Jizo Statues Near Volcano, Japan

The southern Yatsugatake mountains are steep and have alpine characteristics. The mountains of the Northern Yatsugatake Volcanic Group are gentler and lower. Yatsugatake is listed among the 100 famous mountains in Japan, but this refers to the Southern Yatsugatake Volcanic Group. Mount Tateshina is also mentioned as one of the 100 famous mountains, and it is part of the Northern Yatsugatake mountains, but is listed separately. These mountains are part of the Yatsugatake-Chūshin Kōgen Quasi-National Park.
The volcanoes are stratovolcanos that are 1 million to 200,000 years old. The rock is mainly basalt, dacite, and andesite. Mount Yoko has shown the most recent activity and is now considered an active volcano. It last erupted about 800 years ago. In 888 a debris avalanche on the East side of the volcanic massif caused Lake Matsubara to form. The Tateshina-kogen plateau was formed by a large lava flow.