Bandaisan Geopark

Bandaisan Geopark Area Guidebook

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〈Legend〉● Geological features,
geographical features,
scenic sites
Nun
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Nunotaki
Fall● Plants and animals●Park and gardens●Industries
Area●Historical sites
Onogawa River●Shrines and temples●Cultural facilities

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1 Topography and Geological Features of the Nekoma Volcano Area

C ONTENTS

The Nekoma Volcano is located to the northeast of Aizu Basin and1. Topography and Geological Features of Nekoma Volcano Area・・・・・・・・・・・・・・ 2
2. Mt. Nekomagatake and the Surrounding Mountains・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・ 3
3. The Legends and Religion of Mt. Nekomagatake and the Surrounding Mountains ・・・ 5
4. The Natural History of Oguninuma Pond ・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・ 8
5. The Vegetation around Oguninuma Pond ・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・ 9
6. The Plant Community of Oguninuma Pond Marsh ・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・10
7. The Legends of Oguninuma Pond ・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・12
Trekking Guide Map of Oguninuma Pond and Mt. Nekomagatake・・・13

C AreaC Area

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Oguninuma Pond.
Nekoma Volcano started its activities around 1 million years ago, themountains of the old Nekoma Volcano such as Mt. Oguni, Mt. Umaya,
and Mt. Kojogamine were formed around 700,000 years ago. Later alarge scale sector collapse happened in the central area of the old

ﬂowed towards the northeast (called the Oshizawa debris avalanche. B a n d a i Gold Line

Mt.Kojogamine
Mt.Koj
Mt
Mt.
Koj
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19

an approximately 2km-diameter depression which includes the

Because of the debris avalanche a large amount of earth and stone

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n num Pondndwest and 10km from north to south. At the top of the volcano there is

Nekoma Volcano, which caused a debris avalanche (Glossary p.14).

Mt

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21

To Kitakatarive

to the west of Mt. Bandai, and has a diameter of 10km from east to

deposits). About 500,000 years ago lava erupted in the explosion caldera
previously made by the sector collapse, and mountains of the new
Nekoma Volcano were formed with Mt. Nekomagatake as the central
ﬁgure. Nekoma Volcano ended its activity around 400,000 years ago.
Tertiary

Nekoma Happodai gate
Old Nekoma Volcano

Mt.Nekomagatake
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Mt.OguniNametaki Fall
ALTS Bandai Ski Area

Bandai Volcano
HagidairaOguninuma Pond

About 1 hour walk from Oguninuma Pond entrance which is about 30km drive fromthe Inawashiro Interchange of the Ban-Etsu Expressway

1

Mt. Nekomagatake

Oshizawa Debris
Avalanche Deposits
Other Quaternary
A lake19 Mt. Nekomagatake：The highest peak of Nekoma Volcano：A strange rock of pyroxene andesite
20 Neko-ishi
21 Oguninuma Pond：The altitude at the top: 1089m, the circumference: 3.5km※ It is recommended to drive as public transportation is not available around the geosite.
During the season of Nikkokisuge (Hemerocallis esculenta), it is diﬃcult to get to the areaaround the pond because of many visitors but a public bus service is available from
Kitakata city.

1349m

1404m

Mt.Ogigamine

AccessNew Nekoma Volcano

A caldera edge
Mt.Hayama
The top of a mountain

139°57′37°34′

04km（Figure 1）A geological map of Nekoma Volcano, simplified version of the figure by Mimura (2002)2

2 Mt. Nekomagatake and Surrounding Mountains
Nekoma Volcano has a depression in the middle where

Nekoma Volcano is an older volcano compared to Mt. Bandai,and has been eroded for a long time which results in a gentler
shape of the mountain.

Oguninuma Pond (Water surface elevation: 1089m) is located,surrounded by mountains such as Mt. Nekomagatake (Altitude:
1404m), Mt. Umaya (1261m), Mt. Kojogamine (1288m), Mt.
Futagoyama (1257m), and Mt. Oguniyama (1271m).
Nekoma Volcano and Bandai Volcano in the east are formedby the activities of the same andesite magma, and thus arebrother volcanos. Bandai Volcano, however, has a higher andsteeper shape compared to Nekoma Volcano. This is because

Nekoma Volcano

3（Picture 1）Nekoma Volcano seen from the south

Bandai Volcano（Figure 2）Nekoma Volcano and Bandai Volcano (Provided by Hokkaido-Chizu Co., Ltd.)4

3 The Legends and Religion of Mt. Nekomagatake and the Surrounding Mountains
For priests and ascetic Buddhist monks Mt. Bandai andmountains such as Mt. Nekomagatake located in the west of Mt.
Bandai, were suitable areas
for successive practice ofasceticism. Because of thishistory various traditions
Neko-ishi▼

and worship exist about
those mountains.
For example, Mt.

