Mountains · Fukushima
Mount Bandai
磐梯山ばんだいさんBandai-sanAizu Fuji: the volcano whose 1888 collapse created a landscape of lakes.
Mount Bandai (磐梯山), 1,816 m, is an active stratovolcano in Fukushima Prefecture rising above Lake Inawashiro, known as Aizu Fuji for its elegant southern profile. On 15 July 1888 its northern flank collapsed in a violent eruption that buried villages, killed nearly 500 people and created the Urabandai lake district.
Overview
Mount Bandai dominates the Inawashiro basin in the Aizu region of Fukushima. From the south and Lake Inawashiro it appears as a regular cone – the Aizu Fuji of folk songs – but from the north it shows the gaping amphitheatre left by the 1888 collapse, one of the best-known volcanic disasters in Japanese history.
The landscape the eruption created is now a destination in its own right: Urabandai ("behind Bandai"), a plateau of more than 300 lakes and ponds, forests and resorts. Bandai-Asahi National Park covers the mountain and lakes, and the Bandai Geopark explains the eruption and its aftermath.
Landscape and formation
Bandai is a stratovolcano made of several cones, including Ōbandai (the present summit), Kushigamine and Akahani. The former Kobandai peak on the north side was destroyed in 1888, when a phreatic eruption and flank collapse sent about 1.5 km³ of debris northward, burying villages and blocking the Nagase river and its tributaries.
The dammed waters formed Hibara-ko, Onogawa-ko and Akimoto-ko, as well as hundreds of smaller ponds; the collapse scar remains a horseshoe-shaped crater with fumaroles. The 1888 event became a reference case for studies of volcanic sector collapse, and is often compared with Mount St. Helens in 1980.
Highlights
Goshikinuma
五色沼GoshikinumaColourful ponds in the 1888 debris, linked by a woodland trail of about 1 hour 10 minutes.
Hibara-ko
檜原湖Hibara-koThe largest lake formed in 1888, with drowned villages beneath and winter ice fishing.
Collapse crater
爆裂火口bakuretsu kakōThe steep-walled amphitheatre on the north side, visible from Urabandai.
- 猪苗代湖Inawashiro-ko
Japan's fourth-largest lake, south of the volcano, the mirror of Aizu Fuji.
Ecology
The 1888 debris offers an outdoor laboratory of plant succession: red pine and birch forests have grown on the bare debris over little more than a century. The upper mountain holds alpine plants rare in the region.
Flora
Japanese red pine
アカマツakamatsuPioneer tree on the 1888 debris, planted in part after the eruption.
Bandai-kuwagata
バンダイクワガタbandai-kuwagataA speedwell named after the mountain, found on its upper slopes.
Fauna
Asian black bear
ツキノワグマtsukinowagumaPresent in the Urabandai forests.
Mandarin duck
オシドリoshidoriNests around the Urabandai lakes.
Culture
Bandai was revered as Iwahashi-yama, "the rock ladder to heaven", and the Bandai Jinja at its foot is linked to the Heian-period Buddhist monk Tokuitsu, who founded the Enichi-ji temple nearby. The folk song Aizu Bandai-san, sung at Bon dances across Japan, celebrates the mountain as a "treasure mountain". The 1888 disaster was one of the first natural disasters in Japan to be documented with photographs and scientific surveys.
Bandai-san Eruption Memorial Museum
磐梯山噴火記念館Bandai-san funka kinenkanA museum in Urabandai on the 1888 eruption and volcanism.
Enichi-ji
慧日寺EnichijiSite of a major temple founded by Tokuitsu in the early 9th century, a national historic site at the southern foot.
History
806
Traditional date of an earlier eruption; the monk Tokuitsu founds Enichi-ji soon after.
1888
15 July: eruption and collapse of Kobandai; nearly 500 dead; the Urabandai lakes form.
1950
Bandai-Asahi National Park is designated.
2011
Bandai is certified as a Japanese Geopark.
Through the seasons
Spring
Snow on the summit into May; the Goshikinuma trail emerges from the snow in late April.
Summer
The climbing season from May to October; Urabandai is a cool summer resort.
Autumn
Brilliant colours around the Urabandai lakes in mid to late October.
Winter
Heavy snow; ski resorts on the southern and northern slopes and ice fishing on Hibara-ko.
Routes and trails
Happōdai route
From Happōdai past the Nakanoyu hot-spring ruins to the Kōbōshimizu spring and summit, about 2.5 hours up; the easiest route.
Inawashiro route
From the Inawashiro ski resort on the south side, about 3.5–4 hours up; longer, with views over the lake.
Urabandai route
From Urabandai through the 1888 collapse crater, about 4 hours up; dramatic scenery.
Goshikinuma nature trail
A level forest walk of about 3.6 km between the ponds; easy.
Practical notes
- Inawashiro station is served by the JR Ban'etsu West Line from Kōriyama and Aizu-Wakamatsu; buses run to Urabandai and, in season, to Happōdai.
- Kōbōshimizu, a spring below the summit, is the only water source on the upper mountain.
- Bandai is monitored as an active volcano; check the Japan Meteorological Agency for current information.
Frequently asked questions
What happened in 1888?
On the morning of 15 July 1888 a series of steam-driven explosions caused the north side of the volcano, the peak called Kobandai, to collapse. The debris avalanche buried several villages, killed nearly 500 people and dammed rivers to form Lakes Hibara, Onogawa and Akimoto and the Goshikinuma ponds.
How long does it take to climb Mount Bandai?
The easiest route from Happōdai at about 1,190 m takes around 2.5 hours up and 2 hours down. Routes from Inawashiro or Urabandai are longer, 3.5–4 hours up.
What are the Goshikinuma?
The "five-coloured ponds", a group of small lakes in the 1888 debris whose waters range from cobalt blue to green and red-brown because of volcanic minerals and algae. A 3.6 km nature trail links them.
How is Bandai reached from Tokyo?
By Tōhoku Shinkansen to Kōriyama, then the JR Ban'etsu West Line to Inawashiro; about two and a half hours in total, with buses to Urabandai and Happōdai.
Related
Sources
- 1.日本の主な山岳標高 (opens in a new tab) — 国土地理院 (Geospatial Information Authority of Japan)
- 2.磐梯朝日国立公園 (opens in a new tab) — 環境省 (Ministry of the Environment)
- 3.火山登山者向けの情報提供ページ（磐梯山） (opens in a new tab) — 気象庁 (Japan Meteorological Agency)
- 4.日本ジオパークネットワーク (opens in a new tab) — 日本ジオパークネットワーク (Japanese Geoparks Network)