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Current Status and Issues of Mountain Geoparks in Japan
Hajime IIDA
Tateyama Caldera Sabo Museum
68 Ashikuraji-bunazaka, Tateyama-machi, Toyama 930-1405, Japan
E-mail: iida@tatecal.or.jp

Abstract
Geoparks constitute projects that promote the protection of heritage sites with geological,
geomorphological, rock, fossil, mineral and other earth-science value, as well as to educate the public andpromote sustainable development in each region. There is a strong relationship between mountains andgeoparks in terms of geological structure, topography, natural disaster characteristics and the cultures thesehave nurtured. This paper first introduces Tateyama Kurobe Geopark and Itoigawa Geopark as examples ofsuch a relationship. It then describes the current status of geotourism at Tateyama Kurobe Geopark andmountain geotours at Itoigawa Geopark. Nature in the mountains brings not only blessings, but also disasters.
Many mountain geoparks in Japan have developed geopark activities with disaster prevention themes.
Mt. Kurikoma Area Geopark is introduced as an example. In addition, this paper emphasizes the importance ofcooperation between geoparks in Japan and other countries to train and educate young people at their respective
geoparks.
Key words: disaster prevention, geoeducation, geohistory, geotourism, geotours, knowledge transfer

1. Introduction
Geoparks constitute projects that promote theprotection of heritage sites with geological,
geomorphological, rock, fossil, mineral and otherearth-science value, as well as to educate the public andpromote sustainable development in each region. In
particular, education on geoheritage and geoscience, i.e.,
geoeducation, is one of the most important benefits that
geoparks can provide. Geoeducation is often offeredthrough geotourism, which encompasses wider
geographical, socioeconomic and cultural contexts(Dowling & Newsome, 2006). Geotourism is one
objective of geoparks (e.g., Farsani et al., 2012).
Geoconservation measures, coupled with tourism
promotion, are key elements of geotourism (Hose, 2006).
The number of geoparks has been increasing worldwide,
including in Japan. Currently, there are 195 UNESCO
Global Geoparks in 48 countries (10 in Japan) and 46
Japanese geoparks for domestic use, from Hokkaido to
Kyushu (https://geopark.jp/geopark/).
Many of Japan’s geoparks are closely related tomountains, and “mountains” is an important keyword for
geoparks in Japan. This study examines the current statusof the relationship between Japan’s geoparks andmountains, the challenges they face, and the future plans
Global Environmental Research
27/2023 139-143
printed in Japanfor them, based on the discussion in Session 4 “Current
status of mountain geoparks and their dissemination to the
public” at the International Year of Mountains Plus 20(IYM+20) Symposium held in Kurobe in December 2022
(Mountain Day Foundation, 2023).

2. Relationship between Geoparks andMountains
The following is an overview of two Japanese
geoparks closely related to mountains, Tateyama Kurobe
Geopark and Itoigawa Geopark. The relationship of these
two geoparks with the mountains is described.
Tateyama Kurobe Geopark is located in the easternpart of Toyama Prefecture and consists of the
3,000-meter-high Northern Japanese Alps, the1,000-meter-deep Toyama Bay (i.e., a 4,000-meter
difference in elevation across a short horizontal distance)
and the Kurobe River, one of Japan’s most rapid rivers,
which connects them (Tateyama-Kurobe Geopark, 2020).
The area has an average annual precipitation of
approximately 6,000 mm and one of the highest snowfalls
in the world. It is the first place in Japan where existingglaciers were recently confirmed (Fukui et al., 2021).
Kurobe River granite, the youngest granite in theworld (dating from approximately 800,000 years ago),©2023 AIRIES140

