Bandai Asahi National Park
Bandai-Asahi is a national park in the Ou Mountains, in the northern part of the Japanese island of Honshu. It consists of four separate sites located in adjacent areas of Yamagata, Fukushima and Niigata prefectures. Bandai-Asahi National Park was founded in 1950 on an area of more than 186 km2 to protect the landscapes of the volcanic massif, covered with deciduous, mixed and coniferous forests.
The peaks are occupied by meadows and thickets of shrubs. On the territory of the park there are lakes, gorges, hollows, which serve as shelter for numerous inhabitants: the Japanese macaque, the white-breasted bear, the Japanese serau. The northern region of the Asahi Mountains is known for its sheer granite cliffs. Tame Japanese antelopes, bears and flying squirrels live here.
To the north of the Asahi Mountains are three mountains of the Deva range (Hassan, Yudonosan and Hagurosan). To the south of Asahi are the Iide Mountains, whose slopes are covered with forests of Japanese beech. To the south is the Bandai volcano with a height of 1819 m, to the south of it is Lake Inawashiro, surrounded by active volcanic cones. The depression of the lake was formed during a huge explosion in the 1st century A.D. In 1888, an explosion occurred here, which formed a crater with a diameter of 2 km.
