Do you know the Japanese Alps? For those who are unaware, alps are high mountain ranges with elevations above 3000 meters. There are exactly 3 ranges located in the center of Japan.
These mountain ranges are known as:
- Hida Mountains (飛騨山脈 – hida san myaku);
- Kiso Mountains (木曽山脈 – kisou san myaku);
- Akaishi Mountains (赤石山脈 – akaishi san myaku);
These 3 mountain groups received the affectionate nickname of Japanese Alps from Walter Weston, who even has a memorial plaque in Kamikochi.
These Japanese Alps have generic names like Northern Alps (Hida), Central Alps (Kiso), and Southern Alps (Akaishi). This does not truly relate to each of these alps; their Japanese names have a more characteristic meaning that we will briefly mention in the article when we look at each of these mountains.
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Getting to Know the Mountain Ranges of Japan
The Northern Alps – Hida Mountains – This large range spans the provinces of Toyama, Gifu, Nagano, and Niigata. The most popular mountains located in the Northern Alps are Tateyama, Hakuba, Lan Hotaka, Otemi, and Tsunemake.
Another highlight is the famous Kamikochi Valley, which is often the target of various travel itineraries in Japan. In this valley, you can follow the beautiful Azusa River, which is over 1500 meters above sea level, in addition to various forests, rivers, and crystal-clear lakes.
The ideograms that make up the name Hida mean to fly, to leap (飛) and a white horse with black spots (騨).
The Central Alps – Kiso Mountains – The central alps are located in the center of Nagano, and the main mountains found in Kiso are Hokendake, Komagatake, Utsugi, Ontake, and Ena.
There is a cable car called Komagane RopeWay that passes through these alps in an epic way. The name Kiso (木曽) refers to an ancient tree.
The Southern Alps – Akaishi Mountains – The southern range spans the provinces of Nagano, Yamanashi, and Shizuoka. Here are most of the mountains over 3000 meters. Here we find Kitakodake, which is the second highest mountain in Japan. The name Akaishi literally means red stone.
The Numerous Attractions of the Japanese Alps
In each of the cities around the Japanese Alps, there is a variety of attractions that, depending on the season, can only be seen at a certain time or in a specific location.
In addition to climbs, beautiful valleys, rivers, and forests to explore, each city has highlights perfect for tourists. In Toyama, we have a gigantic snow wall, Omachi a beautiful dam, Shiojiri and Takayama with historical buildings.
Japan is an amazing country to travel, but driving is not the best option to visit the Japanese Alps. You can easily plan to visit Kanazawa, Shirakawa-go, Takayama, Kamikochi, and Matsumoto in a few days.
We recommend scheduling your climb to the Japanese Alps in the officially recommended season for each mountain. It may happen that some buses do not operate at certain times like July and September.
You can search for other cable cars in the Japanese Alps like Shinhotaka Ropeway. Other specific details about each tourist spot in the Japanese Alps can be found in other articles.
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