H. IIDAwas discovered in the Kurobe River basin (Ito et al.,2013), suggesting that the uplift rate of the area has beenvery rapid by world standards. Furthermore, theMidagahara Plateau, which forms Tateyama, was formed
by a massive pyroclastic flow from the former Tateyama
Volcano, and Tateyama is still designated as an active
volcano. Tateyama’s volcanic activity and the landforms
shaped by the volcano gave birth to Tateyama worship.
Thus, the area has many excellent sites where visitors cansee the dynamic mountainous landscape, including the
uplift of the Northern Japanese Alps, the volcanic activityof Tateyama and the formation of glaciers (Mokudai et al.,2015).
The topography, which is unparalleled in otherregions of Japan with an elevation difference of 4,000 mover a linear distance of 50 km, has the distinction thatnatural phenomena occurring in the mountains affect theplains and sea via the rivers. In 1858, an earthquake
caused the collapse of a large peak in the Tateyama
Caldera and a temporary dam, and the subsequent floodcaused by the collapse of the dam resulted in a massive
landslide disaster on the Toyama Plain downstream. The
disaster was caused by the unique topography andgeology of Tateyama and its abundant precipitation. Thisis an example of a close connection between themountains and plains downstream.
One of the most important geographical features of
Itoigawa Geopark (Itoigawa UNESCO Global Geopark)is the Fossa Magna, a geological trench running north tosouth across the center of Honshu Island. The westernboundary of the Fossa Magna is the Itoigawa-Shizuoka
Tectonic Line, and the Itoigawa Geopark is located at its
northern end. On opposite sides of the Itoigawa-Shizuoka
Tectonic Line, Chubu-Sangaku National Park occupies
the older strata west of the line, and Myoko Togakushi
National Park, the younger strata east of it. In Itoigawa
Geopark, old and young geological formations are evenly
distributed, and a variety of topographic and geologicalfeatures can be observed. Mountainous areas arerecognized for their diverse qualities of value, including
hot springs, active volcanoes, glacial landforms, karst
landforms, alpine flora, mountain worship sites and mines,
as well as various strata, rocks and fossils. Itoigawa is
known for its jade. Jade originating in the mountains waswashed away by landslides and rivers to the coast for
hundreds of thousands of years. The jade collected in thismanner has been processed since the Jomon period andwas carried to all parts of Japan. The Jomon culture isbelieved to have had the oldest jade culture in the world.
While we can enjoy these blessings of mountains,
mountains can also produce disasters. Six years ago, avolcanic eruption produced a plume of ash and caused hot
springs to gush out of the volcano and flow into rivers,
causing serious damage to river fish and rice paddies
below. Disaster prevention from volcanic eruptions at
Yakeyama is also an issue facing Itoigawa Geopark.

Thus, there is a deep relationship between geoparks
and mountains in terms of geological structure,
topography, propensity for natural disasters, and culturesthat the mountains have nurtured.

3. Current Status of Mountain Geotourism
3.1 Mountain Geotourism in Tateyama Kurobe
Geopark
A major attraction of Tateyama Kurobe Geopark is
geotourism in mountainous areas, where visitors canwitness geohistory. In the Tateyama area, geotours areorganized around the keywords “uplifting mountain,” “icemountain,” “fire mountain” and “water mountain.”
Figure 1 shows an aerial photograph of the Tateyama
Range. The main ridges of the 3,000-m high mountains
run from north to south, the Midagahara Plateau extends
to the west, and the vast Tateyama caldera depression
extends to the southeast of Midagahara. The eye-catching
Shomyo Falls gorge has been carved on the northern sideof Midagahara. A geological map superimposed on thephotograph is shown in Fig. 2. The area of the main ridgein (1) features the distribution of granitic rocks,
symbolizing the “uplifting mountain” area. Area (2),extending from Murododaira to the upper part ofMidagahara, features the distribution of sediments left byglaciers that once existed, and symbolizes an “icemountain.” Area (3), from Mt. Kunimi to Mt. Tengu andthe upper part of Midagahara, features the distribution oflava; and Area (4), covering most of the Midagahara
Plateau, features the distribution of welded tuff, which
consists of pyroclastic flow deposits. This area, together
with the Tateyama caldera, where a volcano is thought tohave once existed, symbolizes a “fire mountain.”Shyomyo Falls, which boast the highest drop in Japan, aredeeply cut into the pyroclastic flow deposits ofMidagahara. The sharp, deep V-shaped Shyomyo Valley
above it symbolizes the “water mountain.” In this way, thenatural characteristics symbolized by the four keywords
are distributed over a relatively small area in the
Tateyama Range, forming a natural mountain landscapethat is unique and diverse within Japan (Iida, 2016).
Geotourism was implemented in Tateyama Kurobe
Geopark. The following is an overview of the major
geotourism activities in the geopark area in accordancewith the four keywords mentioned above.
In the “uplifting mountain,” visitors can walk along
the ridges and observe the widely distributed granite toexperience mountains formed by uplift and understandthat the shape of the mountains changes depending on therock type. In the “ice mountain,” visitors can experience
the world’s largest snowfall in the snowy valley with its
snow walls and take a geotour to see glacial landforms
such as cirques and U-shaped valleys that can be seen
everywhere, as well as to visit the existing glaciers andget a sense of the glacierized and glaciated areas. In theCurrent status and issues of mountain geoparks in Japan141

