Mount Hiei

Mount Hiei (比叡山, Hiei-zan?) is a mountain to the northeast of Kyoto, lying on the border between the Kyoto and Shiga prefectures, Japan.

The temple of Enryaku-ji, the first outpost of the Japanese Tendai (Chin. Tientai) sect of Buddhism, was founded atop Mount Hiei by Saichō in 788. Both Nichiren and Hōnen studied at the temple before leaving to start their own practices. The temple complex was razed by Oda Nobunaga in 1571 to quell the rising power of the Tendai's warrior monks (sōhei), but it was rebuilt and remains the Tendai headquarters to this day.

The Imperial Japanese Navy battleship Hiei was named after this mountain, having initially being built as a battlecruiser.