Mount Oe

Mount Oe (大江山) is a mountain range straddling Fukuchiyama, Miyazu, and Yosano-cho in northern Kyoto Prefecture, with its highest peak Senjogadake at 833 m. The range is the setting of the Shuten-doji legend, in which, according to the medieval otogi-zoshi Oeyama Ekotoba (Nanboku-cho period, Itsuo Art Museum, Important Cultural Property) and the Noh play Oeyama, Minamoto no Yoritomo and his Four Heavenly Kings (Watanabe no Tsuna, Sakata no Kintoki, Urabe no Suetake, and Usui no Sadamitsu) defeated the demon Shuten-doji on imperial command from Emperor Ichijo. The demon Ibaraki-doji, a retainer of Shuten-doji, reappears in the Ichijo Modoribashi legend, linking the Mount Oe legends with the demon-cult of Kyoto. The mountain has documented Heian-period mining activity, and the Japan Oni Exchange Museum at the foot of the mountain preserves Tamba demon legends.