Mountain List

Northern Alps (Hida Range)

38 peaks

The Hida Range — popularly known as the Northern Alps — is Japan's largest high-mountain region, spanning Nagano, Toyama and Gifu. It is anchored by Oku-Hotaka (3,190 m), Yari (3,180 m), Tateyama (3,015 m) and Tsurugi (2,999 m), strung together along long north-south ridgelines.

Sharp rock arêtes, glacier-carved cirques, vast snowfields and a dense network of mountain huts have made this the spiritual home of Japanese alpinism. Famed traverses — the Omote- and Ura-Ginza, the Daikiretto, the Hotaka and Tsurugi ridges — draw hikers from across the country. The whole area sits within Chūbu-Sangaku National Park.