is a mountain on the border of
Chino and
Minamimaki,
Nagano Prefecture
is a Landlocked country, landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Nagano Prefecture has a population of 2,007,682 () and has a geographic area of . Nagano Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture ...
,
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
. This mountain is one of the major mountains of
Yatsugatake Mountains
The are a volcanic mountain range on the border between Nagano Prefecture and Yamanashi Prefecture on the island of Honshū in Japan.
Description
The mountain range consists of two volcanic groups, Northern Yatsugatake Volcanic Group and Southe ...
. Mount Iō literally means, ''sulphur mountain''.
Outline
Mount Iō is a stratovolcano in
Southern Yatsugatake Volcanic Group, with sharp cliffs on both the northern and southern side. This mountain belongs to the
Yatsugatake-Chūshin Kōgen Quasi-National Park.
In
,
Kyūya Fukada
was a Japanese people, Japanese writer and mountaineer active during the Shōwa period in Japan.
Early life
Kyūya was born in what is now Kaga, Ishikawa, Kaga city, Ishikawa prefecture. He attended the Fujishima High School, followed by the pr ...
mentions the loss of a younger climbing mate, Kyoichi Yoshimura, who fell to his death while descending the northern cliffs of Mt Iō. The incident happened when Fukada was a student at
Tokyo Imperial University
The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public university, public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several Edo peri ...
.
Mountaineering
This mountain is one of the major mountains in the Yatsugatake Mountains, and is considered an easy climb for most climbers to reach to the top. The summitt is accessible year-round but winter speciality climbing gear is necessary from October through April.
One of the easiest routes is from , , and takes approximately 6 hours. From Sakuradaira, the climb is approximately 5 km, and passes , , a mountain hut with hot spring that is open year-round, , , a seasonly-opened mountain hut, and , . Sakuradaira is accessible by car, or by shuttle from
Chino Station if staying at one of three mountain huts in the Iodake Sanso group, Iodake Mountain Hut, Natsusawa Kosen, Neishi Mountain Hut.
[Natsuzawa Kosen Mountain Lodge (Japanese only)]
accessed March 12 2024
A second route is from , , to Natsuzawa Pass. It is also possible to climb from
Mount Aka (Yatsugatake), Mount Akadake, the only 100 Famous Mountain in the Yatsugatake Range.
Access
* seasonally from Minotoguchi or Tatsunokan Bus Stop of
Alpico Kōtsū from
Chino Station
* Sakuradaira (car parking available)
Gallery
File:The northern cliff of Mt Io.jpg, The northern cliff of Mt Io in March 2024
File:Mt.Iodake from Mt.Amidadake 02.jpg, SSW side of Mount Iō
File:Mt.Iodake 08.jpg, Summit of Mount Iō from the SSE
File:Mt.Iodake 02.jpg, View from summit of Mount Iō. Mount Amida on the left.
Image:Iodake6.JPG, Siberian Dwarf Pines at the Top of Mount Iō
References
硫黄岳- Yamakei Online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mount Io (Yatsugatake)
Io
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