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Akan-Mashū NP, Hokkaido
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Mount Oakan’s lava did more than build a peak: it dammed and divided an older caldera lake, helping shape the separate Akan, Penketo and Panketo waters visible from the summit trail.
Near the third station, peer into rocky cracks for hikarigoke, or “glow moss.” It doesn’t make its own light: tiny lens-like cells reflect faint light, giving the moss its emerald shimmer.
No surface stream enters or leaves Lake Jiro, which helps give it an unusually still, secluded feel. Park rangers think it connects underground to nearby Lake Taro and Lake Akan.
Around the second and third stations, a rocky “wind hole” sends out cold air year-round—a refreshing surprise on the forest climb. Rangers note that permafrost may lie deeper inside.
Mount Oakan is Pinne-shiri, “male mountain,” while neighboring Mount Meakan is Matne-shiri, “female mountain.” A regional folktale also imagines the peaks as husband and wife.
About 10 minutes from the trailhead, Lake Taro receives water from Lake Akan. Look into its clear shallows for fish such as carp and amemasu—the local name for a char.
The steepest climb ends at a surprisingly open, level fifth station. Here the mixed forest gives way to dwarf Japanese stone pines and alpine flowers such as Hakusan chidor orchid and Labrador tea.
Mount Oakan’s 3,758.52-hectare native forest reserve is managed to let nature take its course, with human intervention generally avoided. Its protected habitats range from old conifers to alpine ground cover.
