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Youkai Mountain

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妖怪の山 (ようかいのやま)
Youkai Mountain
Youkai Mountain
Youkai Mountain as seen in Scarlet Weather Rhapsody.
Location

Somewhere in Gensokyo

Residents
Appearances
Official Games
Print Works

Youkai Mountain (妖怪の山 Youkai no Yama) is Gensokyo's sole great mountain and volcano. As its name implies, it is inhabited almost exclusively by youkai—primarily kappa and tengu—and where humans are not welcome.

Initially described in Perfect Memento in Strict Sense, it later became a key location in Mountain of Faith when the Moriya Shrine was transported near to the mountain's summit.

General Information

Geography and people

Smoke rising from Youkai Mountain as illustrated in Perfect Memento in Strict Sense.

Youkai Mountain is a rocky landform covered by a large expanse of forest named The Great Youkai Forest at its foot, with waterfalls and rivers flowing from the lakes at the mountain top. It is known to have been a highly active volcano in the past, but it has been a long time since it last erupted.[2] Smoke is still seen rising from the mountain from time to time.

Bhavaagra, a realm within Heaven, can easily be reached from the mountain top, presumably due to its closeness to the sky.

It has served as the home of youkai since long before the time of man.[3] Consisting of a close-knit societies of kappa and tengu, the mountain is closed off from outsiders and its inhabitants lead peaceful communal lives.[4] Outsiders that attempt to climb the mountain, be they youkai or human, are chased out relentlessly by the tengu patrols. Because no outsiders are allowed, and because the kappa and tengu keep their secrets so close, many things about Youkai Mountain remain a mystery to other dwellers of Gensokyo.[5]

Their stable habitat has allowed the tengu and kappa to develop highly advanced technology.[6] Many technological facilities such as factories and research centers can be found here. Kappa facilities specialize in ironworks, creating weapons and tools, whereas tengu factories include printing presses for newspapers and other publications (Bunbunmaru Newspaper and Kakashi Spirit News among them).[7] The Underground Geyser Center, a facility where a variety of experiments and research projects are carried out, lies deep under the ground beneath the mountain.

Notable tengu that live here include Aya Shameimaru and Hatate Himekaidou (both Crow tengu), Momiji Inubashiri (White Wolf tengu) and Tenma, leader of the tengu. It is unknown exactly where the tengu's settlement is located on the mountain or what it is like, but it is most likely to be located high up the mountains above the waterfalls, near to where the heroine faced off against Aya Shameimaru in stage 4 of Mountain of Faith.

Incidentally, the mountain was used in the naming of Aya's Mountain of Faith theme, Youkai Mountain ~ Mysterious Mountain.

History

Before being sealed inside of Gensokyo by the Hakurei Border, Youkai Mountain was known as Yatsugatake.[8] It was once much taller than Mount Fuji, but it was torn down in a fit of jealousy by the goddess Konohana-Sakuyahime, who couldn't stand there being a mountain greater than her own Mount Fuji.[9] Sakuyahime's elder sister, Iwanagahime, tired of her sister's attitude, moved to Yatsugatake and settled there, where she remains to this day.[10] The smoke rising from Youkai Mountain is produced by her,[11] but due to its long inactivity humans have come to think that the smoke comes not from the volcano but from the many factories located in the mountain.[12]

The mountain was formerly ruled by the oni, with the tengu and kappa as their subordinates.[13][14] However, due to the creation of the Hakurei Border and the rapid decline of dedicated oni exterminators, the oni grew tired of how uneventful Gensokyo had become and left the mountain.[15] With their superiors nowhere to be found, the tengu and the kappa were quick to take charge, with the tengu building upon what was left behind by the oni.[16]

The Moriya Shrine and a great lake named The Wind God's Lake were brought over from the outside world some time before the events of Mountain of Faith. Its goddesses and shrine maiden caused a great disturbance among the mountain's original inhabitants, but the conflict was eventually settled and now they are accepted as residents of Youkai Mountain.

Locations

An area within the mountain seen in Scarlet Weather Rhapsody.
The Untrodden Valley in stage 3 of Mountain of Faith.
The Giant Toad's Pond as illustrated in Perfect Memento in Strict Sense.
The Waterfall of Nine Heavens in stage 4 of Mountain of Faith.
The Wind God's Lake as seen in the final stage of Mountain of Faith.
Kasen's home as seen in Wild and Horned Hermit.

Youkai Mountain is composed of several sectors, settlements and landmarks.

The Great Youkai Forest

The Great Youkai Forest (妖怪の樹海 Youkai no Jukai) is a great forest located at the foot of the mountain. It is a dark forest that sunlight does not penetrate, and its atmosphere is heavy.[17] It was featured in stage 2 of Mountain of Faith with the theme The Road of the Misfortune God ~ Dark Road.
Hina Kagiyama, a curse goddess, lives here.

