Mount Iwate

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title: "Mount Iwate" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["volcanoes-of-honshū", "stratovolcanoes-of-japan", "mountains-of-iwate-prefecture", "volcanoes-of-iwate-prefecture", "hachimantai,-iwate", "takizawa,-iwate", "shizukuishi,-iwate", "highest-points-of-japanese-national-parks", "pleistocene-stratovolcanoes", "holocene-stratovolcanoes"] description: "Stratovolcano complex on Honshu, Japan" topic_path: "geography/japan" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Iwate" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Stratovolcano complex on Honshu, Japan ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox mountain"]

Field	Value
name	Mount Iwate
native_name	ja
photo	Mt. Iwate and Morioka.jpg
photo_caption	Mount Iwate from the city of Morioka
elevation_m	2038
elevation_ref
prominence_m	1745
prominence_ref
map	Japan Iwate Prefecture#Japan
map_caption	Mount Iwate
map_size	250
listing	100 Famous Mountains of Japan
Ultra, Ribu
location	Iwate Prefecture, Japan
range	Ōu Mountains
coordinates
coordinates_ref
type	Stratovolcano complex
volcanic_arc	Northeastern Japan Arc
last_eruption	July 1919
::

| name = Mount Iwate | native_name =ja | photo = Mt. Iwate and Morioka.jpg | photo_caption = Mount Iwate from the city of Morioka | elevation_m = 2038 | elevation_ref = | prominence_m = 1745 | prominence_ref = | map = Japan Iwate Prefecture#Japan | range_coordinates = | map_caption = Mount Iwate | map_size = 250 | label_position = | listing = 100 Famous Mountains of Japan Ultra, Ribu | location = Iwate Prefecture, Japan | range = Ōu Mountains | coordinates = | coordinates_ref = | topo = | type = Stratovolcano complex | age = | volcanic_arc = Northeastern Japan Arc | last_eruption = July 1919 | first_ascent = | easiest_route =

Mount Iwate is a stratovolcano complex in the Ōu Mountains of western Iwate Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of northern Honshū, Japan. With an elevation of 2038 m, it is the highest in Iwate Prefecture. It is included as one of the 100 famous mountains in Japan, a book composed in 1964 by mountaineer and author Kyūya Fukada. The mountain is on the borders of the municipalities of Hachimantai, Takizawa, and Shizukuishi, west of the prefectural capital of Morioka. Much of the mountain is within the borders of the Towada-Hachimantai National Park. The mountain is also referred to as the "Nanbu Fuji" for its resemblance to Mount Fuji.

Geology

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/151101_Mt_Iwate_Japan02bs.jpg" caption="Aerial photographs of Mount Iwate from the NNW"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Mount_Iwate_Relief_Map,_SRTM.jpg" caption="Relief Map"] ::

Mount Iwate consists of a younger eastern symmetrical stratovolcano (Higashi-Iwate, "East Iwate") overlapping an older western stratovolcano (Nishi-Iwate, "West Iwate") which has collapsed to form a caldera. Nishi-Iwate was formed approximately 700,000 years ago, and forms two-thirds of the mountain body. Higashi-Iwate was a later (300,000 years ago) parasitic volcano, which now forms the summit of the mountain. The oval-shaped, 1.8 x 3 km caldera of Nishi-Iwate has a 0.5 km wide crater, partially filled by a crater lake called Lake Onawashiro. Several somma including Yakushidake, the largest, surround the more recent Higashi Iwate crater rim.

During the historical period, Mount Iwate erupted in 1686-1687 with a pyroclastic surge; however, the eruption of 1732 was much larger and resulted in a substantial lava flow on the northeast slopes of the mountain. This four-kilometre long lava flow ("Yakebashiri Lava Flow") has been designated a Natural Monument by the Japanese government. Mount Iwate has largely been quiet since 1732, with a small emission of steam and ash in 1919 and a series of volcanic earthquakes from 1998 to 2003. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/Panoramic_around_the_crater_of_Mount_Iwate.jpg" caption="Summit crater of the Mount Iwate"] ::

References

References

1. "Japan Ultra-Prominences". Peaklist.org.
2. [http://www.japangazetteer.com/ Hyakumeizan, Hiking Japan!] {{webarchive. link. (2007-01-09 . Japan Gazetteer. Accessed June 27, 2008.)
3. "Introducing places of interest: Towada-Hachimantai National Park". [[Ministry of the Environment (Japan).
4. "Towada-Hachimantai National Park". Natural Parks Foundation.
5. (1995). "National Parks of Japan". [[Kodansha]].
6. {{cite gvp

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::