, or Mount Hakusan (commonly referred to as simply Hakusan), is a dormant

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 peri ...

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 n ...

. It is located on the borders of

Gifu is a city located in the south-central portion of Gifu Prefecture, Japan, and serves as the prefectural capital. The city has played an important role in Japan's history because of its location in the middle of the country. During the Sengoku p ...

and Ishikawa, on the island of

Honshu , 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 s ...

. Mount Haku is thought to have first been active 300,000 to 400,000 years ago, with the most recent eruption occurring in 1659. Along with Mount Tate and

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 ...

, it is one of Japan's .

Outline

The mountain's tallest peak, Gozenga-mine (御前峰), is the one that gives the mountain its height of . Along with Ken-ga-mine (剣ヶ峰), which is , and Ōnanji-mine (大汝峰), which is , the three peaks are considered "Mount Haku's Three Peaks" (白山三峰 ''Hakusan San-mine'').

Mount Bessan is located on the border of Gujō, Gifu Prefecture, and Hakusan, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, and rises to a height of . There are two triangulation stations at the top of the mountain. Mount Haku can be seen from the north. Bessan Shrine (� ...

and Mount Sannomine are sometimes included and called "Mount Haku's Five Peaks" (白山五峰 ''Hakusan go-mine''). Because it is very prominent and clearly visible from the nearby coast, even after the surrounding mountains have lost their snow, Mount Haku still appears white, which is one explanation for the mountain's name, which means "white mountain." It is also the westernmost mountain in Japan that is over in height.

History and culture

Taichō was a shugendō monk in Nara period Japan. He was raised in Echizen Province, which was in the southern portion of present-day Fukui Prefecture. He was the second son of Mikami Yasuzumi (三神安角). He is said to be the first person to reach ...

, a mountain Shugendo monk, first climbed Mount Hakusan in 717. For hundreds of years, people have come to Haku for prayers (白山信仰 ''Hakusan Shinkō''). A branch shrine of Shirayama Hime Shrine, which served as the supreme shrine for

Kaga Province was a province of Japan in the area that is today the south and western portion of Ishikawa Prefecture in the Hokuriku region of Japan. Kaga bordered on Echizen, Etchū, Hida, and Noto Provinces. It was part of Hokurikudō Circuit. Its abb ...

, is on the mountain. The Shirayama Hime Shrine is the of approximately 2,000 in Japan. In 1980 an area of 48,000 ha was designated a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

Man and the Biosphere Reserve.

Nature

Mount Haku was designated as a quasi-national park in 1955. It became 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 individual ...

in 1962UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Information: Mount Hakusan
UNESCO. Accessed May 16, 2008. and was renamed

Hakusan National Park is a national park in the Chūbu region of Honshū, Japan. Established in 1962, it spans the borders of Fukui, Gifu, Ishikawa, and Toyama prefectures. Its main geographical feature is Mount Haku. In 1980 an area of 480 km² correspondin ...

. Because the central part of the mountain has much precipitous terrain, there are very few roads and, as a result, little human intrusion into the area. Also limiting human intrusion is the designation of the park as a Wildlife Protection Area, covering over 38,061 ha. The park stretches beyond the mountain's borders into

Toyama Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Toyama Prefecture has a population of 1,044,588 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,247.61 km2 (1,640.01 sq mi). Toyama Prefecture borders Ishikawa Prefecture to the ...

Geological features

The area surrounding Mount Haku is one of the few in Japan that contains

outcrop An outcrop or rocky outcrop is a visible exposure of bedrock or ancient superficial deposits on the surface of the Earth. Features Outcrops do not cover the majority of the Earth's land surface because in most places the bedrock or superficia ...

pings from the

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of ...

period of the

Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era ( ), also called the Age of Reptiles, the Age of Conifers, and colloquially as the Age of the Dinosaurs is the second-to-last era of Earth's geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretace ...

era. Many of Japan's typical examples of

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

s were found in this area. One of the major rock outcrops is in the Kuwashima area and is known as the "Kuwashima Fossil Wall" (桑島化石壁 ''Kuwashima Kasekikabe''). Because the mountain is a dormant volcano, it is well known for its many

onsen In Japan, are the country's hot springs and the bathing facilities and traditional inns around them. As a volcanically active country, Japan has many onsens scattered throughout all of its major islands. There are approximately 25,000 hot ...

