page_title: Temperate rainforest
section_title: Taiheiyo (Pacific) rain forests (Japan)
hierarchical_section_title: Temperate rainforest / Temperate rain forest regions by continent / Asia / Taiheiyo (Pacific) rain forests (Japan)
caption_attribution_description: 日本語: 屋久島の縄文杉（鹿児島県屋久島町） English: Jōmon Sugi in Yakushima, Kagoshima Pref., Japan.
context_page_description: Temperate rainforests are coniferous or broadleaf forests that occur in the temperate zone and receive heavy rainfall.
  Temperate rain forests occur in oceanic moist regions around the world: the Pacific temperate rain forests of North American Pacific Northwest as well as the Appalachian temperate rainforest of the Eastern U.S. Sun Belt; the Valdivian temperate rain forests of southwestern South America; the rain forests of New Zealand, Tasmania and southeastern Australia; northwest Europe; southern Japan; the Black Sea-Caspian Sea region from the southeasternmost coastal zone of the Bulgarian coast, through Turkey, to Georgia, and northern Iran.
  The moist conditions of temperate rain forests generally support an understory of mosses, ferns and some shrubs. Temperate rain forests can be temperate coniferous forests or temperate broadleaf and mixed forests.
context_section_description: Southwestern Japan's Taiheiyo evergreen forests region covers much of Shikoku and Kyūshū Islands, and the Southern/Pacific Ocean-facing side of Honshu ("Taiheiyo" is the Pacific Ocean, in Japanese). Here the natural forests are mainly broadleaf evergreen in lower elevations and deciduous in higher elevations. The hydrangea hirta species is an endemic deciduous species that can be found in this area. The limit occurs at 500–1000 metres depending on latitude. The main tree species are members of beech family (Fagaceae). In lower altitudes these include evergreen oaks (Quercus spp.), Japanese Chinquapin (Castanopsis cuspidata) and Japanese Stone Oak (Lithocarpus edulis), and in higher altitudes Japanese Blue Beech (Fagus japonica) and Siebold's beech (Fagus crenata).
  Some of the best preserved examples of forest are found in Kirishima-Yaku National Park on the Island of Yakushima off of Kyūshū in a very wet climate (the annual rainfall is 4,000 to 10,000 mm depending on altitude). Because of relatively infertile soils on granite, Yakushima's forests in higher elevations are dominated by a giant conifer species, Japanese Cedar (Cryptomeria japonica), rather than deciduous forests typical of the mainland. Other areas include Mount Kirishima near Kagoshima in southern Kyūshū. On Southern Honshū, there is a forest with the Nachi Falls located in Yoshino-Kumano National Park. This particular area of Honshū has been described as one of the rainiest spots in Japan.
caption: Jōmon Sugi, the largest specimen of Japanese Cedar (Cryptomeria japonica), on Yakushima, Japan
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS Kiss Digital X", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "240", "Image YResolution": "240", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop Elements 6.0 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2012:03:12 22:26:07", "Image Artist": "unknown", "Image ExifOffset": "248", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "750", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "7383", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/100", "EXIF FNumber": "5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Manual", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "200", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2012:03:06 11:11:57", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2012:03:06 11:11:57", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "415241/62500", "EXIF ApertureValue": "290241/62500", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "95/32", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Partial", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "17", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2725", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "4976", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "3888000/877", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "432000/97", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Manual", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}