is a

national park A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individua ...

in the

Akaishi Mountains The are a mountain range in central Honshū, Japan, bordering Nagano, Yamanashi and Shizuoka prefectures. It is also called the , as it joins with the Hida Mountains ("Northern Alps") and the Kiso Mountains ("Central Alps") to form the Jap ...

Chūbu region The , Central region, or is a region in the middle of Honshū, Japan's main island. In a wide, classical definition, it encompasses nine prefectures (''ken''): Aichi, Fukui, Gifu, Ishikawa, Nagano, Niigata, Shizuoka, Toyama, and Ya ...

Honshū , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island sepa ...

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 ...

. The Minami Alps National Park was established on June 1, 1964. It extends along the border of Shizuoka, Yamanashi and

Nagano Prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Nagano Prefecture has a population of 2,052,493 () and has a geographic area of . Nagano Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture to the north, Gunma Prefecture to the n ...

s for a length of , and a maximum width of for a total area of . The Park is a very mountainous region, centering on the

with several noted peaks of over 3000 meters in height, including Koma-ga-take, Senjō-ga-take, Akaishi-dake and Kita-dake. The park also protects the headwaters of the Fuji River, Ōi River and

Tenryū River The is a river in central Honshū, Japan. With a length of , it is Japan's ninth longest river. Its source is Lake Suwa in the Kiso Mountains near Okaya in Nagano Prefecture. It then flows through Aichi Prefecture and western Shizuoka Prefect ...

. Flora in the park includes extensive stands of

Japanese beech The name Japanese beech can refer to two different species of beech tree, both native to Japan. *''Fagus crenata'', also called Siebold's beech, (ブナ, ''buna'' in Japanese) *''Fagus japonica ''Fagus japonica'', known as the Japanese beech, Ja ...

, Japanese stone pine and hemlock spruce. The largest fauna is the ''

kamoshika The was a limited express train service in Japan operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) which ran between and via the Ōu Main Line The is a railway line in Japan, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It connects ...

'' and noted avian species include the

ptarmigan ''Lagopus'' is a small genus of birds in the grouse subfamily commonly known as ptarmigans (). The genus contains three living species with numerous described subspecies, all living in tundra or cold upland areas. Taxonomy and etymology The g ...

. The park has minimal public facilities, and the only approach is by

mountaineering Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, a ...

.Ministry of the Environment
Other large fauna include

Asiatic black bear The Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), also known as the Asiatic black bear, moon bear and white-chested bear, is a medium-sized bear species native to Asia that is largely adapted to an arboreal lifestyle. It lives in the Himalayas, sout ...

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a Suidae, suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The speci ...

and

Sika deer The sika deer (''Cervus nippon''), also known as the Northern spotted deer or the Japanese deer, is a species of deer native to much of East Asia and introduced to other parts of the world. Previously found from northern Vietnam in the south ...

References

External links

Official Minami Alps National Park website

National parks of Japan Akaishi Mountains Parks and gardens in Yamanashi Prefecture Parks and gardens in Shizuoka Prefecture Parks and gardens in Nagano Prefecture Protected areas established in 1964 1964 establishments in Japan Japan Alps {{Japan-protected-area-stub

See also

References

Further reading

External links