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Minami Alps NP, Shizuoka
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The “carpet” spans about 100 m across and 200 m up the slope. White Hakusan ichige and yellow Shinano kinbai dominate, and the trail passes through the blooms; peak color is usually mid-to-late July.
One 2 × 2 m plot held 28 plant species in a 2010 survey. The meadow also has 3 distinct communities: tall-flower stands, low plants, and species of open rocky ground—a mosaic, not one uniform lawn.
The meadow sits in Maedake’s southeast cirque, one of Japan’s southernmost glacial bowls. Ice had shaped it by about 11,000 years ago; 8 mapped landform types largely correspond to different plant communities.
Although it is a snowbed, tall flowering herbs dominate this meadow. Shizuoka City suggests cracked sandstone and mudstone may catch rain and release it slowly—one possible explanation for its lush growth.
A seasonal deer fence has protected the meadow since 2011, with a gate where it crosses the trail. During setup, rangers heard deer calling in fog and found tracks and feeding signs nearby—so closing the gate matters.
