Mt. Hiei

Mountain on the border between Kyoto and Shiga prefectures, central Honshū. Considered one of the most sacred mountains in the history of Japanese Buddhism. On the eastern slope is the temple Enryakuji, an important center of the Tendai sect of Buddhism founded by the priest Saichō in 788. Hie Shrine, on the same slope, houses the guardian diety of Enryakuji. Height: 848 m (2,782 ft). (adapted from Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Tokyo: Kodansha, 1993)