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Nikko NP, Gunma
Claim this place to tell your story your way.
In 1649, an eruption at the summit blasted out a new crater about 200 m wide and 10 m deep—and completely destroyed the shrine then standing on the peak.
Higher on the mountain, deer browsing devastated wild Shirane-aoi around Mida-ga-ike. In a restoration program, Oze High School students and local residents raise seedlings for 4–5 years before replanting them there.
Shirane-aoi’s 4 showy, petal-like parts are actually sepals. Though its name and hollyhock-like bloom suggest otherwise, it belongs to the buttercup family and is Japan’s only species in its genus.
East Ogawa elders called this mountain Arayama. Until about 1945, its opening rite had men spend a week in seclusion, purify themselves in the Otaki River, then climb at dawn to pray for safety.
The rock garden’s original komakusa carpet was planted—a remarkable 20,000 plants. Natural selection later thinned the display, and many of today’s plants have adapted to the site and now self-seed.
At the mountain’s northwestern foot, lava flows blocked streams and formed Maru-numa, Suga-numa and Oshiri-numa. These nearby lakes are volcanic dams, not craters filled with water.
The shrine along the upper-station walking trail traces its roots to 1429, when Shirane-yama Shrine was first enshrined on the peak. After the old shrine fell into ruin, a shrine was built here in 2003.
Installed in 1998, this 2.5 km gondola climbs 600 m to 2,000 m in about 15 minutes. It also brought hikers in the off-season, helping turn Marunuma from a ski resort into a year-round mountain destination.
Along the upper-station rock garden’s wooded path toward the shrine, blue-violet Ezo gentians grow. Their flowers open when the sun shines, so cloudy weather can leave the blooms tucked closed.
