Tour Guide

Let's explore the wind cave toenjoy the cool in summer!

Hakodate - Odate - Kakunodate

Travel Time from Odate Station

Hakodate

Three Major Night Views of Japan (Hakodate City) Nebuta Festival in August (Aomori City)
2 hours 50 min

Mysterious Cold Spotof JapanA Refreshing Experience

Transportation

Odate

60 min by car from Aomori Station
40 min by car from Hirosaki Station
23 min by bus from Odate Station
15 min by car from Ikarigaseki IC
15 min by car from Odate-kita IC

Kakunodate

1 hour 15 min

英語 ENGLISH

A little place called Odate

Japan Natural Monument

Nagabashiri Wind CavesAlpine Plant Communities
Designated in 1926

Additionally designated in 1931

To Hirosaki・Ikarigaseki IC↑

Let's meet Akita dogs!

kita←To A
Akita Dog
(Tea-house Japanese Garden) (Hachiko's birth town)

te 7

Shibayachi Wetland
Plant Communities

Torigata Kaikan Hall★

onaOdate City,
Akita Prefecturel Rou

Tokyo

1 hour40 min● Yatate-toge Pass

Lake Towada (Kosaka Town)

Kiritampo Hot Pot(Local dish)

★

●Nati

Cherry Blossoms in Hirosaki Castle (Hirosaki City)

Nagabashiri Wind Caves
Alpine Plant Communities
a IC→aka-kit
To KosswayExpres

Odate-kita IC★
Odate City Museum

JR Odate Station ●Prefectural Route 2 (Jukai Line)→To Kosaka・Lake Towada
Kosaka IC

Odate Candy Market in February

Magewappa Woodcraft (Traditional craft)

Snow Monsters on Mt. Moriyoshi (Kitaakita City) Cherry Blossoms at Kakunodate Old Samurai
1 hour 30 min

House (Semboku City)

2 hours 30 min

Nagabashiri Wind Caves Eco-Museum
Address：362-6 Nagabashiri, Odate City, Akita Prefecture
Phone ：0186-51-2005
Open ：April - November 9:30-16:30(Closed during the winter months)
Closed ：Mondays(or Tuesday if Monday is a holiday)※ Open seven days a week from
June to August
Entrance fee ：Free
Management：Odate City Museum(Ph. 0186-43-7133)※The museum is air-conditioned withkyodokn@city.odate.lg.jp
the cool air of the wind cave.
URL：http://odate-city.jp/museum/nagabashiri
It contributes to alleviating global
warming.
Walking trail：20-30 min/trail

The Nagabashiri wind caves are located at the base of Mt.
Kunimi, which is 454 meters high. The temperature in thewind caves stays low between zero and ﬁve degrees
Celsius, even during the summer months. Because of this,
there are many alpine plants distributed around the windcaves, which are designated as a national natural monument.
Koji Sasaki, later known as the "King of the windcave,"recognized the value of the wind caves and built
wind cave storage cellars more than 100 years ago. In theera when there was no electricity, the wind cave cellars werevery useful. Mainly Tsugaru(Aomori) apples shipped out tometropolitan areas were stored in the wind cave cellars. It
has the advantages of storing for a long time and arranging
shipping schedule.

Wind Cave Alpine Plants

Use of Cold Air −Ancestors' Wisdom

Mystery of Low Temperature
Temperature (℃)
25

The ﬂowering season is from May to July.

20151050-5-10

Bunchberry

In the wind cave storage cellars, agricultural products suchas apples, seeds of cedars, and silkworm eggs were stored.
There were about 20 wind cave storage cellars throughout
Mt. Kunimi.

King of the Wind Cave, Koji Sasaki(1869-1932)
Cowberry

Why Do Alpine Plants Grow
at Low Altitude?

The alpine plants around the wind caves are considered to123456789101112MonthTheory of Air Convection

Prickly Wild RoseWind Cave Storage Cellar (Natural refrigeration)

Fireweed

Cold wind cave
Warm wind cave Outside air(No. 2 storage cellar) (W14)

When he visited Nagabashiri in 1902, heheard the story of the haunted house (windcave) from the owner of the inn and encountered the windcave. Later, he investigated and tested it repeatedly andbuilt seven wind cave storage cellars. He made his besteﬀorts to manage the cellars and protect the alpine plants.

Summer Outside temperature＞Underground temperature
Inflow of warm air(Compensation flow) 30℃

Outflow of cold air

0℃

Warm

Cold wind cave

Ground ice

be the remaining ones that have survived since the last

Walking course

glacial period (about 70,000〜10,000 years ago). These

Winter Outside temperature＜Underground temperature
Release of warm air
15℃

Thick snowcover

Cold

Storage cellar

it was cooler than now. It is likely that the plants could only
live around the wind caves which blow cold air or highStorage cellar site

mountains due to the global warming later.

Observation deck

Entrance
To Hirosaki ←National Route 7

Nagabashiri Wind Caves
Eco-Museum→ To Odate

Thin snowcover

Steam

Warm wind cave

-10℃

Warm
Cold wind caveplants were widely distributed in lowlands in the era whereCold

Algific talus slope

Wind cave storage cellar

Inflow of cold air(Compensation flow)

GazeboWarm wind cave

Wind cave storage cellar

Algific talus slope

Wind caves are often found on rocky slopes (talus), where air
can easily enter gaps. In the summertime, air inside the slope
is cooled by underground ice and becomes dense. It thenﬂows out as cold air through gaps below. This pulls in outsideair through the top of the slope to compensate for the air
leaving at the bottom. In the wintertime, the process isreversed as air inside the slope is warmed underground,
becomes lighter, and then ﬂows out above as warm air, whichpulls in outer air through the base of the slope.