（Picture 2）Oguninuma Pond and Neko-ishi

Nekomagatake is located indeep mountains to the northof the Enichi-ji Temple, and if you walk the path from themountaintop to the west for about 20 minutes, you can see ahuge andesite rock called ʻNeko-ishi (Cat rock)ʼ looking down on
Oguninuma Pond. Depending on the direction it looks like alarge rock covering a big cat, and it is said the rock shows animage of the story that once upon a time Kobo Daishi (SaintKobo) overthrew a goblin cat by the mystical power of the
Buddhism.

A book “Shinpen Aizu Fudoki [A newedition of Aizu topography]” (SeeGlossary on p.14), compiled 200 years
ago, says ʻMt. Nekomagatake is locatedto the west of Mt. Bandai, the height is
90-jo (about 270m), and thecircumference is 2-ri (about 7,850m).
The name of the mountain derives from amonster called Neko-mata which lived
there. There is a large stone like a tatami(straw mat) to the north, no plants grow（Figure 4）
The talisman of Mt. Nekomagatake which would
be issued by the Bandai Shrine

and no dust is found beneath as if it was cleaned. This isbecause Neko-mata lived there.ʼ In this way the book tells the
tradition of a goblin cat.
Moreover, one of the mountains which form mountains which
form the outer rim of a volcanic crater of Nekoma Volcano is Mt.
Umaya. The mountaintop exists to the southwest of Mt.
Nekomagatake and almost exactly to 3.5 km west of Mt. Bandai.
This mountain has a long history of worship because originally apriest called ʻGyokiʼ founded a temple there. A ﬂatpart of thesummit sticks out to the south and the shape is reminiscent of ahorse saddle when you look up at it from the foot of themountain. From old times there has been an idea in this country
that horses are the means of Godʼs transportation. Bandai
Myojin, who sits on Sacred Mt. Bandai, is a mountain deity but

Mt. Umaya▼

5（Figure 3）Neko-ishi drawn in “Shinpen Aizu Fudoki [A new edition of Aizu topography]” (In the possession of Ryuko Otomo)

Mt. Bandai▼（Picture 3）Mt. Umaya standing to the west side by side with Mt. Bandai

6deity of the paddy ﬁelds, who descends to villages as an
agriculture deity in the spring. Thus Mt. Umaya, standing in a row
to the west of Mt. Bandai, near Aizu villages, is the most suitablelocation for Bandai Myojinʼs sacred horse to be stabled. In oral
tradition Mt. Umaya became the succeeding location of Bandai
Myojin when it was relocated to the mountain foot and thisperhaps is derived from those legends of sacred horses.
This sacred horse is even said tocarry ascending souls in the Aizu
district̶souls in the Aizu basin are
believed to move to Mt. Bandai via Mt.
Uyama once, and from there ascend
to heaven. The ﬂying horse carries all
the creaturesʼ soul, including humans,
and take them to Mt. Bandai, the4 The Natural History of Oguninuma Pond
Oguninuma Pond is thought to have been created by water
accumulated in a depression born when the new Nekoma
Volcano was formed in the explosion caldera caused by a sector
collapse.
Oguninuma Pond is about 43ha and the marsh surrounding thepond is about 100ha. Although most of the area of Oguninuma
Pond is national-owned, Mt. Umaya, Mt. Kojogamine, Mt. Oguni,and the central area of the east half inside the caldera wall are
privately-owned. While some tree cutting does occasionallyoccur inside the caldera wall surrounding Oguninuma Pond, it isimportant to protect the forest there for the conservation ofmarsh plants.

ladder to heaven. All these legends
are based on the idea that the horse is（Picture 4）A seated statue of Bato (House-headed)
Kannon in a furious look which canoverpower even Masho (Demonic hindrances)a sacred animal which connects thespirit world and this world.

