Hakkōda Mountains


The Hakkōda Mountains are an active volcanic complex in south-central Aomori Prefecture, Japan, in Towada-Hachimantai National Park. Often called Mount Hakkōda or simply Hakkōda, the mountains are collectively one of the 100 Famous Japanese Mountains. Its peak, Mount Ōdake, lies southeast of central Aomori and west of central Towada and has an elevation of. The Hakkōda Mountains are located in the Ōu Mountains and are part of the Northeastern Japan Arc, a segment of the Pacific Ring of Fire. The volcanic complex consists of fourteen stratovolcanoes and lava domes arranged into two volcanic groups. The Northern Hakkōda Volcanic Group emerges from the rim of an caldera that dates back to the Pleistocene. The Southern Hakkōda Volcanic Group predates the caldera.

Name

Though the Hakkōda Mountains are made up of several mountains they are often collectively called Mount Hakkōda or simply Hakkōda. The name Hakkōda is a geographic description of the mountains and their appearance. The first part of the name Hakkō from eight of the mountains having peaks that resemble helmets. The second part of the name da refers to the mountains' flat plateaus that are referred to as 神の田圃.

Geographic setting and description

After Mount Iwaki, the Hakkōda Mountains contain the second highest peak in Aomori Prefecture, Mount Ōdake with an elevation of. The peak is southeast of central Aomori and west of central Towada. Mount Ōdake can be climbed from Sukayu Onsen in about four hours. Heavy snowfall makes the Hakkōda Mountains a prime destination for backcountry and mountain skiers, and there are two mountain huts for overnight trips. The lower slopes of the mountains are forested interspersed with moorland. Above, the Alpine climate zone starts.
The Hakkōda Mountains, along with Lake Towada and the Oirase Valley, make up the northern section of Towada-Hachimantai National Park.
The mountains dominate the southern horizon of Aomori. On a clear day they can be seen on a clear day from Hakodate in Hokkaido over away.

List of peaks

The following is a list of peaks and their heights:
The Hakkōda Mountains are famous for their high-altitude wetlands:
The Hakkōda Mountains are two clusters of stratovolcanoes in the Northeastern Japan Arc that consists of lava flows, debris flows, and pyroclastic ejecta and flows arranged into southern and northern groups. The volcanic peaks are made of non-alkali mafic rock; mostly andesite, dacite, and basalt. Although both groups of mountains formed in the Pleistocene, the southern group is older than the northern group. The southern group is made from rock that is 700,000 to 1,700,000 years old, while the northern group is made from rock that is 13,000 to 700,000 years old along the southwestern rim of an older caldera.
Eight eruptive events have occurred in the Northern Hakkōda Volcanic Group since 4,000 BCE, including phreatic and vulcanian eruptions. Four eruptive events occurred at the summit of Ōdake, with another possible eruption at Ōdake. The three most recent eruptions occurred at Jigokunuma on the southwestern foot of Ōdake near Sukayu Onsen during the 13th to 17th centuries.

Modern activity and the current threat

Two fatal incidents have happened in modern history due to volcanic gas emitted from the northern group. On 12 July 1997, three soldiers of the Japan Self-Defense Forces died after gas accumulated in the valley they were training in. On 20 June 2010, a teenage girl died after being exposed to volcanic gas near Sukayu Onsen.
After the 2011 Great East Japan earthquake, seismic activity around the volcanic group increased. After a series of earthquakes between February and October 2013, Mount Ōdake saw a degree of deformation.
Future eruptions are forecast to come from the peak of Mount Ōdake and Jigokunuma, a volcanic crater lake. Large scale eruptions from Mount Ōdake have the potential to send lahars to heavily populated areas of the cities of Aomori and Towada, to the northwest and east, respectively, of the volcanic complex. Potential lahars would flow to Towada by the Oirase River and its tributaries and to Aomori by the Tsutsumi and Komagome rivers. The junction of the Tsutsumi and Komagome rivers just north of Tsutsui Station on the Aoimori Railway Line would be the most heavily impacted populated area during a large eruption, with many areas struck by over a meter of debris. An eruption from Mount Ōdake could also produce pyroclastic flows that could travel up to and expel lava up to from the volcano. Due to volcanic deformation, the summit of Mount Takada-Ōdake shifted to the west and increased in elevation by, shifting its summit from the border of Aomori and Towada to being entirely in the city of Towada. As of May 2020, intense fumarole activity is ongoing at Jigokunuma near Sukayu Onsen and National Routes 103 / 394.

