Hida Mountains

File:RiverKurobeSourcePart.jpg

One of the sources of the river Kurobe in the Hida Mountains

The , or , is a Japanese mountain range which stretches through Nagano, Toyama and Gifu prefectures. A small portion of the mountains also reach into Niigata Prefecture. William Gowland coined the phrase "Japanese Alps" during his time in Japan, but he was only referring to the Hida Mountains when he used that name. The Kiso and Akaishi mountains received the name in the ensuing years.

Geography

The layout of the Hida Mountains forms a large Y-shape. The southern peaks are the lower portion of the Y-shape, with the northern peaks forming two parallel bands separated by a deep V-shaped valley. It is one of the steepest V-shaped valleys in Japan. The Kurobe Dam, Japan's largest dam, is an arch dam located in the Kurobe Valley in the central area of the mountains. The western arm of mountains, also known as the Tateyama Peaks (立山連峰 Tateyama Renpō), are dominated by Mount Tsurugi and Mount Tate. The eastern arm, known as the Ushiro Tateyama Peaks (後立山連峰 Ushiro Tateyama Renpō), are dominated by Mount Shirouma and Mount Kashimayari.

Glaciers

Although it was originally thought that no glaciers existed in East Asia south of Kamchatka, recent research has shown that three small glaciers still survive in Mount Tsurugi and Mount Tate owing to the extremely wet climate of the Hokuriku region allowing for very heavy snowfalls on the high peaks.

Major peaks

• Mount Shirouma,
• Mount Kashimayari,
• Mount Tate,
• Mount Tsubakuro,
• Mount Tsurugi,
• Mount Noguchigoro,
• Mount Yari,
• Mount Hotaka,
• Mount Norikura,

Gallery

• South half part of Hida Mountains
  South half part of Hida Mountains
• Mount Tateyama
  Mount Tateyama
• Mount Yari and Mount Hotaka
  Mount Yari and Mount Hotaka
• Mount Nishihotaka from Nishihotaka-guchi Station
  Mount Nishihotaka from Nishihotaka-guchi Station
• South half part seen from Mount Kurai
  South half part seen from Mount Kurai

See also

• Japanese Alps
  • Kiso Mountains (Central Alps)
  • Akaishi Mountains (Southern Alps)
• List of mountains in Japan
• 100 Famous Japanese Mountains
• Chūbu-Sangaku National Park

External links

• North Alps Broad Band Network Template:Webarchive Template:In lang
• Northern Alps Lodging Cooperative Template:In lang
• Northern Alps Information for Gifu Prefecture Template:In lang

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