The are 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 ari ...

in central

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 sepa ...

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 ...

, bordering Nagano, Yamanashi and Shizuoka prefectures. It is also called the , as it joins with 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") and the

Kiso Mountains are a mountain range in Nagano and Gifu prefectures in Japan. They are also called the and they combine with the Hida Mountains ("Northern Alps") and the Akaishi Mountains ("Southern Alps") to form a group collectively known as the Japanese A ...

("Central Alps") to form the

Japanese Alps The is a series of mountain ranges in Japan which bisect the main island of Honshu. The peaks that tower over central Honshu have long been the object of veneration and pilgrimage. These mountains had long been exploited by local people for raw m ...

Origin of the name

There are a lot of red stones (赤石 Aka-Ishi) around the Akaishi River, a

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drai ...

of the Ōi River in the southern part of Southern Alps. Then it was said that the mountain of red stone came to be called Mount Akaishi. The mountain represents the mountain range and the name ''Akaishi'' is used for the whole range mountain range, Akaishi Mountains.

Major peaks

Almost all major peaks of the Akaishi Mountains are in

Minami Alps National Park is a national park in the Akaishi Mountains, Chūbu region, Honshū, Japan. The Minami Alps National Park was established on June 1, 1964. It extends along the border of Shizuoka, Yamanashi and Nagano Prefectures for a length of , and a maxi ...

that was established on June 1, 1964.Minami Alps National Park
(home page of the

Ministry of the Environment An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment ...

) The range is the source of two rivers, Ōi River and

Tenryū River The is a river in central Honshū, Japan. With a length of , it is Japan's ninth longest river. Its source is Lake Suwa in the Kiso Mountains near Okaya in Nagano Prefecture. It then flows through Aichi Prefecture and western Shizuoka Prefect ...

, which flow to 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 conti ...

Akaishi Mountains and Ina Valley from Mount Ena 2010-12-12

Panorama

Flora and fauna

Alpine plants Alpine plants are plants that grow in an alpine climate, which occurs at high elevation and above the tree line. There are many different plant species and taxa that grow as a plant community in these alpine tundra. These include perennial grasses, ...

, such as

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 commo ...

can be seen above the tree line.

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'' (ᐊ� ...

and

spotted nutcracker The spotted nutcracker, Eurasian nutcracker, or simply nutcracker (''Nucifraga caryocatactes'') is a passerine bird slightly larger than the Eurasian jay. It has a much larger bill and a slimmer looking head without any crest. The feathering over ...

also live in the alpine zone. Japanese serow and

sika deer The sika deer (''Cervus nippon''), also known as the Northern spotted deer or the Japanese deer, is a species of deer native to much of East Asia and introduced to other parts of the world. Previously found from northern Vietnam in the south to ...

live in the forest belt on the mountain slopes. is endemic to Mount Kita. File:Ptarmigan Raicyou in Arakawadake Mother and child 1994 7 29.jpg,

File:Spotted Nutcracker.jpg, Spotted
nutcracker File:Cervus nippon Nagoya castle 2010-10-3.JPG,

Sika deer The sika deer (''Cervus nippon''), also known as the Northern spotted deer or the Japanese deer, is a species of deer native to much of East Asia and introduced to other parts of the world. Previously found from northern Vietnam in the south to ...

File:Pinus pumila1.JPG, Siberian
dwarf pine File:Callianthemum hondoense 01.jpg, ''

Callianthemum ''Callianthemum'' is a genus that consists of 24 species of little rhizomatous herbs from high mountains in Europe, Central Asia and East Asia. The botanical name comes from the Greek, which means beautiful flower. The plants are low-growing, orn ...

''
''hondoense'' File:Polemonium caeruleum Miyamahashinobu in Kitadake 2002-9-2.jpg, ''Polemonium''
''caeruleum''

Walter Weston in the Japanese Alps

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 ...

introduced the Western world to the Japanese Alps in his book ''Mountaineering and Exploring in the Japanese Alps''. During his visits to Japan, he climbed Akaishi Mountains. Several monuments in his memory have been set up in several places in the

. He climbed the following peaks: * 1892 Mount Akaishi - The first non-Japanese to climb this mountain * 1902 Mount Kita * 1903 Mount Kaikoma * 1904 Mount Hōō and Mount Senjō

References

Books

*''Mountaineering and Exploring in the Japanese Alps'' -by Walter Weston (1896)

External links

{{commons category, Akaishi Mountains
Yamanashi Nichinichi Newspaper: Minami Alps website
Japan Alps Mountain ranges of Nagano Prefecture Mountain ranges of Shizuoka Prefecture Mountain ranges of Yamanashi Prefecture