Iimori Hill


Iimori Hill is a mountain near the city of Aizuwakamatsu, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. It is notable as the site of the ritual suicide of members of the Byakkotai in the Boshin War. It is located about one and a half kilometers to northeast from Tsuruga Castle.
There are two monuments at the top of the hill, one is a gift from Italian Fascist Party in 1928, and another from Nazi Germany. They were installed for showing great reverence for Byakkotai spirit, however, after Japan's defeat in World War II, the Occupation Army of the United States of America vandalized them.
Iimori Hill has been heavily commercialized and the site includes many souvenir shops and exhibitions. The staircases from foothills to top are fairly steep, though there is a handy escalator. Downhill from Iimori Hill stands Sazae-dō, an octagonal wooden pagoda built in the eighteenth century, which formerly sealed 33 statues of Buddhist goddess. The statues were removed by Shinbutsu bunri policy during Meiji era. Another shrine in the site is Uga-shindō near Sazae-dō, which was built in late seventeenth century and deifies a white snake as god of abundance and fertility.