Access Map to Shimogo Town

Sea of Japan[ Winter ]Mt.Nakayama

warm airNiigatacold air[ Summer ]Joetsu Shinkansen

Warm wind hole

Hokuriku Expressway

Cold wind holeKan-etsu Expressway

Nikko

Shirakawa IC

Nov.

Dec.

Jan.

Feb.

Mar.

Can you feel the cold wind?
In summer, there is a big difference in temperature, so you can experience the special
environment of cold and humid wind hole area.

Nishi-Nasu-Siobara IC

Utsunomiya

Expressway

Tokyo International Airport

anKuribashi

Pacific Ocean

JobTochigi

Shinjuku

A Facility to Feel Cold WindYou are now on the northeast foothills (480 m above sea level) of Mt. Nakayama (alsocalled Mt. Kanatsuka, 855.6 m above sea level). Here, you can see two sets of stone
works of remains of storehouse using the cold air of wind hole which is so to speak“Natural Refrigerator”. People have been thinking out a way of preserving food suchas vegetables, fruits, fish and meets from long time ago. The traces of effort andingenuity of people trying to protect food from rotting in summer and freezing in wintercan be seen in many places. Utilizing cold air of wind hole is one of the excellent ideas of
the ancestors. According to the locals, although they are not certain when it was started,
this storehouse was used as follows.
►They use this wind hole to store vegetables and fruits during summer and take themhome in a timely manner.
►In the early Showa period, the trader from theneighboring Tajima of Minami Aizu town
rented this wind hole and used for storing
vegetables, fruits and other food products
during summer and selling them later.
►This wind hole is also used for sericulture. Theeggs of silkworms purchased from the traders
were stored until the proper time for hatching.

121

Omiya

Apr.

Natural Refrigerator using the Wind HoleIwaki

Nasu ICTobu Railway

-10.0

Oct.

Sukagawa IC
Fukushima Airport

nsen

cold wind hole

400

hinka

warm wind hole

0.0

Sep.

118

ImaichiTohokuExpressway

10.0

Koriyama

YunokamiOnsen

289

National Natural Monument‘Nakayama Wind Hole Area
Specific Plant Community’

Kanuma IC

surrounding area

Aug.

AizuWakamatsu

Tohoku S

Air temperature (ºC)

20.0Jul.

Aizu Railway

Cold wind holecold airFukushima
Pref.

Ban-etsu Line131

Sendai Airport

Fukushima

Kitakata

ayNiitsuru Smart IC

Cold wind hole

30.0Jun.

121

Aizu-Kogen-Ozeguchi

40.0MayBan-en-e tsu Lintsu
Exp eressw

Ba

Aizu-Shimogo

warm air

In summer, cold
air blows out
from cold windholes, warming
the inside ofmountain.

-20.0

Yonezawa

Ouchi-juku

Warm wind hole

Mt.Nakayama

Niigata Airport

SendaiYExpama
res gatasw
ayYa
Shi magat
nka ansen

National Natural Monument‘Nakayama Wind Hole Area
Specific Plant Community’

Warm wind holeIn winter, cold
air flows into
cold wind holes,
and blows out
from warm windholes, coolingthe inside ofmountain.

Yamagata

TohokuEx
preTo
sswhokuayShink
ansenMechanism of Wind HoleAsakusa

TokyoNarita InternationalAirport

The Protection of the National Natural Monument‘Nakayama Wind Hole Area Specific Plant Community’
The specific plant community distributed in these six wind hole sites was designated as anational natural monument.
Let’s all work together to protect these valuable cultural assets.
Do not enter the designated areas.
Do not damage or take away the plants or rocks in the designated areas.
Follow the advices and instructions from the patrolling wardens.
Those who misconducted and caused bad influence upon protection of National Treasures
will be punished by the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties of Japan.