Flora

Mount Haku is known for its diverse plant life. Along the Sabō Trail, after passing the Jinnosuke Lodge,

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 grass ...

s are found, including the chocolate lily, which is Ishikawa's prefectural plant. There are many alpine plants which have ''Hakusan'' in their name. These include Primula cuneifolia (''Hakusan Kozakura''),

Anemone narcissiflora ''Anemonastrum narcissiflorum'', the narcissus anemone or narcissus-flowered anemone, is a herbaceous perennial plant, perennial in the genus ''Anemonastrum'' and the Ranunculaceae, buttercup family. Basionym: ''Anemone narcissiflora'' Hook. & A ...

(''Hakusan Ichige''),

Dactylorhiza ''Dactylorhiza'' is a genus of flowering plants in the orchid family Orchidaceae. Its species are commonly called marsh orchids or spotted orchids. ''Dactylorhiza'' were previously classified under '' Orchis'', which has two round tubers. Descri ...

(''Hakusan Chidori''), Geranium yesoemse (''Hakusan Fuuro'') and

Rhododendron brachycarpum ''Rhododendron fauriei'' is a rhododendron species native to Japan and Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic Peo ...

(''Hakusan Shakunage''). These plants can be found on many mountains throughout Japan, but they were first discovered and named along the older hiking trails leading to Hakusan Shrine.

Fauna

The

golden eagle The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known bird ...

, Ishikawa's prefectural bird, lives on the slopes of Mount Haku. The

rock ptarmigan The rock ptarmigan (''Lagopus muta'') is a medium-sized game bird in the grouse family. It is known simply as the ptarmigan in the UK. It is the official bird for the Canadian territory of Nunavut, where it is known as the ''aqiggiq'' (ᐊ� ...

, Gifu's prefectural bird,A Statistical Guide to Gifu Prefecture 2007
. Gifu Prefecture. Accessed May 16, 2008. used to live on the slopes as well. During the

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

, the entire population of ptarmigan on the mountain disappeared; however, sightings of the

grouse Grouse are a group of birds from the order Galliformes, in the family Phasianidae. Grouse are presently assigned to the tribe Tetraonini (formerly the subfamily Tetraoninae and the family Tetraonidae), a classification supported by mitochondria ...

have recently been recorded by local residents.

Hiking trails

The three most used hiking trails are the Kankō Trail (観光新道 ''Kankō Shinmichi''), the Sabō Trail (砂防新道 ''Sabō Shinmichi'') and the Hirase Trail (平瀬道 ''Hirase-dō''). Both the Kankō Trail and the Sabō trail originate in the city of Hakusan, Ishikawa Prefecture, but the Hirase Trail starts from the Ōshirakawa Dam (大白川ダム) in Gifu Prefecture. Because the area is protected as a national park, very few trails have been made on the mountain. Though the trails listed above are easy enough to hike up and down in one day, other trails can take two or three days because of the uncleared trails and rough terrain.

Gallery

File:Mount Haku Top Gozengamine 2004-10-17.JPG, Top of Gozengamine (Mount Haku) and Ōnanjimine File:Hakusan Shrine in Murodo 2008-7-1.jpg, Hakusan

Shrine A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon, or similar figure of respect, wherein they ...

at Murodo and Gozengamine File:Pond Midorigaike 2008-10-2.jpg,

Volcanic crater A volcanic crater is an approximately circular depression in the ground caused by volcanic activity. It is typically a bowl-shaped feature containing one or more vents. During volcanic eruptions, molten magma and volcanic gases rise from an und ...

(Midoriga-ike) File:12 changes of Oonanjimine from top of Hakusan with title.jpg, Mount Haku in each season File:Hakusan01.JPG, Mount Haku from Midagahara File:Hakusan08.JPG, Kengamine Peak from Gozengamine Peak File:Bessan and Hakusan from Hideridake 2009-4-7.jpg, Mount Haku from east of Mount Hideri File:Mount Bessan from Mount Haku 2001-11-7.jpg,

from the top of Gozengamine

References

External links

Hakusan
- Japan Meteorological Agency * - Japan Meteorological Agency

- Geological Survey of Japan * {{DEFAULTSORT:Haku, Mount Volcanoes of Honshū Mountains of Gifu Prefecture Mountains of Ishikawa Prefecture Mountains of Fukui Prefecture Two-thousanders of Asia Biosphere reserves of Japan Cultural Landscapes of Japan Volcanoes of Gifu Prefecture Volcanoes of Ishikawa Prefecture Volcanoes of Fukui Prefecture Potentially active volcanoes Pleistocene stratovolcanoes Pleistocene Asia Cenozoic Japan Sacred mountains Sacred mountains of Japan Shugendō Highest points of Japanese national parks