Mt. Umaya was also deeply worshipped as the head temple of

Bato (House-headed) Kannon worship in the Aizu basin. Becauseof its appearance which has a horse head, and of belief in Roku
Kannon worship which is said to save Chikusho-do (the world ofanimals), Bato Kannon came to be worshipped widely as a deityof horses and cows in the modern era. Bato Kannon worshipamong the people is said to be a syncretistic fusion of the ancient
idea of a sacred horse and Bato Kannon in Buddhism, and it hasleft various cultural remnants. In Mt. Umaya, for instance, people
often took a foal to a temple in the mountain to pray for the safetyof the new horse. Also on prosperous days a ʻUmayasan-ko [Mt.
Umaya ceremony]ʼ was held. Later it became the place of prayer
for a childʼs sound health and the ʻFutatsu-go Mairi [Visit at theage of 2]ʼ, on the day of which people carry child on their backand visit the Kannon-do temple in the mountain, had been done
until just recent years.
7（Picture 5）Oguninuma Pond seen from the west

8

5 The Vegetation around Oguninuma Pond

6 The Plant Community of Oguninuma Pond Marsh

The main vegetation found around Oguninuma Pond

①The origin and classiﬁcation of Oguninuma Pond Marsh（a) Beech forest
A natural forest of Beech trees is left on the west hillside of Mt.
Nekomagatake, and there are Chishimazasa [Sasa kurilensis] plantson the forest ﬂoor around Oguninuma Pond.

A marsh grows around the gentle slope of the lower part of the old crater
wall surrounding Oguninuma Pond. Even though it is a small marsh, both alow moor and a high moor can be found, and many ﬂowers such as
Nikkokisuge (Hemerocallis esculenta) grow there also.
This is a marsh made by the stagnancy at the gentle slope of(b)Deciduous Oak forest
A deciduous oak forest spreads in the north of Oguninuma
Pond now, and bush and low bamboo grow from south to west.
These forests and marshes are a colony formed by cutting down
the trees and by excessive grazing.

low-temperature, acidic, and oligotrophic water springing from the crater wall.
A marsh whose surface is like a convex lens and which mainly consists ofsphagnum moistened by rainwater is called a high moor. A marsh moistenedby springwater, running water, and the waters of a lake is called a low moor.
A low moor will gradually develop as sphagnum thickly accumulates, and in
the end it will become a high moor. A developing marsh is called transitionalmoor, and a marsh which develops in a valley with a gentle slope is called avalley moor. Even though Oguninuma Pond marsh is small, it consists of anumber of diﬀerent kinds of marsh.
②The constitution of the plant communities which compose the marsh(a) Kawazusuge [Carex omiana var. monticola] and Mizugoke [Sphagnum ]marsh (valley marsh)
This marsh develops in the peripheral area of the marsh and is extremely
moist because of the water from surrounding woody corridor. Himeshida（Picture 6）Beech forest

9（Picture 7）Deciduous Oak forest[marsh ferns] and Inusugina [Draba nemorosa] can be found.

（Picture 8）Nikkokisuge (Hemerocallis esculenta)

10(b) Numagaya [Moliniopsis japonica] marsh (transitional marsh)
This marsh develops at the bottom slope of the outer rim of acrator. Nikkokisuge can be found there.
(c) Numagaya [Moliniopsis japonica] marsh (surroundings of highmoor)This marsh develops around the high moor. Hosomizugoke[Sphagnum girgensohnii] and Tsurukokemomo [Vaccinium
oxycoccos ] can be found.
(d) Mizugoke [Sphagnum] marsh (high moor)This marsh develops in the middle of the Oguninuma Pondmarsh. It rises like a convex lens and is moistened by rain water.
Small areas of concave and convex ground are distributed likemosaic pattern.
(e) Kitayoshi [Phragmites australis] marsh (low moor)This marsh can be found around Oguninuma Pond and a
Yachisuge [Carex limosa] colony exists where the water level is
low enough to reveal the ground.

