, also known as just Yatsugatake is a

volcanic group A volcanic group, depending on context, is either (1) a group of related volcanoes in the form of volcanic fields, volcanic complexes and cone clusters, or (2) a stratigraphic group consisting of volcanic strata In geology and relate ...

of inactive

volcano A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most oft ...

es located on the border of

Nagano Prefecture is a Landlocked country, landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Nagano Prefecture has a population of 2,007,682 () and has a geographic area of . Nagano Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture ...

and

Yamanashi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Yamanashi Prefecture has a population of 787,592 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,465 km2 (1,724 sq mi). Yamanashi Prefecture borders Saitama Prefecture to the n ...

Honshū , historically known as , is the largest of the four main islands of Japan. It lies between the Pacific Ocean (east) and the Sea of Japan (west). It is the seventh-largest island in the world, and the second-most populous after the Indonesian ...

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 ...

Description

The Southern Yatsugatake Volcanic Group is part of the

Yatsugatake Mountains The are a volcanic mountain range on the border between Nagano Prefecture and Yamanashi Prefecture on the island of Honshū in Japan. Description The mountain range consists of two volcanic groups, Northern Yatsugatake Volcanic Group and Southe ...

. The southern group is defined as the mountains south of the Natsuzawa Pass. The highest peak of the mountains is Mount Aka and the elevation is 2,899 metres. The southern Yatugatake mountains are steep and have alpine characteristics. The mountains of the Northern Yatsugatake Volcanic Group are gentler and lower.

Mount Tateshina also Suwa Fuji is a complex volcano located on the border of the municipalities of Chino and Tateshina in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. It has an elevation of . This mountain is one of the 100 Famous Japanese Mountains. Outline Mount Tateshina ...

is also part of the Northern Yatsugatake mountains, but is listed separately. This volcanic group is listed among the 100 famous mountains in Japan. There the mountains are listed as ''Yatsugatake''. These mountains are part of the

Yatsugatake-Chūshin Kōgen Quasi-National Park is a quasi-national park on Honshū in Japan. It is rated a protected landscape (category V) according to the IUCN. The park includes the Yatsugatake Mountains and the surrounding lava plateaus: Tateshina plateau, Kirigamine, and Utsukushigahara ...

Geology

The volcanoes are

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 ...

es that are 1 million to 200,000 years old. The rock is mainly

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 ...

and

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 ...

Climate

List of peaks

The following major peaks make up part of the Southern Yatsugatake Volcanic Group and are listed by height: From the south, to Natuzawa Pass, beyond which the Northern Yatsugatake Mountains begin, the peaks are: * Mt. Amigasayama (2,524 m) * Mt. Nishidake (2,398 m) * Mt. Mitsugashira (2,580 m) * Mt. Gongendake (2,715 m) * Mt. Aka (2,899 m) * Mt. Nakadake (2,700 m) * Mt. Amidadake (2,805 m) * Mt. Yoko (2,829 m) * Mt. Iōdake (2,760 m) * Mt. Akaiwanoatama (2,656 m) * Mt. Minenomatsume (2,567 m) * Natsuzawa Pass (2,423 m) From Natsuzawa Pass, it is possible to descend to Sakuradaira, via O-ren Hut and Natsuzawa Kosen, or directly to Honzawa Onsen, or continue through the Northern Yatsugatake Mountains.

Gallery

Image:Mt.Akadake from Mt.Gongendake 01.jpg, Mount Aka, the highest peak of the Yatsugatake mountains Image:Yatsugatake4.jpg, Mount Gongen, from Mount Aka Image:Mt.Akadake and Mt.Amidadake from Mt.Gongendake 01.jpg, Mount Amida, Mount Iō, Mount Yoko and Mount Aka from Mount Gongen Image:Amikasa01.JPG, Mount Amida, Mount Iō, Mount Yoko, Mount Aka and Mount Gongen from Mount Amigasa Image:Mt Io from Natsuzawa Pass.jpg, Mt Iō taken from Natsuzawa Pass in March 2024.jpg

References

External links

Welcome to YatsugatakeOfficial Home Page of the Geographical Survey Institute in Japan