The Japanese Alps is a series of mountain ranges in Japan which bisect the main island of Honshu. The peaks that tower over central Honshu have long been the object of veneration and pilgrimage. These mountains had long been exploited by local people for raw materials, including timber, fuel, fertilizer, fodder, meat, minerals, and medicines. Most visitors came to the mountain for pilgrimage, especially to the Buddhist temple and the sacred peak of Mount Tate.
From the front, South, Central, North Alps
Memorial plaque at Kamikōchi to Reverend Walter Weston, called the "Father of the Japanese Alps"
A panorama of the mountains of the Japanese Alps. Photo is taken from Yatsugatake, September 2007
Honshu , historically called Akitsushima , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separates the Sea of Japan, which lies to its north and west, from the North Pacific Ocean to the south and east. It is the seventh-largest island in the world, and the second-most populous after the Indonesian island of Java.
Japan as seen from a satellite. Honshu is the largest, middle island.
Mount Fuji seen from Lake Motosu in Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park
Mt. Fuji and the Tokaido Shinkansen