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Daisetsuzan NP, Hokkaido
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While much of Japan is still enjoying summer, Asahidake’s high slopes can begin turning by mid-September—the country’s first autumn colors. By late September, first snow may dust the same red-and-gold hillside.
At 1,600 m, the ropeway station is above the tree line, so the famous scarlet carpet hugs the ground: it’s Chinguruma, a woody shrub just 10 cm high, with feathery seed plumes.
A pale, plant-bare strip cuts through Asahidake’s autumn slopes: it’s an old sulfur-hauling track. Mining rights were granted here in 1944, and alpine plants recover so slowly that the cart-route scar remains visible.
The red-and-gold slopes share the scene with an active volcano: fumaroles beside Sugatami Pond send up steam, while the pond can mirror Asahidake’s smoking summit and autumn colors on a calm day.
Asahidake’s autumn colors move from the 1,600 m Sugatami area toward the 1,100 m hot-spring village below. The mountain can show different stages of autumn at the same time.
At Asahidake’s annual mountain opening, Kamikawa Ainu hold the ceremony Nupurikoro Kamuy Nomi, praying to 7 kamuy for hikers’ and visitors’ safety. The tradition continues at Asahidake Onsen beneath these seasonal slopes.
