is a

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...

in the

Chūgoku region The , also known as the region, is the westernmost region of Honshū, the largest island of Japan. It consists of the prefectures of Hiroshima, Okayama, Shimane, Tottori, and Yamaguchi. In 2010, it had a population of 7,563,428. History '' ...

of western Japan. It runs in an east–west direction and stretches approximately from

Hyōgo Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Hyōgo Prefecture has a population of 5,469,762 () and has a geographic area of . Hyōgo Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the east, Osaka Prefecture to the southeast, ...

in the east to the coast of

Yamaguchi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Yamaguchi Prefecture has a population of 1,377,631 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 6,112 km2 (2,359 sq mi). Yamaguchi Prefecture borders Shimane Prefecture to ...

. The range also reaches under the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

. The two tallest mountains in the group are Daisen and Mount Hyōno, which are and , respectively. Many other mountains in the ranger are also over , while some of the smaller mountains are less than .

Granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies und ...

is the most common stone found among the mountains, much of which has been exposed through erosion.

Geography

Other than Daisen, most of the mountains run along the border of Tottori and

Okayama is the capital city of Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan. The city was founded on June 1, 1889. , the city has an estimated population of 720,841 and a population density of 910 persons per km2. The total area is . The city is ...

prefectures and the border of

Shimane is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Shimane Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-least populous prefecture of Japan at 665,205 (February 1, 2021) and has a geo ...

and Hiroshima prefectures. The mountains form a

drainage divide A drainage divide, water divide, ridgeline, watershed, water parting or height of land is elevated terrain that separates neighboring drainage basins. On rugged land, the divide lies along topographical ridges, and may be in the form of a sing ...

and natural barrier in western Japan between the

San'in Region The is an area in the southwest of Honshū, the main island of Japan. It consists of the northern part of the Chūgoku region, facing the Sea of Japan. Etymology The name San'in in the Japanese language is formed from two kanji characters. T ...

to the north and the

San'yō Region The San'yō Region (山陽地方 ''San'yō-chihō'') is an area in the south of Honshū, the main island of Japan. It consists of the southern part of the Chūgoku region, facing the Seto Inland Sea. The name ''San'yō'' means "southern, sunny ...

to the south.

Major mountains

* Mount Daisen（大山）, * Mount Hyōno（氷ノ山）, *

Mount Mimuro is a mountain on the border of Shisō, Hyōgo Prefecture, and Wakasa, Tottori Prefecture, Japan. The height is {{Convert, 1358.0, m, ft, 0, abbr=on, and this mountains is the second highest mountain in Hyōgo Prefecture after Mount Hyōno. O ...

(三室山), * Mount Osorakan (恐羅漢山), * Mount Ushiro (後山), * Mount Kanmuri (冠山), *

Mount Jakuchi is a mountain located on the border of Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, and Yoshika, Shimane Prefecture, Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pac ...

(寂地山), * Mount Ōgi (扇ノ山), * Mount Dōgo (道後山), * Mount Hiba (比婆山), * Mount Nagi (那岐山), * Mount Hiru (蒜山), * Mount Sentsū (船通山), * Mount Myōken (妙見山), * Mount Sambe (三瓶山), * Mount Ōsa (大佐山), * Mount Sen (千ヶ峰), *

Mount Hōbutsu is a Japanese mountain located on the border of Hino and Kōfu, Tottori. The area around the mountain was incorporated into as a part of Daisen-Oki National Park, in March 2002. It has an elevation of 1,005 metres. This mountain is one of Ch ...

(宝仏山), * Mount Seppiko (雪彦山), * Mount Aono (青野山), * Mount Misumi (三角山), * Mount Haku (白山),

Rivers

The Chūgoku Mountains are the source of several rivers in western Japan. All flow either north to the Japan Sea or south to the

Inland Sea An inland sea (also known as an epeiric sea or an epicontinental sea) is a continental body of water which is very large and is either completely surrounded by dry land or connected to an ocean by a river, strait, or "arm of the sea". An inland s ...

with the exception of the Gōnokawa River (), which runs along the mountain range in Hiroshima and Shimane prefectures. The

Sendai River The is a river in eastern Tottori Prefecture, Japan. The Sendai is in length and has a drainage area of . The source of the river is in the Chūgoku Mountains. The Sendai flows north through Tottori Prefecture into the Sea of Japan. Under the R ...

(), the Tenjin River (), the

Hino River The is a major river in the western part of Tottori Prefecture. The river flows east-northeast for , and is the longest river in the prefecture. The Hino River emerges from the Chūgoku Mountains. The source of the river is at an elevation of ...

(), and the Kando River () all run steeply from the Chūgoku Mountains to the Japan Sea. The Yoshii River (), the Asahi River (), and the Ōta River () form a broader

alluvial plain An alluvial plain is a largely flat landform created by the deposition of sediment over a long period of time by one or more rivers coming from highland regions, from which alluvial soil forms. A floodplain is part of the process, being the s ...

to the south of the mountain range and empty in to the Inland Sea.

Economy

The Chūgoku Mountains are a source of iron sand, and the region was home to some of the earliest production of

ironware Ironmongery originally referred, first, to the manufacture of iron goods and, second, to the place of sale of such items for domestic rather than industrial use. In both contexts, the term has expanded to include items made of steel, alumini ...

in Japan. The broad tablelands of the mountain region support cattle ranches, notably for the production of ''

wagyu Wagyu ( ja, 和牛, Hepburn: ''wagyū'', ) is the collective name for the four principal Japanese breeds of beef cattle. All wagyū cattle derive from cross-breeding in the early twentieth century of native Japanese cattle with imported stoc ...

'' beef. The numerous rivers of the Chūgoku Mountains support an extensive network of

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly '' Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and ''Porteresia'', both wild and domestica ...

production in western Japan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chugoku Mountains Mountain ranges of Hyōgo Prefecture Mountain ranges of Okayama Prefecture Mountain ranges of Hiroshima Prefecture Mountain ranges of Shimane Prefecture Mountain ranges of Tottori Prefecture Mountain ranges of Yamaguchi Prefecture