Fig. 1 Aerial view of the west face of the Tateyama Range (source: Tateyama Caldera Sabo Museum)Fig. 2 Geological map of the west face of the Tateyama Range (source: Tateyama Caldera Sabo Museum)(1) Main ridge showing “uplifting mountain”; (2) Murododaira-Midagahara symbolizing “ice mountain”; and(3) lava plateau and (4) pyroclastic flow area showing “fire mountain.”“fire mountain” area, one can visit the Midagahara
Plateau and Murododaira, which were formed by theeruption of a volcano that once existed in the Tateyama
caldera, and Jigokudani, an active volcano that continues
to produce fumarolic gas, to realize that the volcano

encompasses a large area under the influence of volcanic
activity in Tateyama. The unique landscapes of
Jigokudani, Tamadono Iwaya, Zaimokuishi, andGaki-no-tanbo (rice fields for hungry ghosts) created by
the “fire mountain” show that Tateyama has set the stage

142

H. IIDAfor religious belief since ancient times and a uniqueculture has developed there. In the “water mountain,”visitors to Shyomyo Falls and the surrounding landforms
can experience the spectacular scenery of the V-shaped
gorge created by abundant water from an annual
precipitation averaging 6,000 mm as mentioned earlier,and Shyomyo Falls, which boasts the highest drop in
Japan. This allows visitors to recognize that erosion bywater is a major driving force in the formation ofmountain landforms.
3.2 Mountain Geotours in Itoigawa Geopark
Geotours to the karst landforms of Mt. Kurohime areparticularly popular in Itoigawa Geopark. Mt. Kurohime
is composed of limestone, so its erosion is pronounced
and it is known for its many caves. Vertical caves,including Japan’s four deepest caves, are distributed in
Maikomidaira, including Shiraren-do Cave, the deepest
vertical cave in Japan, at 513 m depth. The caves maintaina cold environment, and alpine plants can be found at analtitude of approximately 600 m. Furthermore, due to the
uplift of the land and the large amount of snowfall, there
is a vegetation inversion between satoyama and alpine
plants, creating a unique geotour.
3.3 Mountain Geotours to Study Disasters andDisaster Prevention
Nature in the mountains often brings about bothdisasters and blessings. Many mountain geoparks in Japan
have cultivated geopark activities with disaster prevention
themes. Mt. Kurikoma Area Geopark is one such example.
The impetus for the establishing this geopark was theoccurrence of Japan’s largest landslide, 1,300 m wide,
150 m high, discharging 7 million m3 of sediment, which
occurred after the Iwate-Miyagi Nairiku Earthquake in2008. Mt. Kurikoma Area Geopark was created topreserve the traces of the disaster caused by the
Aratosawa landslide and to pass on knowledge learned
from the disaster to future generations, as well as to use
the site for education and academic research and topromote local economic activities. It provides a good
example of how as much of the landslide site waspreserved as possible through careful coordination withthe parties involved.
In Tateyama Kurobe Geopark, as mentioned above,
the Tateyama Caldera Sabo Museum, which is the basefacility, offers more than 40 geotours every year, allowing
visitors to experience the Tateyama caldera, which causedsuch massive landslide disasters and sabo (erosion
control) construction work being carried out there(Tateyama Caldera Sabo Museum, 2013). In addition,
Itoigawa Geopark also offers geotours on the Yakeyama
volcanic disasters and volcanic disaster prevention. ToyaUsu UNESCO Global Geopark in Hokkaido also offers
many geotours in a similar context.