Publication

On the southwest of Yunokami-onsen Hot Spring, Shimogo Town, there is awind hole area along the middle slope of Mt. Nakayama (also called Mt.
Kanatsuka, 855.6m above sea level) where cold air blows out from the narrow
spaces (holes) of piled hard rocks in summer.
Mt. Nakayama is made of igneous rocks which appeared from theunderground about two million years ago. Andesite rocks with columnar joint
structure are easy to crumble, and the broken pieces had been piled up at thebottom of the mountain and made a huge talus terrain.
During spring and summer, cold air from the wind hole creates a uniqueclimate cooler than other areas of the same elevation. Because of this uniqueclimatic environment, the specific plant community consisting of plants such as
Hylocomium splendens, Prickly wild rose (Rosa acicularis) and Liverleaf
wintergreen (Pyrola asarifolia subsp. incarnata) which normally do not grow inthis elevation can be seen in these wind hole sites. For this reason, Nakayama
wind hole area specific plant community was designated as one of nationaltreasures on June 27, 1964.
The six wind hole sites with slightly different characteristics are set as thedesignated area in order to protect the specific plant community. These sites areofficially maintained to prevent the gaps of rocks from being buried underfallen leaves and leaf mold. Please observe these specific plant community fromoutside of the fences in order not to damage the rocks and plants.

Shimogo Town Board of Education

969-5345 1000 aza-Oishi, oaza-Shiono, Shimogo-machi, Minamiaizu-gun, Fukushima Pref.
TEL 0241-69-1168 https://www.town.shimogo.fukushima.jp/

The project was supported by the Agency for Cultural Affairs Goverment of Japan.
※本事業は令和3年度文化庁補助金（国宝重要文化財等保存・活用事業費補助金 中山風穴地特殊植物群落 歴史活き活き！史跡等総合活用整備事業）の補助金を受けています。

Shimogo Town, Fukushima Pref.

Representative Species of the Plant Community

Characteristics of the Wind Hole

There are specialised plants and northern plants which have adapted to thecool environment of the wind hole area.

Nakayama Wind Hole Area Specific Plant Community, Site 1

Nakayama Wind Hole Area
for Yunokami-onsen Hot Spring(520-530m above sea level, 286.70m )2[Characteristics of the Wind Hole]
Compared to the outside, the air temperature inside of this site tends to be lower in summer, and thehumidity is higher because of cold air of 5-10ºC blowing out from the wind hole with the columnar joints.
[Representative Species of the Plant Community]
Moss plant: Hylocomium splendens, Pleurozium schreberi, Ptilium crista-castrensis, Polytrichum
juniperinum, Sphagnum capillifolium
Vascular plant: Prickly wild rose (Rosa acicularis), Liverleaf wintergreen (Pyrola asarifolia subsp.
Incarnata), Gymnocarpium dryopteris, Germander meadowsweet (Spiraea chamaedryfolia var. pilosa),
Abelia spathulata var. sanguinea, Betula platyphylla var. japonica, Vaccinium hirtum, Galium verum,Dianthus superbus var. superbus

a Facility to Feel Cold Windasphalt paved road

Nakayama Wind Hole Area Specific Plant Community, Site 2arbor(506-520m above sea level, 1714.91m )2

Nakayama Wind Hole Area Specific Plant Community, Site 3

Site 1(515-543m above sea level, 1719.57m2)

mid-April to late June

Nakayama Wind Hole Area Specific Plant Community, Site 4(490-512 m above sea level, 2198.14m )2[Characteristics of the Wind Hole]The plants of this site tend to bloom later and longer than those in other sites because of longer stagnant
cool air and higher humidity by the effect of its flat depression. This is a suitable environment for lichen
and moss to grow but unsuitable for tall trees to grow.
[Representative Species of the Plant Community]Moss plant: Pleurozium schreberi, Ptilium crista-castrensis, Polytrichum juniperinum
Vascular plant: Liverleaf wintergreen (Pyrola asarifolia subsp. incarnata), Gymnocarpium dryopteris,
Germander meadowsweet (Spiraea chamaedryfolia var. pilosa), Fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium),Arabidopsis kamchatica subsp. kamchatica, Poa matsumurae, Syringa reticulata, Abelia spathulata var.
sanguinea, Vaccinium hirtum, Galium verum, Dianthus superbus var. superbus, Pedicularis resupinata

