On April the 30th 2017, I climbed Mt. Kasagiyama（笠置山）. It was the stage of Genko War（元弘の乱）in 1331. In this war, Emperor Go-Daigo（後醍醐天皇）attempted to beat Kamakura Shogunate and he barricaded himself to this mountain. However, finally he was defeated, captured and exiled to remote islands, Oki. This was just the beginning of the downfall of Kamakura Shogunate.
You can see a small mountain, Mt. Kasagiyama near the JR station Kasagi.
In the beginning of climbing, there was Koshindo（庚申堂）. This is an architecture of Buddhism that ensures the safety when accessing Kasagidera Temple（笠置寺）, a temple in Mt. Kasagiyama. It is also famous for curing diseases of ears. At the foot of Buddha, there are “see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil” monkeys.
I came to Kasagidera Temple. The huge rocks in Mt. Kasagiyama have been targets for worships since 2000 years ago. About 1300 years ago, temples were built.
This is the main Buddha figure (maitreya, 弥勒仏) carved on a rock face.
Thirteen-storey stone pagoda（十三重塔）was founded on Kamakura period and is set as a Japanese important cultural property.
This rock is the origin of the name Kasagi（笠置, literally means a place where a woven hat was put down）. The origin was related to Emperor Tenmu（天武天皇）when he was a prince, who could neither go forward nor get back from the place during hunting. He thus prayed to Buddha and got released. He memorized the incident by putting down the woven hat to this rock.
A scenery from the mountain.
This is the place where Emperor Go-Daigo set a temporary lodging（行在所）. He made a song, “Ukari keru mi wo akikaze ni sasoware te omowa nu yama no momidi kozo miru（うかりける 身を秋風に さそわれて おもわぬ山の 紅葉こぞ見る, My self was suffering and I was invited by a wind of fall. I happened to see fall leaves of maples in an unintended mountain.）”.
This is a triangular point near Mt. Kasagiyama, which is in a higher altitude than Mt. Kasagiyama.
This is a stone Buddha of Ataya（阿対の石仏）. It is famous for avoiding epidemic disease.
I began to go back to the station Kasagi. This is Ceraceomyces tessulatus（イトツキマクコウヤクタケ）.
Near the station, there is Kurusu Tenmangu Shrine（栗栖天満宮）. Between 898 to 901, Emperor Daigo（醍醐天皇, not Go-Daigo）came here together with Michizane Sugawara（菅原道真）and Sugawara gave rise to the desire to live here. After he was exiled to Kyushu island, he carved himself and the sculpture was sent off here in 902. In 931 after his death, he was regarded as a god of philosophy and the shrine was founded. It is famous for its act as an amulet.
For plants identified; Japanese Cedar Cryptomeria japonica（スギ）, Hinoki Cypress Chamaecyparis obtuse（ヒノキ）, Japanese Red Pine Pinus densiflora（アカマツ）, Ring-Cup Oak Quercus glauca（アラカシ）, Quercus salicina（ウラジロガシ）, Sawtooth Oak Quercus acutissima（クヌギ）, Chinese Cork Oak Quercus variabilis（アベマキ）, East Asian Eurya Eurya japonica（ヒサカキ）, Camellia Camellia japonica（ヤブツバキ）, Prunus jamasakura（ヤマザクラ）, Palmate Maple Acer palmatum（イロハモミジ）, Rhododendron obtusum var. kaempferi（ヤマツツジ）, Spotted Laurel Aucuba japonica（アオキ）. For insects, Xylocopa appendiculata circumvokans（キムネクマバチ）. For birds, Coal Tit Parus ater（ヒガラ）, Varied Tit Parus varius（ヤマガラ）, Japanese Bush Warbler Cettia diphone（ウグイス）.