The Untrodden Valley

The Untrodden Valley (未踏の渓谷 Mitou no Keikoku) is a valley located at the very base of Youkai Mountain through which a river running from the Waterfall of Nine Heavens courses. The kappa's hideout, the home of the kappa as mentioned in Wild and Horned Hermit, lies somewhere on land in this area.[18] The Untrodden Valley was introduced in the 3rd stage of Mountain of Faith with the theme The Gensokyo the Gods Loved.
During the events of the fourth chapter of Wild and Horned Hermit, the kappa living in the valley were approached by the members of the Moriya Shrine with the idea of engineering a dam. However, in their impatience and eagerness, the kappa caused a landslide and created a natural dam, blocking the river and risking a flood. Kanako promptly handled the problem, and within no time the kappa began work on building a mechanized dam. It proved to be a fruitless endeavor however, as kappa do not work well in teams, and the project was cancelled.

Giant Toad's Pond

The Giant Toad's Pond (大蝦蟇の池 Oo-gama no Ike) is a small, mysterious pond that can be found halfway up the mountain. It was first introduced by name in Perfect Memento in Strict Sense, and was later featured as a stage in Phantasmagoria of Flower View.
The pond's water is said to have divine properties necessary for Shinto rituals, and lotus flowers can be seen growing on the its surface.[19]
There is a small shrine located near to the pond about which not much is known. It was built so long ago that no one knows who it was built by or for whom anymore. Humans sometimes leave offerings here.[20]
It is home to the Giant Toad, the protector of the pond. It is said to violently attack those who desecrate the pond, but be otherwise passive. It is said that he protects those who leave it offerings, and that a sign of its protection is to be trailed by toads.[21]

The Waterfall of Nine Heavens

The Waterfall of Nine Heavens (九天の滝 Kyuuten no Taki) is one of the many large waterfalls of Youkai Mountain. White Wolf tengu patrolers such as Momiji Inubashiri hide behind the waterfall watching for intruders and launching surprise attacks if any such are spotted. Stage 4 of Mountain of Faith took place along this waterfall. The theme Fall of Fall ~ Autumnal Waterfall is associated with this location.
It is likely the waterfall receives its name from Li Bai's poem "View of a Waterfall at Lushan", where the famous Tang Dynasty poet expresses his admiration of the majestic waterfall in Mount Lu:
Sunlit, the Incense Summit, aglow in smoke and steam;
To afar like a shimmering curtain, a waterfall hangs up-stream:
Rolling, flying, fluttering ~ plunging three thousand feet,
As if ‘twere the Silver River, falling from Heaven Supreme.[22]
日照香爐生紫煙
遙看瀑布掛前川
飛流直下三千尺
疑是銀河落九天
"Nine Heavens" is the literal translation of 九天 (Kyuuten), though the translator here has opted its metaphorical meaning "Heaven Supreme".

The Wind God's Lake

The Wind God's Lake (風神の湖 Fuujin no Mizuumi) is a great lake located at the heights of Youkai Mountain. It was transported into Gensokyo by Kanako Yasaka before the events of Mountain of Faith along with the Moriya Shrine, which is also located nearby. It was the location of the battle between the heroine and Kanako in the final stage of Mountain of Faith. The stage's theme is Cemetery of Onbashira ~ Grave of Being.
The lake is named after Kanako Yasaka who, although revered as a goddess of mountains, is in fact a goddess of wind and rain.[23]
Large pillars known as Onbashira (御柱) surround the lake's perimeter, and these are decorated with shimenawa and shide. Onbashira, literally meaning "honored pillars", are part of a festival held at Suwa Grand Shrine named the Onbashira Festival (御柱祭). It is held every six years at the shrine, and involves the replacement of previous wooden pillars with newly chopped ones.
As with the Moriya Shrine and the Suwa Grand Shrine, the Wind God's Lake is based on and perhaps intended to be Lake Suwa, although unlike the former there is nothing in its name to suggest a correlation besides the proximity between the lake and the Moriya Shrine.

The Moriya Shrine

The Moriya Shrine (守矢神社 Moriya Jinja) was among the things transported over from the outside world into Gensokyo. Its inhabitants are Kanako Yasaka, Suwako Moriya and Sanae Kochiya. It was featured in the 5th stage of Mountain of Faith with the theme song The Primal Scene of Japan the Girl Saw.

Kasen Ibaraki's Mansion

Kasen Ibaraki's home lies somewhere deep in Youkai Mountain close by the Moriya Shrine. It is described in Wild and Horned Hermit as being a large mansion by Sanae, though Kasen herself refers to it as a dojo.[24] A scroll with the 8th stage towards enlightenment depicted in Ten Bulls, namely "Both Bull and Self Transcended", can be seen hanging from her wall.

