is a mountain in Tenryū-ku

Tenryū-ku, Hamamatsu

is one of the seven wards of the city of Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It is bordered by Kita-ku and Hamakita-ku in Hamamatsu, the cities of Shimada and Iwata and towns of Mori and Kawanehon in Shizuoka, Shishiro, Tōei and Toyone in Aichi Prefecture and Iida and Tenryū in Nagano...

, Hamamatsu

Hamamatsu, Shizuoka

is a city located in western Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. On July 1, 2005, the city merged with 11 surrounding cities and towns. It became a city designated by government ordinance on April 1, 2007.- History :...

 (in the former town of Haruno

Haruno, Shizuoka

was a town located in Shūchi District, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.Haruno was founded as a town on September 30, 1956.On July 1, 2005 Haruno, along with the towns of Hosoe, Inasa and Mikkabi, all from Inasa District, the towns of Sakuma and Misakubo, the village of Tatsuyama, all from Iwata...

), Shizuoka Prefecture

Shizuoka Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region on Honshu island. The capital is the city of Shizuoka.- History :Shizuoka prefecture was formed from the former Tōtōmi, Suruga and Izu provinces.The area was the home of the first Tokugawa Shogun...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. It is a peak on a southern spur of the Akaishi Mountains

Akaishi Mountains

is a mountain range in central Honshū, Japan, bordering Nagano, Yamanashi and Shizuoka prefectures. It is also called the , as it joins with the Hida Mountains and the Kiso Mountains to form the Japanese Alps....

.

Mount Akiha has an elevation of 866 metres (2,841.2 ft). It is the location of the Akihasan Hongū Akiha Jinja

Akihasan Hongū Akiha Jinja

The is a Shinto shrine in Tenryū-ku, Hamamatsu . The shrine is located near the summit of Mount Akiha, on the southern slopes of the Akaishi Mountains...

 shrine

Jinja (Shinto)

A Shinto shrine is a structure whose main purpose is to house one or more Shinto kami....

, dedicated to a god

Kami

is the Japanese word for the spirits, natural forces, or essence in the Shinto faith. Although the word is sometimes translated as "god" or "deity", some Shinto scholars argue that such a translation can cause a misunderstanding of the term...

 of fire. Belief in the Akiha kami as protectors against fire became widespread in the Edo period

Edo period

The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....

of Japanese history, leading to the popularity of pilgrimages to climb this mountain.