Mt. Ryuo Observatory

This observatory is located in Setonaikai National Park. Situated on top of 445-meter-high Mt. Ryuo southwest of Mt. Fudekage, the observatory offers one of the best views around of the islands of the Seto Inland Sea. A television tower also stands nearby, and the top of the mountain is maintained as a recreational forest. On clear days, visitors can see the Shikoku Mountains and seven of the 10 bridges on the Nishiseto Expressway. In spring, over 2,000 Yoshino cherries on the mountain come into bloom, and it bustles with visitors as one of the leading cherry blossom-viewing destinations in the prefecture. According to legend, the area as developed by Hatashiro Kunishige, a vassal of the Taira clan, after the clan was defeated in the Battle of Yashima, and in order to differentiate this mountain from the Mt. Ryuo on the north side of the city, some call this Mt. Hata Ryuo.