Dewa Mountains () 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 aris ...
that runs north and south on the west side of the
Tohoku region of
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 ...
.
The mountain range spans
Aomori
, officially Aomori City (, ), is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Aomori Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 264,945 in 136,781 households, and a population density of 321 people per squa ...
,
Akita, and
Yamagata prefectures.
The Dewa Mountains are split into several sub-ranges by the
Yoneshiro River, the
Omono River
The is located in Akita Prefecture, Japan. The river flows from Mount Daisen on the border of Akita Prefecture with Miyagi and Yamagata Prefectures in the city of Yuzawa and drains into the Sea of Japan at the city of Akita. The river's draina ...
and the
Mogami River.
[日本の自然2 東北 (Japanese Nature 2: Tohoku) ISBN 4-00-007932-8] These sub-ranges include the
Shirakami Mountains, the Tahei Mountains, The Choki Mountains, and the Chotake Mountains.
The highest peak of the mountain range is
Mount Chokai (2,236m).
Flora and fauna
The Dewa Mountains are predominately covered with Beech forest.
In particular the Shirakawa mountains (''Shirakawa-Sanchi)'' contain the last area of virgin
Siebold’s beech forest - the remnants of a forest which once covered most of northern Japan. In 1993 this forest became one of the first areas in Japan listed as a
UNESCO World Heritage Site
World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
.
Dewa mountains in culture
The range is the focal point for the ''Akinomine'' (秋の嶺 "peak of autumn") ritual, which is observed by the
Mount Haguro lineage of
Shugendō
is a syncretic Esoteric Buddhist religion, a body of ascetic practices that originated in the Nara Period of Japan having evolved during the 7th century from an amalgamation of beliefs, philosophies, doctrines and ritual systems drawn prim ...
.
Individual mountains in the Dewa Mountain range
Mount Haguro
Mount Chokai
See also
*
Three Mountains of Dewa
References
Mountain ranges of Aomori Prefecture
Mountain ranges of Akita Prefecture
Mountain ranges of Yamagata Prefecture
Shugendō
Mountain faith
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