Mount Ashigara

A mountainous region centered on Ashigara Pass on the border between Kanagawa and Shizuoka prefectures. It refers to the area around Yagurasawa Jizodo in Minamiashigara City. One theory goes that it also refers to Mt. Kintoki. Currently, the prefectural road Yagurasawa-Sengokuhara line runs along the ridgeline south of Ashigara Pass, and offers a vast view across both Kanagawa and Shizuoka prefectures, including Mt. Fuji, the northern part of the Hakone outer rim, the valley of the midstream of the Sakawa River to the north, and the Ashigara Plain to the east. The bedrock is ejecta from the Hakone volcano, and the surface is volcanic ash soil from Mt. Fuji. Additionally, vegetation that characterizes this area includes phillyraeoides and Pittosporum tobira forests. The area has been an Ashigara forestry area since ancient times. Mount Ashigara is also known as a poetic pillow, and has been written about in many poems since ancient times as Mount Ashigara, Ashigara-no-mine, Ashigara-no-mizaka, etc. There are many other legends and tales about the mountain, and the legend of Sakata Kintoki and Yamauba is particularly famous.

[Yukio Asaka]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

神奈川・静岡県境にある足柄峠を中心とする山地。南足柄市矢倉沢(やぐらさわ)地蔵堂一帯をいう。一説に金時山(きんときざん)をさすともいわれる。現在、足柄峠以南の稜線(りょうせん)沿いに県道矢倉沢・仙石原(せんごくはら)線が通じ、富士山、箱根外輪山の北部一帯、北方は酒匂(さかわ)川中流の谷、東方に足柄平野など、神奈川、静岡両県にわたって展望は広大である。基盤は箱根火山系の噴出物で、表層は富士山の火山灰土。また、ウバメガシやトベラ林などがここを特色づける植生である。一帯は早くからの足柄林業地。また足柄山は、歌枕(うたまくら)として知られ、古来、足柄山、足柄嶺(あしがらのみね)、足柄のみ坂などとして多くの歌に詠まれている。そのほか、伝説、説話は数多く、坂田金時・山姥(やまうば)の伝説はとくに有名。

［浅香幸雄］

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