{{Short description|Mountain in Fukushima prefecture, Japan}} {{more citations needed|date=March 2019}} {{Infobox mountain | name = Iimori Mountain | native_name = {{native name|ja|飯盛山}} | other_name = | image = | image_caption = | elevation_m = 314 | elevation_ref = | prominence = | prominence_ref = | map = Japan | map_caption = | map_size = 280 | label_position = | listing = | location = Honshu, Japan | range = | coordinates = {{coord|37|30|13.4|N|139|57|21.5|E|type:mountain_scale:100000|format=dms|display=inline,title}} | topo = | type = | age = | last_eruption = | first_ascent = | easiest_route = }} thumb|Iimori Mountain thumb|Gravestones of Byakkotai Warriors
{{nihongo|'''Iimori Mountain'''|飯盛山|Iimori Yama}} is a mountain near the city of Aizuwakamatsu, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan.<ref name="Lonely Planet - Iimori-yama Historic Site in Aizu-Wakamatsu">{{cite web |title=Iimori-yama Historic Site in Aizu-Wakamatsu |url=https://www.lonelyplanet.com/japan/aizu-wakamatsu/attractions/iimori-yama/a/poi-sig/1309078/356760 |website=Lonely Planet |accessdate=10 March 2019}}</ref> It is notable as the site where members of the Byakkotai (White Tiger Corps) committed ritual suicide in 1868, during the Boshin War.<ref name="JNTO - Tsuruga Castle Park">{{cite web |title=Tsuruga Castle Park |url=https://www.japan.travel/en/spot/658/ |website=Japan National Tourism Organization |accessdate=8 March 2019}}</ref> It is located about 1.5 kilometers northeast of Tsuruga Castle.<ref name="japan-guide">{{cite web|url=https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e7709.html |title=Iimoriyama, Site of suicide by a group of young soldiers |website=Japan-guide.com |accessdate=2019-06-14}}</ref>
There are two monuments at the top of the mountain: one was a gift from the Italian Fascist Party in 1928,<ref name="Rough Guide">{{cite book|url={{Google books|lDYnDwAAQBAJ|The Rough Guide to Japan|page=PT430|plainurl=1}}|title=The Rough Guide to Japan |publisher=Rough Guides UK |date=2017 |isbn=9780241326107 |page=430}}</ref> and the other was from Nazi Germany.<ref name="japan-guide" /> They were installed to show reverence for the Byakkotai spirit. After the surrender of Japan at the end of World War II, members of the Occupation, specifically of the U.S. Army, replaced the swastika on the German monument with an iron cross.<ref name="iimori-poi">{{cite web|url=https://www.iimoriyama.jp/iimori.html |title=Points of Interest in Iimori-yama |access-date=2019-06-13 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://jref.com/articles/byakkotai.168/|title=Byakkotai|access-date=2021-09-25}}</ref>
thumb|Sazae-dō Iimori Mountain has been heavily commercialized and the site includes many souvenir shops and exhibitions.<ref name="Rough Guide" /> The staircases from the foot of the mountain to the top are fairly steep, though there is an escalator.<ref name="Rough Guide" /> Downhill from Iimori Mountain stands {{nihongo|Sazae-dō|さざえ堂}}, a hexagonal wooden pagoda built in the 18th century, which formerly sealed 33 statues of a Buddhist goddess.<ref name="Rough Guide" /><ref name="iimori-poi" /> The statues were removed in accordance with the ''Shinbutsu bunri'' policy during the Meiji period (1868–1912).<ref name="iimori-poi" /> Another shrine at the site is {{nihongo|Uga-shindō|宇賀神堂}}, near Sazae-dō, which was built during the late 17th century and deifies a white snake as a god of abundance and fertility.<ref name="iimori-poi" />
==See also== *Byakkotai *Nisshinkan *Aizu-Wakamatsu
==References== {{reflist}}
== External links == *[https://www.iimoriyama.jp/iimori.html Official website](Japanese)
Category:Mountains of Fukushima Prefecture Category:Culture in Fukushima Prefecture