Yamato Sanzan, Mountain triad in Kashihara, Japan.

Yamato Sanzan is the name for three separate hills in the southern Nara Basin, in Kashihara: Mount Unebi (199 m), Mount Miminashi (140 m) and Mount Amanokagu (152 m). Each rises on its own from flat ground, so from the plain they read as three isolated cones and ridges rather than one range. Photographs show the dark, rounded profile of the largest hill above a dense spread of low grey and white buildings, and elsewhere forested slopes above small rectangular fields.

Fujiwara-kyo, laid out on the jōbō grid around the reign of Empress Jitō, was long thought to have enclosed the three mountains on three sides. Archaeological study in the 1990s showed the palace-city was large enough to encompass all three peaks, with the Daigokuden at its centre. The group was designated a Place of Scenic Beauty in 2005 and added to the World Heritage tentative list in 2007.

The Man'yōshū poem by Naka no Ōe (volume 1, poem 13) tells that the three mountain gods have quarrelled over a spouse since the age of the gods; some read it as a retelling of the rivalry between Naka no Ōe and his brother Ōama over Princess Nukata. The Railway Song Collection, volume 5, song 37, describes the three peaks resembling a tripod (kanae) seen from the Sakurai Line, now the Man'yō Mahoroba Line.

The three mountains stand close together in southern Kashihara, so they can be visited on foot or by bicycle between the Asuka and Fujiwara-kyō areas. Mount Unebi, at 199 m the highest, rises beside Kashihara Jingū and Unebi Goryō; Mount Amanokagu (152 m) lies near Hōran-ji and the Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties; Mount Miminashi (140 m) is the lowest at 140 m. Paths climb each summit, and the Sakurai Line (Manyo Mahoroba Line) passes close enough to see all three from the train window.

The Man'yōshū poem by Naka no Ōe (volume 1, poem 13) says the three mountain deities have contended for a spouse since the age of the gods, and some scholars read it as a retelling of the rivalry between Naka no Ōe and his brother Ōama over Lady Nukata. The Railway Song Collection, volume 5, song 37, likens the trio seen from the Sakurai Line to a three-legged cauldron.