Qualla: Hida Mountains

Hida Mountains: Introduction

Mon, 16 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Beh, CC BY-SA 3.0. In the 1870s, English geologist William Gowland trudged through the mountains of central Honshu and saw something that reminded him of home -- or rather, of Europe's most celebrated range. He called what he found the "Japanese Alps," and the name stuck. But Gowland was specific: he meant only the Hida Mountains, the northernmost and most dramatic of the three ranges that would eventually inherit the title. The Kiso Mountains (Central Alps) and Akaishi Mountains (Southern Alps) received the label later, almost as afterthoughts. The Hida range came first because it demanded the comparison most forcefully.

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Image: Beh | CC BY-SA 3.0

Hida Mountains: The Shape of a Y

Mon, 16 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Alpsdake, CC BY-SA 3.0. Seen on a map, the Hida Mountains form a massive Y sprawling across four prefectures: Nagano, Toyama, Gifu, and a sliver of Niigata. The southern peaks compose the stem, running north until the range splits into two parallel arms separated by one of the steepest V-shaped valleys ...

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Image: Alpsdake | CC BY-SA 3.0

Hida Mountains: Glaciers That Should Not Exist

Mon, 16 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Alpsdake, CC BY-SA 3.0. For decades, scientists believed no glaciers survived in East Asia south of Kamchatka. The latitude was too low, the climate too temperate. Then researchers took a closer look at Mount Tsurugi and Mount Tate in the western Hida range and found three small glaciers clinging to exi...

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Image: Alpsdake | CC BY-SA 3.0

Hida Mountains: A Roster of Giants

Mon, 16 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Σ64, CC BY-SA 3.0. The Hida Mountains contain some of Japan's most celebrated summits. Mount Hotaka -- specifically Oku-Hotaka-dake at 3,190 meters -- stands as the range's highest point and the third-tallest peak in all of Japan, surpassed only by Mount Fuji and Mount Kita. Mount Yari, the spear-s...

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Image: Σ64 | CC BY-SA 3.0

Hida Mountains: The Men Who Mapped the Alps

Mon, 16 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit 名古屋太郎, CC BY-SA 3.0. The Hida Mountains owe their international reputation to a succession of determined foreigners. Gowland, who coined the name Japanese Alps, was the first documented non-Japanese climber to summit Mount Yari in 1878. Walter Weston, the British missionary who arrived a decade later...

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Image: 名古屋太郎 | CC BY-SA 3.0