddhism, and attracts many Japanese bush warblers (uguisu). The entrance fee is ¥1000 for adults, ¥500 for children.

1 Enryaku-ji (延暦寺). The temples on Mt. Hiei are collectively known as Enryaku-ji, literally "Long Calendar Temple". The large complex is generally divided into three sections known as the Eastern Pagoda (東塔 Tōdō), the Western Pagoda (西塔 Saitō) and Yokawa (横川); neither of the pagodas actually exist any more, but the names live on. Most of the better-known temples are concentrated in the Eastern Pagoda area.

Konpon Chudō (根本中堂). The central hall of the temple. It contains the Inextinguishable Dharma Light (不減の法灯), a fire that has been burning for 1200 years. There is always a monk assigned to tend the fire and chant sutras here.

Bruno Petzold Monument. There is a station near the top of the Sakamoto Cable run called Motateyama. Walking a few hundred meters from this stop will bring you to a monument which has been erected to the memory of Bruno Petzold, a German Tendai Bishop and scholar who lived in Japan until his death in 1949.

Kokuhoden Museum (国宝殿), 4220 Sakamotohonmachi, ☏ +81 77-578-0001. As the head temple of Tendai Buddhism, a wide variety of artwork has been produced and acquired by Enryaku-ji Temple. This museum was built to showcase some of the many artifacts owned by the temple. The Buddhist statues are particularly interesting. 09:00-16:00 (closes at 15:30 in Dec).

▸Sleep868 chars

There is a wide range of accommodation in Sakamoto, but many visitors choose to day-trip from Kyoto instead.

Saikyōji Youth Hostel (西教寺ＹＨ, tel. +81 77-578-0013) in Sakamoto is a good but somewhat inconveniently located hostel on the northern outskirts of town, although you can take a bus from either station (5-7 minutes, get off at Saikyōji). While affiliated with and run by a temple, the building itself is modern. HI members pay ¥3255 a night plus ¥630/1050 for breakfast/dinner. As a bonus, Saikyoji is itself a Tendai temple complex worth visiting, especially because of its views of Lake Biwa and Japanese maple leaves (momiji) in autumn. There are what looks like footprints and handprints on some of the wooden slats in the roof circling the temple; these are rumored to be the old floor slats with bloody handprints and footprints from ritual suicides.

Attractions

[edit] Famous temple Enryaku-ji Beyond the mountain itself, its forests, and the views it affords – of Kyoto, of Ohara, of lake Biwa and Shiga – the main attraction is the temple complex of Enryaku-ji. The temple complex spreads out over the mountain, but is concentrated in three areas, connected by foot trails. There are also more minor temples and shrines. Unusually, there are also a number of French-themed attractions – the peak itself features the Garden Museum Hiei, which is themed on French impressionism, featuring gardens and French paintings, while there is also a French-themed hotel, "L'hotel de Hiei" (The Hiei Hotel). The mountain is busiest during the daytime, but has some visitors in the evenings, for light-up displays and to see the night view of the surrounding towns.