Mount Kyōzuka

Mount Kyōzuka (Kyōzuka-yama) is a 1,372 m peak straddling the border of Kitakami and Ōshū cities in Iwate Prefecture, within Kurikoma Quasi-National Park, and is grouped with Mount Koma and Mount Ushigata as the "Geto Sanzan" (Three Mountains of Geto). The name—literally "Sutra-Mound Mountain"—reflects the historical practice of burying copied Buddhist sutras at the summit, where a sutra hall built in the late Edo period and a Komagata-daimyōjin stele still stand. The standard route begins at the secluded Geto Onsen and climbs through old-growth beech, Japanese white pine, and oak forest, passing the rhododendron-and-tsuga garden known as Otsubo-no-Niwa before reaching the summit. It is listed in the "1000 Mountains of Japan," "Iwate Hyakumeizan," "Iwate 150 Mountains," and other regional guides.