, also known as Tateyama, is a

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

located in the southeastern area of

Toyama Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Toyama Prefecture has a population of 993,848 (1 January 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,247.61 km2 (1,640.01 sq mi). Toyama Prefecture borders Ishikawa Prefecture to the ...

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 ...

. It is one of the tallest mountains in the Hida Mountains at and one of Japan's along with

Mount Fuji is an active stratovolcano located on the Japanese island of Honshu, with a summit elevation of . It is the highest mountain in Japan, the second-highest volcano on any Asian island (after Mount Kerinci on the Indonesian island of Sumatra), a ...

and

Mount Haku , or Mount Hakusan (commonly referred to as simply Hakusan), is a dormant stratovolcano in Japan. It is located on the borders of Gifu and Ishikawa, on the island of Honshu. Mount Haku is thought to have first been active 300,000 to 400,000 y ...

. Tateyama consists of three peaks: Ōnanjiyama (大汝山, 3,015 m), Oyama (雄山, 3,003 m), and Fuji-no-Oritate, (富士ノ折立, 2,999m) which form a

ridge A ridge is a long, narrow, elevated geomorphologic landform, structural feature, or a combination of both separated from the surrounding terrain by steep sides. The sides of a ridge slope away from a narrow top, the crest or ridgecrest, wi ...

line. Tateyama is the tallest mountain in the Tateyama Mountain Range (立山連峰, Tateyama-renpō). The Oyama Shrine is located on Oyama Peak. Mount Tate was first climbed by Saeki no Ariyori, during Japan's

Asuka period The was a period in the history of Japan lasting from 538 to 710, although its beginning could be said to overlap with the preceding Kofun period. The Yamato period, Yamato polity evolved greatly during the Asuka period, which is named after the ...

. The area was incorporated into the Chūbu-Sangaku National Park on 4 December 1934.

Name

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 ...

name for the mountain is 立山, Tateyama in Japanese, which means "standing (立) or outstanding (顕)" and "mountain (山)," respectively. The Toyama Prefectural Government uses the name Mount Tateyama as an official translation of the Japanese mountain.

Geology

The mountain is primarily composed of

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

and

gneiss Gneiss (pronounced ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. This rock is formed under p ...

. However, located along the ridge and

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. ...

, about west of the summit, there is a small

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 ...

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 rhyolite. ...

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 ...

. This volcano has an elevation of and has minor

eruption A volcanic eruption occurs when material is expelled from a volcanic vent or fissure. Several types of volcanic eruptions have been distinguished by volcanologists. These are often named after famous volcanoes where that type of behavior has ...

s, the latest occurring in 1961.

Geography

Location

Tateyama is located in southeastern Toyama Prefecture. At the base of the mountain is the town of Tateyama which is accessible by train from the prefecture's capital city, Toyama.

Public transportation Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whi ...

takes climbers and tourists as far as the Murodo Plateau Station at an elevation of , where individuals may climb to the

peak Peak or The Peak may refer to: Basic meanings Geology * Mountain peak ** Pyramidal peak, a mountaintop that has been sculpted by erosion to form a point Mathematics * Peak hour or rush hour, in traffic congestion * Peak (geometry), an (''n''-3)-d ...

on foot. This location allows for the formation of snow and its accumulation, forming

glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

s. These are the only glaciers identified in Japan so far.

Nearby mountains

Mount Tate and Mount Tsurugi from Mount Kashimayari 2003-11-01

Rivers

Mount Tate is the source of two

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

s, both flowing to the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it ...

. * Hayatsuki River * Tsurugi Sawa,

tributaries A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream ('' 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 into which the ...

of the

Kurobe River The is a river in Toyama Prefecture, Japan. The river is in length and has a watershed of . The river rises from Mount Washiba in the Hida Mountains and carves the deep valley known as the Kurobe Gorge. It comes out of the mountains at Un ...

Scenery of Tateyama

File:Mount Tate from Higashi Ichinokoshi 1995-08-20.jpg, Tateyama from Higashi-Ichinokoshi File:Mount Tate from Mount Betsu 1995-08-20.jpg, Tateyama from Mount Bessan File:Tateyama from jiigatake 20 2001 11 20.jpg, Tateyama and Mount Tsurugi from Mount Jii File:Mount Tate and Mount Tsurugi from Mount Asahi 2000-07-30.jpg, Tateyama and Mount Tsurugi from Mount Asahi

References

External links

Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route official website