Human history

During the Jōmon period, human activity rapidly increased in the Hakkōda Mountains after a large-scale, Plinian eruption of the Lake Towada volcanic caldera. It is hypothesized that the removal of the mountains' beech forest in the eruption made room for the chestnut groves that the Jōmon people in the area relied heavily on.
In 1684, during the Edo period, Sukayu Onsen was founded at a hot spring near Jigokunuma. A hunter tracking a deer he had wounded came upon the deer near a hot spring. The hunter notice that the deer had apparently been healed of its injuries by the hot spring. The location became known as Shikayu Onsen, literally "the deer's hot spring". As the amount of visitors grew, the onsen became known as Sukayu. The onsen is still a major attraction in the mountains.
The Hakkōda Mountains incident, took place on in the mountains in January 1902, leading to the death of 199 members of the Imperial Japanese Army's 8th Division.
In 1929, Tohoku University established the Mount Hakkōda Plant Experimentation Laboratory near Sukayu Onsen. The mountains, along with the Lake Towada area, were set aside under the as a protected part of Towada National Park in 1936. On 3 August 1953, the national park was expanded, extending its protected status to the Tashiro Plateau Wetland in the caldera of the Northern Group of the Hakkōda Mountains.
The Hakkōda Ropeway was opened in October 1968, providing aerial lift access to the top of Mount Tamoyachidake, one of the peaks in the northern Hakkōda Mountains.
The Hakkōda Mountains appear on a postage stamp released on 20 July 1951 and in a set of stamps released on 30 March 2015.
Yūichirō Miura, the oldest person to reach the summit of Mount Everest, said that the Hakkōda Mountains were the mountains held the closest to his heart.

Outdoor recreation

The Hakkōda Mountains, particularly the area around the Hakkōda Ropeway, Sukayu Onsen, and Mount Ōdake, are a popular destination for skiers and snowboarders from around the world. The mountains offer an extensive area for backcountry winter recreation, with dry, powdery snow similar to what is seen at resorts in Hokkaido despite being slightly further south.

Climbing

Climbing to the summit of Mount Ōdake, the peak of the Hakkōda Mountains, is not difficult and does not require any technical skill between May and November. To reach the peak climbers start their accent at Sukayu Onsen or the top of the Hakkōda Ropeway, both of which can be accessed by public buses or private automobiles from National Route 103 and National Route 394. From Sukayu Onsen, it takes about an hour and forty-five minutes make the ascent to the summit that is accessible by a well-marked pathway. From the top of the Hakkōda Ropeway it takes two hours to ascend to the summit and another two to descend back to the aerial lift. The summit can be reached outside of the mentioned climbing season; however dangers imposed by avalanches and harsh weather make advance training, personal radio beacons, and preparation necessary.

Dangers and accidents

The Hakkōda Mountains incident occurred on 23 January 1902, when a group of Imperial Japanese Army soldiers marched in a blizzard on the Hakkōda Mountains en route to Tashiro Hot Spring located in the Hakkōda Mountains. The 199 deaths during a single ascent make it the world's largest mountaineering disaster in the modern history of mountain climbing.
Two people were killed and 12 were injured after an avalanche struck a hiking party in 2007. Depressions in the mountains can trap toxic volcanic gases emitted from vents. These gases have lead to the deaths of several people in modern history.

Ecology

Flora

Below the alpine zone that begins around, the Hakkōda Mountains are covered with Siebold's beech forests. In the lower alpine zone the mountains contain stands of Maries' fir, known locally as Aomori todomatsu. In the higher alpine zone in elevations above, the stands of fir thin out and are interspersed with a mixture of alpine shrubs, primarily made up of East Asian alder and Japanese rowan.

Fauna

The mountains support a wide variety of animal life. The Tsuta Wild Bird Sanctuary lies within the Southern Group of the Hakkōda Mountains. Its marshes and ponds support populations of Mandarin duck, Forest Green Tree Frog, and Ruddy kingfisher. Other species that can be found in the Hakkōda Mountains are the golden eagle, the Japanese serow, and the Asian black bear.