Mount Amakazari, Mountain in Itoigawa and Otari, Japan.
Mount Amakazari is a 1,963.2 m twin-peaked mountain on the border of Nagano and Niigata prefectures, at the western edge of Myoko-Togakushi Renzan National Park. Its two summits are called "cat's ears": the south peak holds a triangulation point and a summit post, while the north peak has rows of stone Buddhas facing north. The mountain is one of the 100 Famous Japanese Mountains selected by Kyūya Fukada.
Mount Amakazari is one of the 100 Mountains of Japan selected by Fukada Kyūya, who described in his 1942 book Santei Sanroku how he tried to climb from the Niigata side but lost the trail and turned back. The mountain's twin peaks, called "cat's ears", carry a stone marker and triangulation point on the south summit and a row of stone Buddhas on the north summit; the Buddhas face north, suggesting the mountain was originally venerated from Echigo and the Japan Sea side.
The name may come from "Ama-yama", meaning a mountain honouring rain or heaven, or from a twin-peaked "Ryōkazari-yama" whose first element became "rain". The two summits are called "cat's ears": the south peak holds the triangulation point and marker post, the north peak a row of stone Buddhas facing north, suggesting the mountain was originally venerated from the Echigo side.
Trailheads exist on both the Niigata side, at Amakazari Onsen up the Neguchi River, and the Nagano side, at Amakazari Kogen Campground about 45 minutes on foot from Otari Onsen; both have car parks. The Niigata route via the Yakushi ridge is short but continuously steep. In autumn 2021, crowding led to rules barring entry after 8 a.m. and banning roadside parking on the forest road.
The summit has two peaks called "cat's ears"; the southern one holds a triangulation point and the northern one a row of stone Buddhas. All of them face north, which suggests the mountain was originally venerated from the Echigo side, toward the Sea of Japan.
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