Yatsugatake Mountains

Yatsugatake Mountains
八ヶ岳連峰 Yatsugatake-renpō
Yatsugatake Mountains, viewed from Minamimaki, Nagano.
Highest point
Peak	Mount Aka
Elevation	2,899 m (9,511 ft)
Dimensions
Length	30 km (19 mi) North-South
Naming
Etymology	Mountain with eight peaks
Geography
Country	Japan
States	Nagano Prefecture and Yamanashi Prefecture
Region	Chūbu
Biome	Alpine climate
Geology
Orogeny	Island arc
Age of rock	Quaternary
Type of rock	Volcanic

The Yatsugatake Mountains (八ヶ岳連峰^?, Yatsugatake-renpō) are a volcanic mountain range on the border between Nagano Prefecture and Yamanashi Prefecture on the island of Honshū in Japan.

The mountain range consists of two volcanic groups, Northern Yatsugatake Volcanic Group and Southern Yatsugatake Volcanic Group. The two volcanic groups of Yatsugatake, North and South, have different characteristics. The South Yatsugatake mountains are steep and are more alpine in nature. The mountains belonging to North Yatsugatake mountains are gentler and lower than the South Yatsugatake mountains.

The southern group ranges from the Natsuzawa Pass to the end of the mountain range. The northern range includes Mount Kitayoko to the other end of the range. Mount Tateshina is also included.

These mountains form a major part of the Yatsugatake-Chūshin Kōgen Quasi-National Park.

These mountains consist of older eroded complex volcanoes, which were made by repeated volcanic eruptions over many thousands years. The last eruption was estimated from 600 to 800 years ago at Mount Kitayoko of North Yatsugatake Mountains. This is the only remaining active volcano. The other volcanoes are extinct.

The volcanoes consist mostly of pyroxene andesite. Yatsugatake also lies nearby to the Fossa Magna ().

According to legend, Yatsugatake was once higher than Mount Fuji, but Konohanasakuya-hime, the goddess of Mount Fuji, tore it down out of jealousy, leaving the collection of peaks we have today. Paul Hunt muses that this might not be far from the truth considering that Yatsugatake is older than Fuji and as Fuji rose in prominence Yatsugatake wore away.