is 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 ...

located in Shikotsu-Toya National Park,

Hokkaidō is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

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 ...

. It is also called , "Ezo" being an old name for the island of Hokkaido, because it resembles

Mount Fuji , or Fugaku, located on the island of Honshū, is the highest mountain in Japan, with a summit elevation of . It is the second-highest volcano located on an island in Asia (after Mount Kerinci on the island of Sumatra), and seventh-highest p ...

. The mountain is also known as and . It is one of the 100 famous mountains in Japan.

Geology

Mount Yōtei is mostly composed of andesite and dacite. The stratovolcano is symmetrical, adding to its resemblance to Mount Fuji.

Eruptive history

Tephrochronology indicates two eruptions at Mount Yotei. The most recent circa 1050 BC from a cone emerging from the northwest flank of the mountain at . The earlier eruption is dated from circa 3550 BC.

Climate

Etymology

Mount Yōtei is also known as Ezo Fuji because of its almost perfectly conical shape resembling

, making it one of the “local Fujis” found in different regions of Japan. Through Japan's Meiji, Taishō and Shōwa eras it was known by multiple names: “Shiribeshi-yama/Kōhō-Yōtei-zan", "Makkarinupuri" and "Ezo Fuji". On some maps it is also recorded as "Makkari-yama". In the 50,000:1 scale topographical map of the “Rusutsu” area published in 1920 by Japan’s Land Surveying Department, the mountain is recorded as "Shiribeshi-Yōtei-zan (Ezo-Fuji)". However, since the name was difficult to read, the town of Kutchan asked for it to be changed to Yōtei-zan. The change took place in the November 1969 topographical map published by the

Geospatial Information Authority of Japan The , or GSI, is the national institution responsible for surveying and mapping the national land of Japan. The former name of the organization from 1949 until March 2010 was Geographical Survey Institute; despite the rename, it retains the same ...

. Since then, the current name of Yōtei-zan has become established. The mountain’s former title of “Shiribeshi-Yōtei-zan” originates in the place-name of "Shiribeshi-Yōtei", which was recorded in the '' Nihon Shoki'' as the place where Abe no Hirafu established a domain in the article of May 17 in the year 659AD (Year 5 of the reign of

Empress Kōgyoku , also known as , was the 35th and 37th monarch of Japan,Kunaichō 斉明天皇 (37)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession. Kōgyoku's reign spanned the years from 642 to 645. Her reign as Saimei encompassed 655 to 661. In other ...

). (The domain was established because the Ezo family groups of Ikashima and Uhona wished to receive the territory.) It is unclear whether this record refers to the same location as the current Mt Yōtei. The characters for “Shiribeshi” are also read as “Shiribe”, and the Chinese name of the Japanese dock plant is written with the Chinese characters for Yōtei, pronounced in Japanese as “shi”. The

Ainu Ainu or Aynu may refer to: *Ainu people, an East Asian ethnic group of Japan and the Russian Far East *Ainu languages, a family of languages **Ainu language of Hokkaido **Kuril Ainu language, extinct language of the Kuril Islands **Sakhalin Ainu la ...

called the mountain Makkarinupuri or Machineshiri (雌山) “female mountain”, and referred to the Shiribetsu-dake mountain to the southeast as Pinneshiri (雄山) “male mountain”. Shiribetsu-dake is also referred to by some fans as Zenpō-Yōteizan (written with the characters “Mt. Yōtei in front”), in contrast to Mt. Yōtei’s old name of Shiribeshi-Yōteizan (which is written with the characters for “Mt. Yotei behind”).

References

External links