Mount Shirataka

What it is

• A 994-meter tall volcano located in Yamagata Prefecture that was active one million years ago.
• A sacred mountain worshipped by locals as a god of agriculture and sericulture.
• A former military retreat route used during the Keicho Dewa Battle.
• The namesake of the famous Yonezawa Domain lord, Uesugi Yozan.

What to see

• The Fukumitsu Daikokuzo-son shrine situated at the mountain summit.
• A collapsed caldera extending nine kilometers toward the northeast.
• A Ministry of Land wireless relay station and radar site.
• A first-class triangulation point located at the peak.
• Exposed rock formations consisting of pyroxene andesite and dacite.

Notes written by Japan Gems from facts in Japanese Wikipedia.