is a stratovolcano located in western

Aomori Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan in the Tōhoku region. The prefecture's capital, largest city, and namesake is the city of Aomori. Aomori is the northernmost prefecture on Japan's main island, Honshu, and is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the eas ...

, Tohoku,

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 ...

. It is also referred to as and less frequently, due to its similar shape to

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-highest ...

. With a summit elevation of and a prominence of it is the highest mountain in Aomori Prefecture. Mount Iwaki is listed as one of the 100 Famous Japanese Mountains in a 1964 book by

mountaineer Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, a ...

and

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

Kyūya Fukada. The mountain and its surroundings are located within the borders of Tsugaru Quasi-National Park.

Name

There are various theories about the origin of the name "Iwaki". Two hold that its name is Ainu in origin, the first is that it comes from ain, カムィイワキ, Kamuyiwaki (god's home), the other is that it is a distortion of the Ainu word for rock, ain, イワーケ, Iwaake. Yet another theory is that the name Iwaki is an archaic way of saying "stone castle" . In addition to being called Mount Iwaki, the mountain is also widely nicknamed , and less frequently , due its conical shape that bears similarity to

. It was also dubbed "Peak Tilesius" in honor of German naturalist, Wilhelm Gottlieb Tilesius von Tilenau in 1805 by Adam Johann von Krusenstern during the first Russian circumnavigation of the Earth, though this name had dropped out of use among Westerners by 1858 in favor of its native name.

Geographic setting and description

With a summit elevation of , Mount Iwaki has the highest peak in

and rises above the plains at its base. The peak is south-southwest of central Tsugaru and west-northwest of central

Hirosaki is a city located in western Aomori Prefecture, Japan. On 1 April 2020, the city had an estimated population of 168,739 in 71,716 households, and a population density of . The total area of the city is . Hirosaki developed as a castle town fo ...

Geology

Mount Iwaki is a roughly symmetrical andesitic stratovolcano, rising in relative isolation from the plains at the base of Tsugaru Peninsula. Its summit crater is two kilometers wide, and it has three lava domes on the western and southern flanks. The mountain has been active frequently in historic times, with very frequent activity consisting mostly of small to moderate

phreatic explosion A phreatic eruption, also called a phreatic explosion, ultravulcanian eruption or steam-blast eruption, occurs when magma heats ground water or surface water. The extreme temperature of the magma (anywhere from ) causes near-instantaneous evap ...

s during the

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 ...

. The volcano's last known eruption was on 23 March 1863. Hirosaki University has maintained an observatory with 18 telemetering stations on the mountain since 1981.

Outdoor recreation

Climbing

Mount Iwaki's summit, at 1625 meters, can be reached only by hiking, but the length and duration of the hike depends on the route. From , it takes approximately four hours to hike to the top.Rowthorne, C. et al.: "Japan (8th edition)", Lonely Planet Publications, 2003 The trail starts from inside the shrine, before the large gates on the left. The easier and more popular route follows

Tsugaru Iwaki Skyline The is a toll road managed and operated by Iwaki Skyline Co., Ltd. in Hirosaki, Japan. It partially ascends Mount Iwaki and is notable for its steep gradient and 69 hairpin turns, which make it considered as one of the most dangerous mountain ...

, a tolled road, up to a lift. The skyline road starts from Aomori Prefecture Route 3 on the southwest side of Mount Iwaki. At the end of the road there is a chair lift. From the top of the chair lift it takes around 30–40 minutes to hike to the mountain's summit.

References

External links

* - Japan Meteorological Agency
Iwakisan
- Smithsonian Institution: Global Volcanism Program {{DEFAULTSORT:Iwaki Volcanoes of Honshū Stratovolcanoes of Japan Mountains of Aomori Prefecture Volcanoes of Aomori Prefecture Ajigasawa, Aomori Hirosaki Hanami spots of Japan Mountain faith Holocene stratovolcanoes