Mount Kinkei is a sacred mountain that has influenced the spatial layout of the temple complex at Hiraizumi. It lies approximately halfway between the temples of Chuson-ji and Mōtsū-ji. According to the legend, the hill was built in a single night by Fujiwara no Hidehira of the Northern Fujiwara to the west of Muryōkō-in temple, which was intended to be a copy of the Byōdō-in temple in Uji (near Kyoto). The name of the hill is said to be derived from a golden cockerel was buried on the top.