The are a volcanic mountain range on the border between

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 ...

and

Yamanashi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Yamanashi Prefecture has a population of 817,192 (1 January 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,465 km2 (1,724 sq mi). Yamanashi Prefecture borders Saitama Prefecture to the no ...

on the island of

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 separa ...

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 ...

Description

The mountain range consists of two volcanic groups, Northern Yatsugatake Volcanic Group and

Southern Yatsugatake Volcanic Group , also known as just Yatsugatake is a volcanic group of inactive volcanoes located on the border of Nagano Prefecture and Yamanashi Prefecture on Honshū in Japan. Description The Southern Yatsugatake Volcanic Group is part of the Yatsugatak ...

. The two volcanic groups of Yatsugatake, North and South, have different characteristics. The North Yatsugatake mountains are gradual and lower while the South Yatsugatake mountains are steep and are more alpine in nature. Yatsugatake Volcanic Chain 3D 2012 a

The southern group ranges from the Natsuzawa Pass to the end of the mountain range. The northern range includes Mount Yoko to the other end of the range. Mount Tateshina is also included. These mountains form a major part of the

Yatsugatake-Chūshin Kōgen Quasi-National Park is a quasi-national park on Honshū in Japan. It is rated a protected landscape (category V) according to the IUCN. The park includes the Yatsugatake Mountains and the surrounding lava plateaus: Tateshina plateau, Kirigamine, and Utsukushigahar ...

Geology

These mountains consist of older eroded

complex volcano A complex volcano, also called a compound volcano or a volcanic complex, is a mixed landform consisting of related volcanic centers and their associated lava flows and pyroclastic rock. They may form due to changes in eruptive habit or in t ...

es, which were made by repeated volcanic eruptions over many thousands years. The last eruption was estimated from 600 to 800 years ago at Mount Yoko of North Yatsugatake Mountains. This is the only remaining active volcano. The other volcanoes are extinct. The volcanoes consist mostly of pyroxene andesite. Yatsugatake also lies nearby to the Fossa Magna ( ja).

Local legend

According to legend, Yatsugatake was once higher than

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 ...

, but

Konohanasakuya-hime Konohanasakuya-hime is the goddess of Mount Fuji and all volcanoes in Japanese mythology; she is also the blossom-princess and symbol of delicate earthly life. She is often considered an avatar of Japanese life, especially since her symbol is th ...

, the goddess of Mount Fuji, tore it down out of jealousy, leaving the collection of peaks that exists today. Paul Hunt muses that this might not be far from the truth considering that Yatsugatake is older than Fuji and as Fuji rose in prominence Yatsugatake wore away.

Ecology

Deciduous forests reach up 800-1700m above sea level. Above this zone is the

subalpine zone Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

reaching up to 2500m.

Siberian dwarf pine ''Pinus pumila'', commonly known as the Siberian dwarf pine, dwarf Siberian pine, dwarf stone pine, Japanese stone pine, or creeping pine, is a tree in the family Pinaceae native to northeastern Asia and the Japanese isles. It shares the common ...

inhabits this subalpine zone. On one part of Mount Nishi under 1700m grows a rare form of spruce,

Picea koyamae ''Picea koyamae'' (Koyama's spruce; Japanese: ヤツガタケトウヒ or やつがたけとうひ ''yatsugatake-touhi'') is a rare spruce, endemic to the Akaishi Mountains and Yatsugatake Mountains in central Honshu, Japan. It is an evergreen ...

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'' (ᐊᕿ� ...

(''Lagopus muta'') are also native to these mountains, but are under threat due to loss of the Siberian dwarf pine habitat and also due to expansion of the range of the

red fox The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the Order (biology), order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe ...

. Humans have enabled the expansion of the red fox by leaving trash behind in the mountains. Also growing in the subalpine zone are

Abies veitchii ''Abies veitchii'' (Veitch's fir; シラビソ or シラベ shirabiso or shirabe), also known as Veitch's silver-fir, is a fir native to Japan on the islands of Honshū and Shikoku. It lives in moist soils in cool wet mountain forests at elev ...

and Abies mariesii.

Gallery

File:高根町から見た八ヶ岳 - panoramio.jpg, Southern Yatsugatake Volcanic Group from the SSE Minami-Yatsugatake from Mt.Kitayokodake 04.jpg, Southern Yatsugatake from the NNW File:Tengudake7.JPG, Northern Yatsugatake Volcanic Group from the S File:Mt.Akadake from Mt.Yokodake 06.jpg, Mount Aka File:Mt.Amidadake from Mt.Yokodake 10.jpg, Mount Amida File:Tateshinayama-fuyu.JPG, Mount Tateshina File:Yatsugatake-Kogen-Higashizawa-Bridge.jpg, Mt. Yatsugatake and Higashizawa Bridge Hokuto, Yamanashi

References

External links

Kita Yatsugatake (Northern Yatsugatake)
- Geological Survey of Japan

- Geological Survey of Japan * {{coord, 35.9708, N, 138.3700, E, source:wikidata, display=title Volcanoes of Nagano Prefecture Volcanoes of Yamanashi Prefecture Volcanoes of Honshū Mountain ranges of Nagano Prefecture Mountain ranges of Yamanashi Prefecture Pleistocene stratovolcanoes Stratovolcanoes of Japan