is an active volcano located on the border of Akita and Yamagata in the

Tōhoku region The , Northeast region, , or consists of the northeastern portion of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. This traditional region consists of six prefectures (): Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, and Yamagata. Tōhoku retains ...

of Japan, and is tall. Because of its (roughly) symmetrical shape and massive size, it is also variously known as , or depending on the location of the viewer. In addition to being one of the 100 Famous Landscapes of Japan, it is also included as one of the 100 famous mountains in Japan, and famous 100 Geographical Features of Japan. It is surrounded by Chōkai Quasi-National Park. It is also a National Historic Site of Japan,Mount Chōkai＆Tobishima Geopark
and is regarded as a sacred mountain by followers of the '' Shugendō'' branch of

Shinto , also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as ...

which has the shrine Chōkaisan Ōmonoimi Shrine there and is popular with hikers.

Outline

Mount Chōkai is a complex

stratovolcano A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a typically conical volcano built up by many alternating layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with ...

made of two old and new newer volcanoes, composed primarily of

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

andesite Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predomina ...

. Mount Chōkai is shared by two municipalities in Akita Prefecture and four municipalities Yamagata Prefecture; however, its peak is located in Yuza, on the Yamagata side of the border. It is therefore the highest peak in Yamagata, and the second highest in the Tōhoku region after Mt. Hiuchigatake (altitude 2,356 m). The highest elevation of Mount Chōkai within Akita Prefecture has an altitude of 1,775 meters, and thus the mountain is also the highest in Akita Prefecture. From the summit, it is possible to see the Shirakami Mountains and Mount Iwaki to the north, Sado Island to the south and the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

to the east. On the south side of the mountain is “Shinji Sekkei,” where snow remains in the shape of the ''

kanji are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are ...

'' for “heart” in even in summer, and portions of the summit have perennial snow, and geological evidence of glaciation in the recent past. Indigenous species of Mount Chōkai include the butterfly thistle and butterfly fish.

Eruptions

Mount Chōkai is a very active mountain. Known major eruptions occurred: * 466 B.C. Causes massive collapse of mountain peak (based on

dendrochronology Dendrochronology (or tree-ring dating) is the scientific method of chronological dating, dating tree rings (also called growth rings) to the exact year they were formed in a tree. As well as dating them, this can give data for dendroclimatology, ...

) * 810 AD Records of eruption continue to 824. * 840 AD Eruption. * 871 AD Eruption and lava flow with Volcanic explosion index: VEI 2 * 939 AD Eruption * 1560 AD Eruption * 1659-1663 AD Eruptions * 1740-1741 AD Eruption * 1800-1801 AD Steam explosion, lava flow, formation of a new

lava dome In volcanology, a lava dome is a circular, mound-shaped protrusion resulting from the slow extrusion of viscous lava from a volcano. Dome-building eruptions are common, particularly in convergent plate boundary settings. Around 6% of eruptions ...

: Eight people killed * 1821 Eruption recorded. * 1834 AD Eruption * 1971 AD Eruption * 1974 AD Steam explosion, small mud flow; Volcanic Explosion Index: VEI 1

History

Mount Chōkai has been the object of mountain worship since ancient times. From the

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...

, it gradually became a training ground for Shugendō, as an avatar of

Yakushi Nyorai Bhaiṣajyaguru (, zh, t= , , , , ), or ''Bhaishajyaguru'', formally Bhaiṣajya-guru-vaiḍūrya-prabha-rāja ("Medicine Master and King of Lapis Lazuli Light"; zh, t=藥師琉璃光(王)如來, , , ), is the Buddha of healing and medicine i ...

. From the south was a pilgrimage path to the summit. In the middle of the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

the mountain drew many pilgrims and had 33 chapels at its base., with additional routes to its summit opened in the north. There is also a tradition that the island of Tobishima in the Sea of Japan was originally a part of the summit of Mount Chokai. is the God of the mountain and worshipped at Chōkaisan Ōmonoimi Shrine. Three ships have been named after Mount Chōkai: ''Chōkai'', an early steam gunboat, and the cruiser (sunk in 1944), which were both in the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved followin ...

, and the JDS ''Chōkai'', a Kongō class guided missile destroyer currently in service in the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. File:Mount Chokai Relief Map, SRTM-1.jpg, Chōkai volcano File:Ridge of the Mt. Chokai.jpg, Ridge of the Mt. Chokai File:Lake Chokai, 19 Oct. 2013.jpg, Lake Chokai File:Mount Chokai (19686944565).jpg, Lava dome on the summit

References

External links

Chokaisan
- Japan Meteorological Agency * - Japan Meteorological Agency
Chokaisan
- Smithsonian Institution: Global Volcanism Program

* https://www.thehiddenjapan.com/mtchokai - English Information {{DEFAULTSORT:Chokai Mountains of Akita Prefecture Mountains of Yamagata Prefecture Volcanoes of Akita Prefecture Volcanoes of Yamagata Prefecture Volcanoes of Honshū Stratovolcanoes of Japan Active volcanoes Historic Sites of Japan Two-thousanders of Asia Pleistocene stratovolcanoes Holocene stratovolcanoes Shugendō Mountain faith

Outline

Eruptions

History

See also

References

External links