is located on the border of Gujō,

Gifu Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Gifu Prefecture has a population of 1,991,390 () and has a geographic area of . Gifu Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to the north; Ishikawa Prefecture to the northwest, F ...

, and Hakusan,

Ishikawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu island. Ishikawa Prefecture has a population of 1,140,573 (31 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,186 km2 (1,616 sq mi). Ishikawa Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, and rises to a height of . There are two

triangulation station A triangulation station, also known as a trigonometrical point, and sometimes informally as a trig, is a fixed surveying station, used in geodetic surveying and other surveying projects in its vicinity. The nomenclature varies regionally: they a ...

s at the top of the mountain.

Mount Haku , or Mount Hakusan (commonly referred to as simply Hakusan), is a dormant stratovolcano in Japan. It is located on the borders of Gifu and Ishikawa, on the island of Honshu. Mount Haku is thought to have first been active 300,000 to 400,000 yea ...

can be seen from the north. Bessan Shrine (別山神社 ''Bessan Jinja'') is a short distance from the peak. This area is part of Hakusan National Park.Hakusan National Park
.

Ministry of the Environment (Japan) The is a Cabinet-level ministry of the government of Japan responsible for global environmental conservation, pollution control, and nature conservation. The ministry was formed in 2001 from the sub-cabinet level Environmental Agency establishe ...

. (Note: there is also a Mt. Bessan in located in Toyama Prefecture.)

History

Mount Haku has been climbed for religious purposes for centuries. One popular hiking route from the Gifu Prefecture side of the mountains to Mount Haku's peak runs through Mount Bessan. Mount Bessan, whose name means "Separate Mountain," received its name because it is slightly separated from the south side of Mount Haku. To the south of Mount Bessan is a small flat area called the Bessan Plain (別山平 ''Bessan Hira'') and Lake Mitarashi (御手洗池 ''Mitarashi Ike''). Near the lake are the ruins for the Bessan Room (別山室 ''Bessan-ya''), which was used as a rest house for those making the pilgrimage up the mountain.

Geography

Though Mount Haku, the main peak in the

Ryōhaku Mountains The are a mountain range spanning Gifu, Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukui and Shiga prefectures in Japan. It is divided into the Kaetsu Mountains (加越山地 ''Kaetsu Sanchi''), whose major peak is Mount Haku, and the Etsumi Mountains (越美山地 ''Etsu ...

, was created by an active

stratovolcano A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a conical volcano built up by many layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with a summit crater and per ...

, Mount Bessan is made up of

sedimentary rock Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particles ...

. On the southern face of the mountain is a rock wall called the Taihei Wall (太平壁 ''Taihei-kabe''). Near the peak of the mountain is the

tree line The tree line is the edge of the habitat at which trees are capable of growing. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually cold temperatures, extreme snowp ...

made up of

Siberian Dwarf Pine ''Pinus pumila'', commonly known as the Siberian dwarf pine, dwarf Siberian pine, dwarf stone pine, Japanese stone pine, or creeping pine, is a tree in the family Pinaceae native to northeastern Asia and the Japanese isles. It shares the common ...

s. In the beginning of summer,

alpine plant Alpine plants are plants that grow in an alpine climate, which occurs at high elevation and above the tree line. There are many different plant species and taxa that grow as a plant community in these alpine tundra. These include perennial grasses, ...

s like

anemones ''Anemone'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the buttercup family (biology), family Ranunculaceae. Plants of the genus are commonly called windflowers. They are Native plant, native to the Temperate climate, temperate and Subtropics, subtrop ...

. A wider variety of plants can be seen at lower levels, but the surrounding area is part of Japan's

snow country is a novel by the Japanese author Yasunari Kawabata. The novel is considered a classic work of Japanese literature and was among the three novels the Nobel Committee cited in 1968, when Kawabata was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Writ ...

, so it is covered by snow for more than half of the year.

History

Geography

References

See also