4. Challenges Facing Mountain Geotours andResponses to Them
Geotours operating in mountainous areas usuallyrequire more safety measures than geotours on the plains,because participants in geotours enter mountainous areas
with many external risks. Because of the wide variety ofsafety measures necessary in the mountains, it is difficultfor ordinary geoguides to implement them, and they need
the advice of well-trained experts. The mountaingeoguiding system in Tateyama Kurobe Geopark should
be noted in terms of safety measures. Professional
mountain guides certified by the Japan Mountain Guides
Association lead geotours in the mountains after acquiring
geoguiding knowledge. Accompanied by mountain guides
who are well trained in mountain safety measures, it is
now possible to operate distinctive mountain geotours
safely and effectively, such as the glacier tours in
Tateyama. Currently, eight mountain geoguides areregistered, and their number is expected to increase in the
future. They will develop geotours that take advantage ofthe merits of the mountains. As this system spreads tomountain geoparks throughout Japan, it will become
possible to conduct mountain geotours safely.
In addition, Itoigawa Geopark has raised the issue ofthe deterioration of mountain trails that lead to geosites asa new challenge for mountain geotours. Aging of local
mountaineering club members who have been responsible
for trail maintenance and management and the increased
burden on mountain lodges have made trail maintenanceand management difficult. In the short term, strong
administrative support and legislation will be necessary tosolve these problems. However, in the mid- to long-term,
the geoparks, as the beneficiaries, need to add value to themountains based on scientific evidence and make themmore attractive. This will require the participation ofmountain trekking/climbing enthusiasts and geopark staff
members in the development of mountain trails.
As a solution to some of the problems mountaingeoparks face, it will be important to establish a regional
mountain science that integrates the values of mountaingeoparks in various fields and communicates their
attractiveness.

5. International Contribution throughMountain Geoparks
The distribution of geoparks on each continent isuneven (Pérez-Romero et al., 2023). There is the potential
to contribute to countries with no geoparks by transferringknowledge, experience and know-how from Japanese
geoparks, which include a large number of mountainous
areas, to mountainous regions around the world. Taking
Nepal as an example, where the concept of a geopark has
not yet become widespread, Japanese researchers havebeen conducting Himalayan studies in various fields, andCurrent status and issues of mountain geoparks in Japanthe combined scientific basis of their findings can be used
to determine the value of potential mountain geoparks in
Nepal (Upreti & Yoshida, 2005; Yoshida et al., 2011). In
addition, it would be possible to seek solutions to uniquemountain disasters, such as glacial lake outburst floods(GLOFs), together with local residents and mountainenthusiasts through geopark activities. Sherpas and local
guides could gain geoguide knowledge and conduct
unique geotours that take advantage of the dynamic
mountain characteristics of the Himalayas. It would bepossible to develop world-class mountain geotourism that
could contribute to local sustainable development.
The main themes addressed in geoparks have beennatural resources, geohazards, climate change, education,science, culture, women, sustainable development, local
and indigenous knowledge, and geoconservation(UNESCO, 2017). Since these themes are already being
featured at Japanese geoparks, we may expect that bydisseminating information conveying their know-how, it
would be possible to contribute internationally throughmountain geoparks. Recently, the number of young people
trained in field research has declined in Japan. It is
important for Japan as well as many geoparks tocooperate in training and educating young people throughtheir respective geoparks.

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Hajime IIDA
Mr. Hajime Iida studied glaciology at Nagoya
University and serves as curatorial manager of the
Tateyama Caldera Sabo Museum. He has
participated in numerous scientific expeditions to
the Himalayas since 1982 to conduct glacier andmeteorological surveys. He has proven theexistence of glaciers in the Northern Japanese Alps through his
long-standing research on snow, ice, and glaciers. He is involved in theplanning and operation of geo-tours in the mountains, making use of his
research results. He was awarded a Commendation for Excellence from the
Minister of the Environment. He is a member of the boards of directors of
the Tateyama-Kurobe Geopark and Japan Mountain Guides Association.

(Received 25 December 2023, Accepted 31 December 2023)