270px, Shirakami Mountains Relief Map (with UNESCO World Heritage Site) is 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 ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

in the

Tōhoku region The , Northeast region, or consists of the northeastern portion of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. This traditional region consists of six prefectures (''ken''): Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, and Yamagata. Tōhoku reta ...

of northern

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. This mountainous area includes the last virgin forest of Siebold's beech which once covered most of northern Japan. The area straddles both

Akita is a Japanese name and may refer to: Places * 8182 Akita, a main-belt asteroid * Akita Castle, a Nara period fortified settlement in Akita, Japan * Akita Domain, also known as Kubota Domain, feudal domain in Edo period Japan * Akita, Kumamoto ...

and

Aomori is the capital city of Aomori Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 278,964 in 136,457 households, and a population density of 340 people per square kilometer spread over the city's total are ...

Prefectures. Of the entire , a tract covering 169.7 was included in the list of World Heritage Sites in 1993. Fauna found in the area includes Japanese black bear, the Japanese serow,

Japanese macaque The Japanese macaque (''Macaca fuscata''), also known as the snow monkey, is a terrestrial Old World monkey species that is native to Japan. Colloquially, they are referred to as "snow monkeys" because some live in areas where snow covers the gr ...

and 87 species of birds. The Shirakami-Sanchi was one of the first sites entered on the World Heritage List in Japan, along with

Yakushima is one of the Ōsumi Islands in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. The island, in area, has a population of 13,178. Access to the island is by hydrofoil ferry (7 or 8 times a day from Kagoshima, depending on the season), slow car ferry (once or twic ...

Himeji Castle is a hilltop Japanese castle complex situated in the city of Himeji which is located in the Hyōgo Prefecture of Japan. The castle is regarded as the finest surviving example of prototypical Japanese castle architecture, comprising a network o ...

, and ''

Buddhist Monuments in the Hōryū-ji Area The UNESCO World Heritage Site Buddhist Monuments in the Hōryū-ji Area includes a variety of buildings found in Hōryū-ji and Hokki-ji in Ikaruga, Nara, Ikaruga, Nara Prefecture, Japan. These buildings were designated in 1993 along with the sur ...

'' in 1993. Permission is needed from Forest Management to enter the heart of the Shirakami-Sanchi.

Location

Shirakami-Sanchi is a

wilderness area Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...

covering one third of Shirakami mountain range. It has the largest remaining virgin beech forest in East Asia, and is a remnant of the cool-temperate beech forests that have covered the hills and mountain slopes of northern Japan since eight to twelve thousand years ago. The area has an altitude ranging from to above sea level. Beech forests are distributed across North America, Europe, and East Asia, and are thought to have originated from circumpolar vegetation prior to the Last glacial period. The location near the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, i ...

is characterised by a distinct heavy-snow environment, enabling the area to retain a complete ecosystem of stable climax beech forest, which has disappeared from most of the world The

is located within the boundaries of multiple municipalities Ajigasawa, Fujisato, Fukaura, and Nishimeya. The Anmon no Taki waterfalls are in the western part of Nishimeya, about to the west of Miyama Lake.

Highlights

Primeval beech forest

Apart from beech trees, '' Katsura,

Kalopanax ''Kalopanax septemlobus'', common names castor aralia, tree aralia, and prickly castor oil tree, is a deciduous tree in the family Araliaceae, the sole species in the genus ''Kalopanax''. It is native to northeastern Asia, from Sakhalin and Japa ...

'',

Japanese Hop-hornbeam ''Ostrya japonica'', known as East Asian hophornbeam, or Japanese hop-hornbeam, is a species of tree in the Betulaceae family growing to 25 m tall. It is native to Japan, Korea and China. In China, it occurs in temperate forests of southern ...

and other species of tall

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, ...

trees are found in the forest. Planted forests of timber trees, such as Japanese cedar, have replaced many of the beech forests in northern Japan; however, within the borders of the Shirakami-Sanchi unmodified beech forests are densely and continuously distributed. The area is largely a wilderness with no roads, trails or man-made facilities. The beech tree is usually unsuitable for cultivation of the

shiitake mushroom The shiitake (alternate form shitake) (; ''Lentinula edodes'') is an edible mushroom native to East Asia, which is now cultivated and consumed around the globe. It is considered a medicinal mushroom in some forms of traditional medicine. Ta ...

. Therefore, beech forests have never been disturbed by shiitake farmers and remain in a state of preservation much greater than that of surrounding forests. Further to the strict legal protections, almost no logging of beech trees has been carried out due to lack of access and the rugged terrain. Also, tourism activities are limited mainly to the areas near the boundary. The Shirakami-Sanchi region also contain large areas of forest not covered by the World Heritage listing, and the level of preservation in these areas is not as high as in the central listed area.

Anmon no taki (Shadow Gate Falls)

These triple falls in the World Heritage Site also fall within the borders of the

Akaishi Keiryū Anmon no Taki Prefectural Natural Park is a Prefectural Natural Park in southwest Aomori Prefecture, Japan. Established in 1981 as , the park spans the borders of the municipalities of Ajigasawa and Nishimeya, and was renamed on 31 March 2017. Gorges and waterfalls are the main ...

, and are easily accessible on foot.

Animals

Black woodpecker The black woodpecker (''Dryocopus martius'') is a large woodpecker that lives in mature forests across the northern Palearctic. It is the sole representative of its genus in that region. Its range is expanding. The black woodpecker is easily the ...

(natural monument) * Japanese serow (a type of goat antelope) (natural monument) *

Mountain hawk-eagle The mountain hawk-eagle (''Nisaetus nipalensis'') or Hodgson's hawk-eagle, is a large bird of prey native to Asia. The latter name is in reference to the naturalist, Brian Houghton Hodgson, who described the species after collecting one himself ...

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 ...

Dormouse A dormouse is a rodent of the family Gliridae (this family is also variously called Myoxidae or Muscardinidae by different taxonomists). Dormice are nocturnal animals found in Africa, Asia, and Europe. They are named for their long, dormant hibe ...

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 ...

Tsugaru Quasi-National Park

Shirakami-Sanchi is bordered on the east by

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, ...

Shirakami-dake

Shirakami-dake is the highest peak in Shirakami-Sanchi. It is in height.Atlas of Japan, Imidas Shueisha, Tokyo 1990 The peak itself is not a part of the World Heritage Site and, as such, permission is not necessary to climb. The summit is equipped with toilet and shelter facilities.

Yūkyū-no-Mori (悠久の杜) Shirakami festival

At the foot of the Shirakami-Sanchi, the town of Hachimori in the Yamamoto District of

Akita prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Provinces and prefectures" in ; "Tōhoku" in . Its population is approximately 966,000 (as of 1 October 2019) and its geographic area is 11,6 ...

holds an annual concert in the open air.

References

External links

UNESCO World Heritage Site EntryVisit Shirakami
{{Authority control World Heritage Sites in Japan Forests of Japan Geography of Aomori Prefecture Geography of Akita Prefecture Tourist attractions in Aomori Prefecture Tourist attractions in Akita Prefecture Protected areas established in 1993 1993 establishments in Japan