Peony Field

Eirin Yagokoro grows a field of chinese peony somewhere on the mountain for pharmaceutical purposes.[25]

Books and articles

References

  1. Perfect_Memento_in_Strict_Sense/Chen
  2. Cage in Lunatic Runagate: Chapter 4In days of old, Youkai Mountain was a raging volcano. There are even youkai who have seen the mountain erupt before, but since it's been a long time since it was active, most of them probably think that it won't erupt again.
  3. Perfect Memento in Strict Sense: Youkai MountainA place where a great number of youkai moved in long before the time of man, Youkai Mountain.
  4. Perfect Memento in Strict Sense: Youkai MountainThe youkai of the mountain treat one another, more so than any other group in Gensokyo, in the most cheerful and neighborly way.
  5. Perfect Memento in Strict Sense: Youkai MountainTrespassers in particular will be chased out no matter the circumstances, unleashing all available power if necessary. Because of this, the actual state of affairs on the mountain itself is mostly a mystery.
  6. Perfect Memento in Strict Sense: Youkai MountainIn particular, the tengu and kappa on the mountain have developed technology comparable or greater than the outside world's.
  7. Perfect Memento in Strict Sense: Youkai MountainThe tengu's technology includes photography, printing and publication. The kappa work with iron and steel and also are skilled in crafting tools.
  8. Cage in Lunatic Runagate: Chapter 4 — ...Gensokyo's spiritual mountain, Youkai Mountain, is thought of as the original form of Yatsugatake, before it was destroyed by Sakuyahime.
  9. Cage in Lunatic Runagate: Chapter 4Sakuyahime, who lived at Mount Fuji, wouldn't stand for a mountain taller than hers, so she broke apart Yatsugatake until it was quite a small mountain.
  10. Cage in Lunatic Runagate: Chapter 4However, her older sister, Iwanagahime, was tired of her sister's attitude, and moved to Yatsugatake. ... a goddess of immortality lives atop it [Youkai Mountain].
  11. Cage in Lunatic Runagate: Chapter 4The smoke from the Youkai Mountain is produced by this god Iwanagahime.
  12. Cage in Lunatic Runagate: Chapter 4In the village it's said that the mountain's smoke isn't real smoke, but rather fumes that spew from factories run by the tengu and the kappa.
  13. Perfect Memento in Strict Sense: The Strongest KidnappersIn antiquity, they lived on Youkai Mountain and, employing the tengu as servants, built up an oni society.
  14. Subterranean Animism: Marisa and Nitori's ScenarioNitori: She's an oni, and they're boss of us kappa and the tengu.
  15. Perfect Memento in Strict Sense: The Strongest KidnappersJust as few humans were trying to exterminate them, they were none too pleased with the way in which the world of Gensokyo had become so carefree, and they simply went to a different world.
  16. Perfect Memento in Strict Sense: The Strongest KidnappersIt is said that the present society of tengu is built upon the vestiges of the original oni society.
  17. Mountain of Faith: Reimu's ScenarioI've been feeling awful all this while... The atmosphere is so heavy... It's just noon, but the sun doesn't shine here.
  18. Perfect Memento in Strict Sense: The Craftsman Youkai of the WaterSwimming may be the kappa's strong point, but it is not as if they actually live in the water. Usually they live on land, where they also make their tools. If an enemy approaches they dive into the water and hide.
  19. Perfect Memento in Strict Sense: Giant Toad's PondHowever, the water is said to hold divine powers, and is becoming an indispensable ingredient when performing Shinto rituals. ... The lotus flowers in the pond are beautiful, and lotus leaves and flowers floating on the surface lit by sunbeams filtered through the surrounding foliage further emphasize the mysteriousness of the pond.
  20. Perfect Memento in Strict Sense: Giant Toad's PondWho built it, when it was built and for what purpose are all already forgotten, but there are certainly humans that leave offerings at the shrine.
  21. Perfect Memento in Strict Sense: Giant Toad's PondIt is said that a toad large enough to swallow a human child whole lives in the pond, and that it protects the pond from those that try to desecrate it. The giant toad won't be aggressive unless you desecrate the pond, and if you just leave an offering behind, you are said to be guaranteed a safe return trip.
  22. Translation by Andrew W.F. Wong, from "李白: 望廬山瀑布 Li Bai: View of a Waterfall at Lushan", Classical Chinese Poems in English.
  23. Mountain of Faith: Kanako Yasaka's ProfileBecause of her name 'Yasaka' (countless hills), she's been said to be a mountain deity, but she's actually a deity of wind and rain.
  24. Wild and Horned Hermit: Chapter 2Sanae: "She's got a really big mansion." Kasen: "That's a dojo. A place for training."
  25. Oriental Sacred Place Chapter 14