Bandai-Asahi National Park

Bandai-Asahi National Park
磐梯朝日国立公園
IUCN category II (national park)
Mt. Higashi-Azuma, from Mount Issaikyō
Location	Honshū, Japan
Coordinates	37°49′N 139°44′E / 37.817°N 139.733°E / 37.817; 139.733Coordinates: 37°49′N 139°44′E / 37.817°N 139.733°E / 37.817; 139.733
Area	1,870.41 km²
Established	September 5, 1950

Bandai-Asahi National Park (磐梯朝日国立公園^?, Bandai Asahi Kokuritsu Kōen) is a national park in the Tohoku region, Honshū, Japan. The park site straddles over Fukushima Prefecture, Yamagata Prefecture, and Niigata Prefecture. The park was designated as a national park on September 5, 1950. The park encompasses 186,404 ha of land (the third largest national park in Japan), consisting of three independent units: the Dewasanzan-asahi Region, Iide Region, and Bandaiazuma-Inawashiro Region.

The Dewasanzan-Asahi Region is the most northern unit of the park. The northern portion of the Region consists of mountains called the Three Mountains of Dewa (出羽三山^?, Dewasanzan). The southern section of the region resides on the Asahi Range. National Route 112 separates these two mountain areas.

The Three Mountains of Dewa refer to Mount Gassan, Mount Haguro, and Mount Yudono, which resides roughly at the center of Yamagata Prefecture. The name “Dewa” refers to the name of the old province, current Yamagata and Akita Prefecture. The mountain range is a natural divider between the two major flat areas present in the prefecture: the Shonai Region to the west and the Yamagata Basin to the east. The mountains have been deemed as a holy area to the religion of Shugendō and attracted many visitors for pilgrimage to the shrines located on their peaks and Japanese mountain ascetic hermits who practice the strict doctrine. Although the location attracts a considerable number of visitors, most of them are tourists who do not practice the Shugendō teachings. Mount Gassan is a stratovolcano and rises to the height of 1984 m. The area contains marshes and subalpine forests with many plants that grown in alpine meadows, including usagi-giku (arnica unalascensis), and rare animals such as ermine and alpine accentor. The renowned haiku poet Matsuo Bashō made a haiku at this site during his journey Oku no Hosomichi in 1689: