is one of the

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

. The peak lies in the southern part of the

Hida Mountains The , or , is a Japanese mountain range which stretches through Nagano, Toyama and Gifu prefectures. A small portion of the mountains also reach into Niigata Prefecture. William Gowland coined the phrase "Japanese Alps" during his time in Japa ...

(Northern Alps) of

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 ...

, on the border of Ōmachi and

Matsumoto Matsumoto (松本 or 松元, "base of the pine tree") may refer to: Places * Matsumoto, Nagano (松本市), a city ** Matsumoto Airport, an airport southwest of Matsumoto, Nagano * Matsumoto, Kagoshima (松元町), a former town now part of the c ...

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 Takayama in

Gifu Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Gifu Prefecture has a population of 1,991,390 () and has a geographic area of . Gifu Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to the north; Ishikawa Prefecture to the northwest, ...

. The priest Banryū (1786–1840) founded a temple there. The headwater of Japan's longest river, the

Shinano River The , known as the in its upper reaches, is the longest and widest river in Japan and the third largest by basin area (behind the Tone River and Ishikari River). It is located in northeastern Honshu, rising in the Japanese Alps and flowing ...

, begins here as the

Azusa River The is a river within the Hida Mountains or ''Northern Japanese Alps'', in the western region of Nagano Prefecture, Japan. The river belongs to the Shinano River watershed, and forms the upper section of the Sai River. The name of the river c ...

History

* July 28, 1828 - Banryū first climbed the mountain. * 1878 -

William Gowland William Gowland FRAI (16 December 1842 – 9 June 1922) was an English mining engineer who carried out archaeological work at Stonehenge and in Japan. He has been called the "Father of Japanese Archaeology". Biography Gowland was born in Sunde ...

became the first non-Japanese man to climb to the top. * August, 1891 - Englishman

Walter Weston Walter Weston (25 December 1861 – 27 March 1940), was an English clergyman and Anglican missionary who helped popularise recreational mountaineering in Japan at the turn of the 20th century. Background and early life Weston was born 25 Dec ...

climbed to the top. * 1922 - Japanese mountaineer

Maki Yūkō , also known as Maki Aritsune (using the native Japanese reading of the characters of his given name;Yūkō is the Sino-Japanese reading.), was a Japanese mountain climber. Early life and education Maki climbed Mount Fuji at the age of ten an ...

made the first winter ascent of the mountain. * December 20, 1959 - Senshu University mountain staff is climbing Kitakama (北鎌) Ridge when an avalanche occurs, 9 people were killed.

Outline

Mount Yari is located in the

Chūbu-Sangaku National Park is a national park in the Chūbu region of Japan. It was established around the Hida Mountains and encompasses parts of Nagano, Gifu, Toyama and Niigata prefectures. It was designated a national park on December 4, 1934, along with Daisetsuz ...

. The name derives from its shape, which resembles a spear (槍 ''yari'') thrust into the sky. Because of its shape, it is also called the

Matterhorn The (, ; it, Cervino, ; french: Cervin, ; rm, Matterhorn) is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the main watershed and border between Switzerland and Italy. It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the ...

of Japan. Ridges and valleys reach out from this pyramid-shaped mountain in all directions. The four ridges are Higashikama (東鎌), Yarihotaka (槍穂高), Nishikama (西鎌) and Kitakama (北鎌) to the east, south, west and north, respectively. The four valleys are Yarizawa (槍沢), Hidazawa or Yaridaira (飛騨沢 or 槍平), Senjōzawa (千丈沢) and Tenjōzawa (天丈沢) to the southeast, southwest, northwest and northeast, respectively. During the hiking season, Mount Yari is popular with mountain climbers. One of the most infamous ridges is Kitakama. It became known through its association with mountaineer , who was a model for the novel ''Kokō no Hito'' (孤高の人), by Jirō Nitta, and it's manga adaptation of the same name by Shinichi Sakamoto(坂本眞一 , Sakamoto Shinichi). The disaster of told in ''Fūsetsu no Bibāku'' (風雪のビバーク ''Snowstorm Bivouac'') also contributed to its fame. Despite the existence of variation routes, climbers stand in line for the famous routes during the summer. In the autumn of 2005, a new mountain trail was constructed going up from Hidarimata Valley (左俣谷 ''Hidarimata-dani'') to Mount Okumaru (奥丸山 ''Okumaru-yama''). This made it possible to reach Yari-ga-take walking from Shinhodaka onsen upstream along the Hidarimata Valley following the mountain ridge of Mount Okumaru. Two triangulation points were established at the summit. A milepost stone is fixed to the ground. As a reference point for the

