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Chubu-Sangaku NP, Nagano
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The butterfly that gave Chogatake its name is a patch of lingering snow on the eastern slope. As it melts, a dark “back” appears between white wings; it can show up around mid-June, after rice planting in the valley is already over.
In 1828, Buddhist monk Banryū and local guide Matajūro crossed from Ōtakiyama via Chogatake and Jōnen, then descended to the Azusa Valley on their way to Mount Yari. This quiet ridge was part of a landmark early mountain journey.
As the snowy butterfly melts away, its slope transforms into a flower garden. Rabbit chrysanthemum, alpine buttercup and lingonberry bloom there, and the same high meadow becomes a stage for real alpine butterflies.
A soil core from Fairy Pond, about 1.5 km south of Chogatake’s summit, contained a layer dated to 5,901–5,730 calibrated years ago. Researchers infer that plants once grew along its shore, before vegetation waned and rock debris movement increased.
The Chogatake–Ōtakiyama ridge is officially recognized for its unusual multiple-ridge landform: parallel crests create hollows where ponds and wetlands form. One is Fairy Pond, an oval pool about 40 m long and 25 m wide.
Construction of Chogatake Hut began in 1956, but the building was not completed until 1958. While work was underway, its founder slept in a large emergency tent and invited visiting climbers inside.
Dinner at Chogatake Hut has a direct link to the valley below: its rice comes from contracted farmers in Azumino, and staff make miso using locally grown rice and soybeans. The local landscape reaches the table, too.
Since 1998, a seasonal volunteer clinic has operated inside Chogatake Hut. Nagoya City University students and medical staff take turns at this remote post, offering hikers free care and sharing advice on preventing altitude sickness.
Researchers monitor butterflies along a route between Chogatake and Jōnen. In 2024, they recorded 3 alpine indicator species; a fourth, the high-mountain Erebia (タカネヒカゲ), was spotted on the route outside the timed survey.
