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Akan-Mashū NP, Hokkaido
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A pumice eruption about 1,000 years ago formed the summit’s enormous explosion crater, about 1.5 × 1.25 km across. From Mount Mashu’s 857-m peak, hikers can look down into it.
Kamui-nupuri means “Mountain of the Gods.” In an Ainu legend recorded by Japan’s National Institute for Environmental Studies, a spear strikes the mountain, which flees to Kunashir and becomes Chacha-dake.
The lake’s outline shifts as you walk the caldera ridge. By the wind-swept meadow, 4.2 km from the trailhead, Mashu looks strikingly different from the familiar view at the observatory.
Mount Mashu is only 857 m high, yet its trail has alpine flowers. Blooms begin after the snow melts in May; pink and purple flowers peak in June–July, followed by yellow blooms.
The trail’s first stretch also forms part of the Hokkaido East Trail, a 410-km route linking 3 national parks. A junction branches toward Uramashu Observatory and Kaminoko Pond.
Local groups clear sasa bamboo along the Mount Mashu trail twice a year, with work scheduled for June and October. Bad weather can postpone this quiet bit of seasonal trail care.