arbor P

Site 3Toilets

Site 4

Observatory
arbor

Site 5Site 6

Nakayama Wind Hole Area Specific Plant Community, Site 5

mid-June to mid-August

mid-June to mid-August[Characteristics of the Wind Hole]Cool air blows out from the wind hole of the talus with broken andesite
columnar joints. The rocks with unbroken columnar joints which cannot beseen in other sites still remain in this site.
[Representative Species of the Plant Community]
Vascular plant: Prickly wild rose (Rosa acicularis), Germander
meadowsweet (Spiraea chamaedryfolia var. pilosa), Cerasus maximowiczii,
Philadelphus satsumi, Abelia spathulata var. sanguinea, Vaccinium hirtumAgMock orange(Philadelphus satsumi)

arbor

Nakayama Wind Hole Area Specific Plant Community, Site 6(535-570 m above sea level, 2769.45m2)

Gymnocarpium dryopteris (L.) Newman

Pleurozium schreberi (Brid.) Mitt.

[Characteristics of the Wind Hole]This site is located on the top of the talus with broken andesite rocks of columnar joints structure. The
wind of about 0 ºC is blowing out actively from the wind hole. As the result, the cold air accumulated on
the surface of the ground causes air flow that can sway the leaves of Rosa acicularis.
[Representative Species of the Plant Community]
Moss plant: Ptilium crista-castrensis, Polytrichum juniperinum
Vascular plant: Prickly wild rose (Rosa acicularis), Liverleaf wintergreen (Pyrola asarifolia subsp.
incarnata), Gymnocarpium dryopteris, Germander meadowsweet (Spiraea chamaedryfolia var. pilosa),
Fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium), Arabidopsis kamchatica subsp. kamchatica, Abelia spathulata var.
sanguinea, Betula platyphylla var. japonica, Vaccinium hirtum, Galium verum, Dianthus superbus var.
superbus, Pedicularis resupinata

21a(508-525 m above sea level, 265.50m2)

Fireweed(Chamerion angustifolium)

Car parker

mid-May to mid-July

Yellow-flowered barrenwort(Epimedium koreanum)

ikoinohiroba

Site 2

Mt. Nakayama (Mt. Kanatsuka)

Liverleaf wintergreen(Pyrola asarifolia subsp. incarnata)[Characteristics of the Wind Hole]This site is located on the talus slope consisting of accumulated rocks from Mt. Nakayama. The
underground structure has lots of spaces. There are many wind holes blowing out cold air of 7-8ºC even insummer in this site. Some specific plants can be found because of the persistent low temperature and highhumidity near the ground.
[Representative Species of the Plant Community]
Vascular plant: Prickly wild rose (Rosa acicularis), Germander meadowsweet (Spiraea chamaedryfolia var. pilosa)
How the terrain with lots of air spaces was created?
Let's check Nakayama Wind Hole Area Specific Plant Community, Site 5!
Even in Nakayama Wind Hole Area Specific Plant Community, Site 6, large-scale communities of Prickly
wild rose (Rosa acicularis) and Fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium) can be seen.

asphalt paved roadiv

early May to mid-JunearborR

mid-May to late June

[Characteristics of the Wind Hole]This site is depression and the center of bottom is about 10 meters lower than the surrounding. At thebottom, cold air of 5-10ºC blows out from the wind hole with broken andesite columnar joints. Because theterrain is depression, the cold air stays persistently and, as the result, the cooling effect of the wind hole isremarkable.
[Representative Species of the Plant Community]
Vascular plant: Liverleaf wintergreen (Pyrola asarifolia subsp. Incarnata), Fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium)

1

Germander meadowsweet(Spiraea chamaedryfolia var. pilosa)NationalRo
ute

Prickly wild rose
(Rosa acicularis)

Sekichu Hill

NW

unpaved roadfor To-no-hetsuri

ES