is a

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 western

Aomori Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan in the Tōhoku region. The prefecture's capital, largest city, and namesake is the city of Aomori. Aomori is the northernmost prefecture on Japan's main island, Honshu, and is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the east, ...

, Tohoku,

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 referred to as and less frequently, due to its similar shape to

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 ...

. With a summit elevation of and a

prominence In topography, prominence (also referred to as autonomous height, relative height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop or relative height in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contou ...

of it is the highest mountain in Aomori Prefecture. Mount Iwaki is listed as one of the

100 Famous Japanese Mountains is a book written in 1964 by mountaineer and author Kyūya Fukada.Hyakumeizan, Hiking Japan!
. Japan ...

in a 1964 book by

mountaineer 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, an ...

and

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

Kyūya Fukada was a Japanese writer and mountaineer active during the Shōwa period in Japan. Early life Kyūya was born in what is now Kaga city, Ishikawa prefecture. He attended the Fujishima High School, followed by the preparatory school for the Tokyo I ...

. The mountain and its surroundings are located within the borders of

Tsugaru Quasi-National Park is a quasi-national park in Aomori Prefecture in the far northern Tōhoku region of Honshū in Japan. It is rated a protected landscape (category V) according to the IUCN. The park includes a number of discontinuous areas on Tsugaru Peninsula, ...

Name

There are various theories about the origin of the name "Iwaki". Two hold that its name is Ainu in origin, the first is that it comes from ain, カムィイワキ, Kamuyiwaki (god's home), the other is that it is a distortion of the Ainu word for rock, ain, イワーケ, Iwaake. Yet another theory is that the name Iwaki is an archaic way of saying "stone castle" . In addition to being called Mount Iwaki, the mountain is also widely nicknamed , and less frequently , due its conical shape that bears similarity to

. It was also dubbed "Peak Tilesius" in honor of German naturalist,

Wilhelm Gottlieb Tilesius von Tilenau Wilhelm Gottlieb Tilesius von Tilenau (17 July 1769 – 17 May 1857) was a German people, German natural scientist, naturalist and List of explorers, explorer, physician, draftsman and engraver. He was a member of the Order of St. Vladimir an ...

in 1805 by

Adam Johann von Krusenstern Adam Johann von Krusenstern (also Krusenstjerna in Swedish; russian: Ива́н Фёдорович Крузенште́рн, tr. ; 10 October 177012 August 1846) was a Russian admiral and explorer, who led the first Russian circumnavigatio ...

during the first Russian circumnavigation of the Earth, though this name had dropped out of use among Westerners by 1858 in favor of its native name.

Geographic setting and description

With a summit elevation of , Mount Iwaki has the highest peak in

and rises above the plains at its base. The peak is south-southwest of central

Tsugaru Tsugaru (津軽) may refer to: * Tsugaru, Aomori, a city of Aomori Prefecture, Japan * Tsugaru Peninsula * Tsugaru Strait, between Honshū and Hokkaidō ** Tsugaru Kaikyō Ferry, a ferry crossing this strait * Tsugaru-jamisen, a traditional style of ...

and west-northwest of central

Hirosaki is a city located in western Aomori Prefecture, Japan. On 1 April 2020, the city had an estimated population of 168,739 in 71,716 households, and a population density of . The total area of the city is . Hirosaki developed as a castle town fo ...

Geology

Mount Iwaki is a roughly symmetrical

andesitic Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predomina ...

stratovolcano, rising in relative isolation from the plains at the base of

Tsugaru Peninsula The is a peninsula in Aomori Prefecture, at the northern end of Honshū island, Japan. The peninsula projects north into the Tsugaru Strait separating Honshū from Hokkaidō. The western coast is on the Sea of Japan, while on its eastern coast ...

. Its summit crater is two kilometers wide, and it has three

lava dome In volcanology, a lava dome is a circular mound-shaped protrusion resulting from the slow extrusion of viscous lava from a volcano. Dome-building eruptions are common, particularly in convergent plate boundary settings. Around 6% of eruptions on ...

s on the western and southern flanks. The mountain has been active frequently in historic times, with very frequent activity consisting mostly of small to moderate

phreatic explosion A phreatic eruption, also called a phreatic explosion, ultravulcanian eruption or steam-blast eruption, occurs when magma heats ground water or surface water. The extreme temperature of the magma (anywhere from ) causes near-instantaneous evapo ...

s during the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

. The volcano's last known eruption was on 23 March 1863.

Hirosaki University is a Japanese national university in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, Japan. Established in 1949, it comprises five faculties: Faculty of the Humanities, Faculty of Education History, Hirosaki University Medical School History, Faculty of Science ...

has maintained an observatory with 18 telemetering stations on the mountain since 1981.

Outdoor recreation

Climbing

Mount Iwaki's summit, at 1625 meters, can be reached only by hiking, but the length and duration of the hike depends on the route. From , it takes approximately four hours to hike to the top.Rowthorne, C. et al.: "Japan (8th edition)", Lonely Planet Publications, 2003 The trail starts from inside the shrine, before the large gates on the left. The easier and more popular route follows

Tsugaru Iwaki Skyline The is a toll road managed and operated by Iwaki Skyline Co., Ltd. in Hirosaki, Japan. It partially ascends Mount Iwaki and is notable for its steep gradient and 69 hairpin turns, which make it considered as one of the most dangerous mountain r ...

, a tolled road, up to a lift. The skyline road starts from Aomori Prefecture Route 3 on the southwest side of Mount Iwaki. At the end of the road there is a chair lift. From the top of the chair lift it takes around 30–40 minutes to hike to the mountain's summit.

References

External links

* - Japan Meteorological Agency
Iwakisan
- Smithsonian Institution: Global Volcanism Program {{DEFAULTSORT:Iwaki Volcanoes of Honshū Stratovolcanoes of Japan Mountains of Aomori Prefecture Volcanoes of Aomori Prefecture Ajigasawa, Aomori Hirosaki Hanami spots of Japan Mountain faith Holocene stratovolcanoes