Geographical Survey Institute of Japan The , or GSI, is the national institution responsible for surveying and mapping the national land of Japan. The former name of the organization from 1949 until March 2010 was Geographical Survey Institute; despite the rename, it retains the same ...

, it is of little importance and even on topographic maps, the summit of Yari-ga-take appears merely as an elevation point.

Surroundings

There are several mountain huts in the vicinity of the mountain: Yari-ga-take Sansō (槍ヶ岳山荘), Sesshō Hut (殺生ヒュッテ), Hut Ōyari (ヒュッテ大槍), Yarisawa Lodge (槍沢ロッジ), Yaridaira-goya (槍平小屋) and Wasabidaira-goya (わさび平小屋). Being situated in the Japanese Alps, several prominent mountains can be reached from Mount Yari, among them: Sugoroku-dake (双六岳), Nishi-dake (西岳), Ōgui-dake (大喰岳), Naka-dake (中岳), Minami-dake (南岳), Okumaru-yama (奥丸山).

Main ascent routes

;Higashikama ridge (Omoteginza (表銀座) route) :Nakabusa Onsen (中房温泉) ― Tsubakuro-dake (燕岳) ― Otensho-dake (大天井岳) ― Higashikama ridge ― Yari-ga-take ;Nishikama ridge (Uraginza (裏銀座) route) :Takase dam (高瀬ダム) ― Eboshi-dake (烏帽子岳) ― Noguchigorō-dake ― Washiba-dake (鷲羽岳) ― Sugoroku-dake (双六岳) ― もみさわだけ Momizawa-dake (樅沢岳) ― Nishikama ridge ― Yariga-take ;Yarisawa (槍沢) route :

Kamikōchi is a remote mountainous highland valley within the Hida Mountains range, in the western region of Nagano Prefecture, Japan. It has been preserved in its natural state within Chūbu-Sangaku National Park. It is designated as one of Japan's Natio ...

(上高地) ― Myōjinike (明神池) ― Tokusawa (徳沢) ― Yokoo (横尾) ― Yarisawa lodge ― Yari-ga-take ;Yaridaira route :Shinhodaka Onsen ― Migimatadani (右俣谷) ― Yaridaira ― Yari-ga-take ;Wasabidaira (わさび平) route :Shinhodaka Onsen ― Hidarimatadani (左俣谷) ― Wasabidaira ― Okumaru-yama ― Nakazaki ridge (中崎尾根) ― Yari-ga-take ;Kitakama ridge (variation route) :Takase dam ― Yumata-onsen-seiransō (湯俣温泉晴嵐荘) ― (千天出合) ― Kitakama ridge ― Yari-ga-take ;Yarihotaka traverse (槍穂高縦走) route :Kamikōchi ― Maehotaka-dake (前穂高岳) ― Okuhotaka-dake (奥穂高岳) ― Hotakadake mountain cottage (穂高岳山荘) ― Karasawa-dake (涸沢岳) ― Kitahotaka-dake (北穂高岳) ― Daikiretto (大キレット) ― Minami-dake (南岳) ― Ōbami-dake (Ōbami-dake　大喰岳) ― Yari-ga-take

References

External links

Mount Yari (Yari-ga-take)

Topographic map
(1:25,000)
A guide to hiking Yarigatake
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yari Hida Mountains

Mount Yari is one of the 100 Famous Japanese Mountains. The peak lies in the southern part of the Hida Mountains (Northern Alps) of Japan, on the border of Ōmachi and Matsumoto in Nagano Prefecture and Takayama in Gifu Prefecture. The priest Banryū ...