7 The Legends of Oguninuma Pond
The Legend of ʻOguninuma Pondʼs Toranbouʼ

In mysterious Oguninuma Pond under the open sky, it was said

there lived a big loach, like a monster. As nobody could get close
to the pond many loaches lived there.
One day a man went to the pond to scoop up some loaches andhe was surprised as he could immediately get a full basket. On theway going home happily he heard a strange voice from the pondsaying: ʻToranbou! Toranbou!ʼ. He looked back at the pond but
nobody was there. It was completely quiet and only the loaches in
his basket just cried: ʻsqueak, squeak!ʼ
He thought he must have been hearing things and started
walking again. Then again he was called: ʻToranbou! Toranbou!ʼ inclearer voice. He felt ominous and threw his loaches into the pond
and ran away home. However, he felt exhausted once home andbecame sick in bed.
This story spread to the entire village and people came to thinkof the loach as the master of the pond. Since then people started
to call the loach: ʻToranbouʼ.

nbo

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（Picture 9）A view of Oguninuma Pond and Iide Mountains from Neko-ishi

Tora

Tora

11

12

Mt.Bandai

1000m
ALTS Bandai
Ski Area

Ryuko Otomo【Works Cited】・ Mimura, K. (2002) Geology and Radiometric Ages of Nekoma Volcano,
Northeast Japan. Bull. Volcanol. Soc. Japan, vol. 47, no. 4, p. 217-225.

Nikkokisuge
Renge-tsutsuji
Mizubasho[Lysichiton camtschatcense][Lotus azalea][Hemerocallis esculenta]

July

Yanagiran[Chamerion angustifolium]

Ezorindo[Gentiana triflora var. japonica]

1404.0・ Yoshioka, K. (1959) The Plant Community of Oguninuma Pond Marshand its surrounding area. Research Report of the Cultural Properties
in Fukushima Prefecture, no. 7 “The Plant Community of Oguninuma
Pond Marsh”. Fukushima Prefectural board of education.

June

Aug.

Sept.
To Shiokawa

May

Oguninuma Marsh
Plant Community

Oguninuma
Pond
Private car restriction

Kanazawa toge
To Kitakata

1335

Neko-ishi

Mt.Nekomagatake Yamabiko Nature Trail（5.5km）

Mt.Nekomagatake【Resource Providers】

Oguninuma Pond Hut（2km）

1271.2

Mt.Oguni

Because of the possible negative eﬀects on plant life as aresult of traﬃc jam and vehicle exhaust there are restrictions
on private cars and alternative transportation services such as
shuttle buses. Even other areas out of the ʻMy-car restrictionʼ
have paths which are narrow and thus we request that you
please refrain from coming by sightseeing bus or minibus. A
station wagon is the biggest vehicle permissible.

《ʻMy-car [Private car] restrictionʼ during
ﬂower seasons includes Nikkokisuge》“Shinpen Aizu Fudoki [A new edition of Aizu topography]”
The topographical survey of the Aizu territory was compiled
between 1803 (Kyowa 3) and 1809 (Bunka 6), by appointment of
the Aizu Domain. It consists of 120 books as a complete series
and was presented to the Edo Shogunate after its completion.

Nekoma Happodai gatee

Urabandai
Nekoma Ski AreaLin

（3.3km）

Oguni Seseragi Nature Trail

459

Oshizawa gate

Trekking Guide Map of Oguninuma
Pond and Mt. Nekomagatake

The catastrophic and sudden collapse of volcanos. Various sizesof rocks flow down with no magma and almost no water. The
accumulation area of this debris avalanche forms Nagare-yama(flow mounds). This is also called: “Gansetsu-nadare” .

1816

Urabandai
Ski Area

Mt.Bandai Mountain Trail

To Bandai Kogen bus stop
To Kitakata

Mt.Ban d a i Gold

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【Glossary】“Iwa-nadare [debris avalanche]”Bandaisan Geopark Area Guide book C

Nekoma Volcano Area
Published March, 2016

■ Written and Edited by Taketani Yojio, Shiraiwa Kenichiro,
Abe Takeshi, Kobiyama Rokuro and Sato Hiroshi■ Published by the Bandaisan Geopark Council
1093 Kengamine, Hibara, Kitashiobara-mura,
Fukushima Prefecture 969-2701 Japan
TEL:0241-32-3180 FAX:0241-32-2927
URL://www.bandaisan-geo.com■ Printed by Tohokushiko Co., Ltd.

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