Mount Miwa, Sacred mountain in Sakurai, Japan

Mount Miwa is a rounded, conical mountain in Sakurai, Nara Prefecture, rising to 467.1 m and measuring 16 km around. It is made mainly of granite, with gabbro exposed near the top, and its dense forest of pines, cedars and cypresses has never been logged. The summit holds a broad flat area with the Oku-tsu Iwakura, a group of rocks about 2 m high.

Worship of Ōmononushi on Mount Miwa predates the Kojiki. Under Emperor Sujin, a plague was said to end when the kami demanded that Ōtataneko serve as its priest at the mountain's foot. Kofun-period keyhole tombs, including those attributed to Sujin and Keikō, line the base; Hashihaka Kofun is linked by some to Queen Himiko.

The mountain's deity, Ōmononushi, was linked to a snake cult and to legends of marriages with local women, such as Yamato-toto-momoso-hime. Today climbers receive a white sash at Sai Shrine and must keep it on for the whole ascent. The mountain also appears in the Man'yōshū and in the noh play Miwa.

Permission is obtained at the office of Sai Shrine, about 250 m north-northeast of Ōmiwa Shrine, where visitors register their name, address and phone number and receive a white sash to wear throughout. The round trip is about 4 km and must be completed within three hours; entry may be refused after 2 PM so that everyone is down by 4 PM. Eating, smoking and photography are forbidden on the mountain, and entry is closed on days of rites at Ōmiwa Shrine.

The mountain's three iwakura rock seats are named for their positions: Hetsu at the foot, Nakatsu halfway up, and Okitsu near the summit, where about 2 m rocks lie in a clearing roughly 30 m by 10 m east of Takamiya Shrine. A 1226 shrine record assigns Okitsu to Ōmononushi, Nakatsu to Ōkuninushi and Hetsu to Sukunabikona. Only Okitsu can be visited today.