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Yoshino Kumano NP, Nara
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The explorer credited with naming Hokkaido chose Ōdaigahara as his final resting place. Matsuura Takeshirō first climbed it at 68; by his will, part of his ashes was brought to a monument in Nishi-Ōdai.
Kaitaku-ato (“settlement site”) recalls an 1869 Uji Kōshōji attempt to farm the mountain, abandoned after just over a year when crops failed in the harsh conditions. About a century later, the clearing had returned to forest.
Nishi-Ōdai became Japan’s first regulated-utilization area in 2006; operation began in 2007. It is now one of only 2 nationwide, and visitor caps help keep facilities sparse across this 450-hectare forest.
Near Nanatsu-ike, neighboring deer fences installed in 2007 and 2021 let walkers compare vegetation inside and outside the barriers—and see how forest recovery differs with time and protection from browsing.
Odaigahara’s local weather proverb is “Forget your lunch, but not your umbrella.” With 3,000–3,500 mm of annual rain, among Japan’s highest totals, it’s easy to see why Nishi-Ōdai stays so mossy.
East and west Odaigahara are neighboring forest worlds: higher East has spruce near its southern natural limit; Nishi-Ōdai is beech–fir forest, part of the largest Pacific-side beech stands in western Japan.
The Odaigahara salamander—named for this plateau, its scientific type locality—can reach 19 cm long. Some larvae remain aquatic until their second autumn in Nishi-Ōdai’s cold headwater streams.
Odaigahara’s plant inventory lists 955 vascular-plant species, plus 247 mosses and 169 liverworts—416 bryophytes altogether. Nishi-Ōdai’s rain-fed beech woods are one corner of this botanical trove.
