Mount Yakushidake was added to Your Favorites!
Minami Alps NP, Yamanashi
Claim this place to tell your story your way.
Hōō-shajin, a purple bellflower found only on Hōō’s three peaks, hangs from granite cliffs. Botanist Mitsumaru Tsujimoto discovered it in 1906—one of the rare plants named for the very ridge where it grows.
At a 2,715-m study site on Yakushi’s ridge, researchers found almost no winter snow on the exposed western slope—but several metres in a nearby hollow between double ridges. One summit, two very different winter scenes.
Yakushi-dake is named for Yakushi Nyorai, the Buddha of medicine and healing. Nearby Kannon-dake and Jizō-dake honor compassion and protection, making the three peaks a ridge-top trio of Buddhist figures.
Yakushi’s pale summit gravel is weathered granite, not lingering snow. On the 2,715-m ridge, a study recorded soil just 2 cm deep reaching 30–40°C in spring sunshine, even as freeze–thaw cycles shaped the gravel.
Takane-biranji is native to the Southern Alps, and its flowers vary by mountain: Hōō’s are often pale pink, while Kitadake and Arakawa commonly have very pale pink or whitish blooms.
In September 1824, Nirasaki shrine priest Ikuyama Masakata climbed Hōō and left a travel account titled “Daitori-ga-take ni asobu ki.” Its old name, “Great Bird Peak,” is a lovely reminder that the ridge had stories before modern hiking.
Historical writers applied “Hōō-san” to one, two, or all three peaks. In 1902, a surveyor recorded the highest peak as Kannon, while local names for it included Yakushi, Naka-no-dake, and Nōushi-no-dake.
An old account said pilgrims to Hōō should climb in August or September and purify themselves beneath a waterfall; people believed ignoring the rite could bring bad weather or a poor harvest.
After a 2013 typhoon, researchers surveyed the route to Yakushi 2 days later, finding 18 fallen-tree sites and 9 trail collapses. Near Tsuji-yama, Minami-Muro hut staff had already moved fallen trees off the trail after local hikers alerted them.
