Mount Shibi, Mountain summit in Izumi and Satsuma, Japan

Mount Shibi rises to 1,067 meters, the highest peak in the Hokusatsu region, straddling Izumi and Satsuma in Kagoshima Prefecture. A forest road from the Horikiri Pass on National Route 504 leads to the summit. The upper slopes hold a natural forest of beech, Japanese blue oak and fir, designated a forest genetic resource conservation forest.

The mountain's name has two origin stories: a monk named Kūkaku, said to have trained here in the reign of Emperor Keitai, saw purple clouds trailing down from the summit; another account credits the Qin envoy Xu Fu, who came seeking an elixir of immortality and presented a purple cord. Kūkaku built a small shrine, Ue-no-miya Gongen, on the summit and founded Shibisan Kedoin Shingō-ji and Shibisan Sansho Gongen, later Shibi Shrine, at the foot. Shingō-ji grew into a Tendai temple with twelve monks' quarters before wartime destruction in the Tenshō era.

The name Shibi San has two explanations: a monk named Kūkaku, guided by a dream, saw purple clouds trailing down from the summit, or the Qin envoy Xu Fu presented a purple cord here while seeking an elixir of immortality. Kūkaku built a small shrine, Ue-no-miya Gongen, on the summit and founded Shibisan Kedain Jinkō-ji and Shibisan Sansho Gongen, today's Shibi Shrine, at the foot. The mountain was called Saishū's Kōyasan, and ascetics trained on its slopes as Saishū's Ōmine.

The trails are accessible year-round with regular markers and rest stops placed throughout to guide your way. Weather conditions can change quickly on the mountain, so wearing appropriate footwear and bringing a jacket is advisable.

Three ferns are named after the mountain: Shibi-inuwarabi, Shibi-kanawarabi and Shibi-itachishida. The last, Dryopteris shibipedis, was found in 1962 on a stone wall at Noboruo at the foot of the mountain, later vanished from the wild, and was listed as extinct in the 2007 environment ministry red list until cultivated plants were found at Tsukuba Botanical Garden and in a private home in Kagoshima.