is one of the major mountains in

Gunma Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Gunma Prefecture has a population of 1,937,626 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 6,362 km2 (2,456 sq mi). Gunma Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture and Fukushim ...

, Japan. Its straddles the border between the municipalities of

Annaka 240px, Edo-period Usui Magistrate’s office in Annaka is a city located in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 47,911 in 24,749 households, and a population density of 210 persons per km². The total area of the ...

, Shimonita and Tomioka. Well known for its rocks weathered into fantastic forms, this famous peak is ranked among Japan's three most noted places of rugged beauty. There are many hiking courses, and when the foliage changes color there are splendid views to be seen. The highest point is the peak of the Mt. Sōmadake (相馬岳) reaching .It is also a National

Place of Scenic Beauty is a collective term used by the Japanese government's Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties to denote Cultural Properties of JapanIn this article, capitals indicate an official designation as opposed to a simple definition, e.g "Cultural ...

as determined by the

Agency for Cultural Affairs The is a special body of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). It was set up in 1968 to promote Japanese arts and culture. The agency's budget for FY 2018 rose to ¥107.7 billion. Overview The ...

in Japan in 1923. Mount Myōgi, along with Mount Akagi and Mount Haruna, is one of the "Three Mountains of Jōmō". (Jōmō is an old name for Gunma.). It is also featured on the 'mo' card in

Jomo Karuta are Japanese playing cards. Playing cards were introduced to Japan by Portuguese traders during the mid-16th century. These early decks were used for trick-taking games. The earliest indigenous ''karuta'' was invented in the town of Miike in C ...

Overview

Mount Myōgi is composed of many different peaks: Hakuun-zan (白雲山), Kondō-san (金洞山), Kinkei-san (金鶏山), Sōma-dake (相馬岳), Mitake-san (御岳山), Chōsunokashira (丁須ノ頭), Yakyu-san (谷急山) and others. Mount Myōgi is generally separated in its south side (known as the front side) and its north side (known as the back side). For instance, when looking at Kinkei-san from Shimonita, the mount is referred to as Nakano-take (中之嶽). Among the many peaks of Mount Myōgi, which is already considered having a picturesque form, the landscape of Nakano-take is very particular. Along the slope of the mountain, there is a group of rocks with unique names (ロウソク岩 "candle rock" , 大砲岩 "cannon rock", 筆頭岩 "head of the family rock", ユルギ岩 "shaky rock", 虚無僧岩 "nihilist monk rock") that make it praised as one of the most beautiful mountains over Japan. The starting point of the hiking course going through those rocks is Nakano-dake shrine ( 中之嶽神社). The most famous temple of the divine mountain, Myōgi Shrine ( 妙義神社), is located on Hakuun-zan, on the east slope of Mount Myōgi. During

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional ''daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was character ...

, people thought that the god of the mountain protected the population from fire and lightnings.

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-highes ...

is located south of Mount Myōgi. Mount Myōgi is made out of volcanic rocks (

dacite Dacite () is a volcanic rock formed by rapid solidification of lava that is high in silica and low in alkali metal oxides. It has a fine-grained ( aphanitic) to porphyritic texture and is intermediate in composition between andesite and rhy ...

tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock ...

) and conglomerates. It was formed 3 million years ago, at the same time as Mount Arafune located south-west, after a volcanic

caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcano eruption. When large volumes of magma are erupted over a short time, structural support for the rock above the magma chamber ...

. Later, the soft sedimentary layer is thought to have been eroded which gave the mountain its current rugged appearance. Mount Myōgi is designated as one of Japan's Three Great Rare Scenic Beauties and was selected as one of the 100 Landscapes of Japan.

Hiking

The landscape being very rugged, many severe accidents and deaths have been reported. As a consequence, Tomioka city introduced courses for beginners, intermediates and experienced hikers. In January 2010, Gunma prefecture officials, local authorities, the police, firemen and the hiking club discussed the issue during the "Meeting for the establishment of preventive measures to avoid accidents in Mount Myogi and surrounding mountains". The proposition of the officials to forbid hiking was rejected by the locals who wished to continue hiking. Finally, all participants agreed to increase the number of chains and to improve the quality of the routes.

Use of the name "Myōgi" in the prefecture

* During sport festivals, many primary schools of the prefecture name their teams "Team Myogi", "Team Haruna" or "Team Asama" * The three dormitories of Tomioka Silk Mill, registered as a UNESCO World Heritage since 2014, are also named "Myogi Dormitory", "Haruna Dormitory" and "Asama Dormitory"

In popular culture

Mount Myōgi is mentioned in the street racing manga, video game, and anime series ''

Initial D is a Japanese street racing manga series written and illustrated by Shuichi Shigeno. It was serialized in Kodansha's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Young Magazine'' from 1995 to 2013, with the chapters collected into 48 ''ta ...

''. It is the home course of the racing team called the Myogi Night Kids, and is the setting for three races in the anime and manga.

Gallery

file:妙義山 - panoramio.jpg, Panorama view file:Mt. Myogi 2.JPG, View from Sakura-no-sato file:Mt. Myogi 3.JPG, View from the Myōgi Road Station file:Myogi Furusato Art Museum 2.jpg, View from Myōgi Furusato Art Museum file:Myogi-jinja Otorii.jpg, Entrance to Myōgi Jinja

References

* ''Teikoku's Complete Atlas of Japan'', Teikoku-Shoin Co.,Ltd. Tokyo 1990,

External links

Tourist Guide of Gunma PrefectureJapan National Travel Organization
{{DEFAULTSORT:Myogi Mountains of Gunma Prefecture Sacred mountains of Japan Annaka, Gunma Tomioka, Gunma Shimonita, Gunma Places of Scenic Beauty