Tempozan, the story of a name

During the Tenpō Era (1830 - 1844), in order to improve the navigability of the Ajigawa river, the Tokugawa shogunate began a massive dredging operation. The earth dug up was deposited in Osaka Bay, and the resulting mound reached a height of 20 meters. Soon after, that mound started being referred to as Tenpōzan (天保山), meaning "Mount Tenpō".

Later, the Tenpōzan "mountain" was leveled off because of some military engineering works, and the highest "peak" remained at just 4.53 meters... However, the place is officially considered as "mountain", and until recently it was also recognized as Japan's lowest mountain (it was "surpassed" by Hiyoriyama, in Sendai, which is just 3 meters tall). Today, Tenpōzan is a park, but the name stuck and is currently used by the entire area, including the Tempozan Harbor Village mall, photographed here.