Mount Zaō
Complex of volcanoes on the island of Honshu, Japan
title: "Mount Zaō" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["mountains-of-yamagata-prefecture", "mountains-of-miyagi-prefecture", "volcanoes-of-honshū", "active-volcanoes", "complex-volcanoes", "volcanic-crater-lakes", "volcanoes-of-yamagata-prefecture", "volcanoes-of-miyagi-prefecture"] description: "Complex of volcanoes on the island of Honshu, Japan" topic_path: "general/mountains-of-yamagata-prefecture" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Zaō" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Complex of volcanoes on the island of Honshu, Japan ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox mountain"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Zaō Mountains |
| other_name | 蔵王連峰 |
| photo | Mount Zaō and Sakura 01.jpg |
| photo_caption | The Zaō Mountains as seen from the Shiroishi River, an Abukuma River tributary, at the cherry blossom season |
| elevation_m | 1841 |
| elevation_ref | |
| listing | {{ubl |
| country | Japan |
| subdivision1_type | Island |
| subdivision1 | Honshu |
| subdivision2_type | Prefectures |
| subdivision2 | |
| map | Japan Tohoku#Japan |
| map_caption | Location on Honshu |
| coordinates | |
| coordinates_ref | |
| type | Complex volcano |
| volcanic_arc | Northeastern Japan Arc |
| last_eruption | May 1940 |
| mapframe | yes |
| mapframe-zoom | 13 |
| mapframe-wikidata | yes |
| mapframe-frame-height | 260 |
| mapframe-stroke-width | 1 |
| fetchwikidata | ALL |
| :: |
| name = Zaō Mountains | other_name = 蔵王連峰 | photo = Mount Zaō and Sakura 01.jpg | photo_caption = The Zaō Mountains as seen from the Shiroishi River, an Abukuma River tributary, at the cherry blossom season | elevation_m = 1841 | elevation_ref = | prominence_m = | prominence_ref= | range = | parent_peak = | listing = {{ubl|Mountains of Japan| Volcanoes of Japan}} | country = Japan | subdivision1_type = Island | subdivision1 = Honshu | subdivision2_type = Prefectures | subdivision2 = | map = Japan Tohoku#Japan | map_caption = Location on Honshu | coordinates = | coordinates_ref = | range_coordinates = | range_coordinates_ref = | topo = | type = Complex volcano | age = | volcanic_arc = Northeastern Japan Arc | last_eruption = May 1940 | first_ascent = | easiest_route = | mapframe = yes | mapframe-zoom = 13 | mapframe-wikidata = yes | mapframe-frame-height = 260 | mapframe-stroke-width = 1 |fetchwikidata=ALL The Zaō Mountains, commonly called Mount Zaō, are a complex cluster of stratovolcanoes on the border between Yamagata Prefecture and Miyagi Prefecture in Japan. The central volcano (one of the 100 Famous Japanese Mountains) includes several lava domes and a tuff cone, Goshiki-dake, which contains a crater lake named "Okama". Also known as the "Five Color Pond" (五色沼, goshiki numa) because it changes color depending on the weather, it lies in a crater formed by a volcanic eruption in the 1720s. The lake is 360 m in diameter and 60 m deep, and is one of the main tourist attractions in the area.
One striking feature of Zaō's famous ski resorts are the "frost-covered trees" (樹氷, juhyō) that appear in mid-winter. Strong wind over the nearby lake fling water droplets which freeze against the trees and their branches, until near-horizontal icicles begin to form. Falling snow settles on the ice formations, with the end result being grotesque figure of a tree. The effect of a full forest of such trees gives visitors a ghostly impression, hence they are colloquially known as "snow monsters". Formed under precise precise meteorological and ecological conditions almost unique to northern Japan, the phenomenon is has been decreasing due to climate change.
Rotaria rotatoria and Pinnularia spp. are found in the acidic Okama Lake. File:Zao Volcano Relief Map, SRTM-1.jpg|Relief Map File:Mount Zaō 3D, Japan.gif|A 3D rendering File:Zao 2006 Sanctuary.jpg|Okama Crater File:Aerial photo of Okama, the crater lake of Mt. Zaō in 1976.jpg|Okama Crater File:Zao snow monsters.jpg|Snow monsters File:樹氷.jpg|Snow monsters up close File:Zao_juhyo.jpg|Zaō Ropeway soft rime
References
References
- {{cite gvp
- {{cite opentopomap. Zao. 38.14391. 140.43973. 2023-04-28
- (Dec 4, 2025). "'Nothing else looks like them': Saving Japan's exceptionally rare 'snow monsters'".
- Deneke, Rainer. (2000). "Review of rotifers and crustaceans in highly acidic environments of pH values ≤ 3". Hydrobiologia.
- Negoro, K. (1940). "A Pinnularia from Okama, an acidotrophic crater lake of volcano Zao". Jpn. J. Limnol..
- Anzai, T. (1938). "Limnological observation of Okama, a crater lake of Volcano Zaō". Jpn. J. Limnol..
::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. ::