Mount Ontake

Mount Ontake
御嶽山
Mount Ontake in spring
Elevation	3,067 m (10,062 ft) [1]
Listing	100 famous mountains in Japan
Location
Mount Ontake Gifu and Nagano, Chūbu region, Japan
Coordinates	35°53′34″N 137°28′49″E / 35.89278°N 137.48028°E / 35.89278; 137.48028Coordinates: 35°53′34″N 137°28′49″E / 35.89278°N 137.48028°E / 35.89278; 137.48028[1]
Topo map	Geographical Survey Institute, 25000:1 御嶽山, 50000:1 御嶽山
Geology
Type	Stratovolcano
Last eruption	1980

Mount Ontake (御嶽山, Ontake-san^?), also referred to as Mount Kiso Ontake (木曽御嶽山, Kiso Ontake-san^?), is the second highest volcano in Japan at 3,067 m (10,062 ft)^[2] located around 100 km (62 mi) northeast of Nagoya. It is on the borders of Kiso and Ōtaki, Nagano Prefecture, and Gero, Gifu Prefecture. It should not be confused with Mount Mitake, a mountain in Tokyo written with the same characters, and various other Japanese mountains which share the name Ontake.

Thought to be inactive until 1979, it underwent a series of eruptions over the following year, but has not erupted since 1980.

The volcano has five crater lakes, with Ni no Ike (二ノ池^?) at 2,905 m (9,531 ft) being the highest mountain lake in Japan.

A small pond located near the base of Mount Ontake contains a number of koi that have achieved seemingly impossible life spans. The oldest known vertebrate animal known to recorded history was a koi named "Hanako," who died here in 1977, at the age of 226 years—outlasting the world's oldest tortoise by 38 years.^[3].

Gallery

• 

  Mount Ontake
  where Volcanic gas is rising

• 

  Mount Ontake
  from Mount Kohide

• 

  Mount Ontake and Agematsu, Nagano
  from Mount Kazakoshi

• 

  Mount Ontake
  from Tanohara Natural Garden

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Mountains altitude list in Japan(Gifu prefecture)" (in Japanese). Geospatial Information Authority of Japan. http://www.gsi.go.jp/KOKUJYOHO/MOUNTAIN/mountain.html. Retrieved December 18, 2010. 
2. ^ "On-take". Global Volcanism Program, Smithsonian Institution. http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=0803-04=. 
3. ^ English transcript of the last owner of "Hanako", Dr.Komei Koshihara's radio broadcast.

See also

• List of mountains in Japan
• 100 Famous Japanese Mountains
• Three-thousanders (in Japan)
• List of volcanoes in Japan

External links

• In the Pines: English-language blog about Otaki Village, one of the entrances to Mount Ontake.