Mount Atago, Sacred mountain in Ukyō-ku, Japan.

Mount Atago is a 924 m mountain in the northwestern part of Ukyo Ward, Kyoto, on the border of the old Yamashiro and Tanba provinces. Its summit holds the Atago Shrine, head of about 900 Atago shrines nationwide. The main approach, the omote-sandō from Kiyotaki, climbs about 4.2 km from the second torii past the Hiuchi Gongen site, a great cedar, the Kuromon gate and the shrine. Old numbered stone markers line the route.

Mount Atago has been a pilgrimage site since at least the Heian period, when it appears in a poem in Murasaki Shikibu's The Tale of Genji. In 1577, just before the Honnō-ji Incident, Akechi Mitsuhide visited the summit shrine and composed the Atago Hyakuin linked-verse sequence there. The trail from Kameoka is called Akechi-goe after his route. In the early Shōwa years the Atago Mountain Railway ran from Arashiyama to the foot and a cable car to near the summit, with a hotel and amusement park; the line closed in the final years of World War II and never reopened.

Atago Shrine at the summit is the head shrine of about 900 Atago shrines across Japan, known for protection against fire. Pilgrims buy shikimi branches sold as the mountain's fire-averting charm; an 1852 guide records women of Mizuo village selling them daily at a spot on the trail. The shrine's hall sits at the top of a long stairway.

The climb to the summit takes about four hours from the Kiyotaki bus stop and involves navigating stone steps and uneven terrain. Weather and daylight change quickly on the mountain, so proper footwear and sufficient water are essential for the journey.

The shrine at the summit is the head of about 900 Atago shrines across Japan, all dedicated to protection from fire. The mountain also appears in the rakugo comic story "Atago-yama", in which a picnic on its slopes turns into an incident, and in a song in the "Azumaya" chapter of The Tale of Genji.