Respect the Mountains, Learn from the Mountains, Enjoy the Mountains - Yakushima Island - Overflowing with the Appeal of the Mountains, the Countryside, and the Sea
Preserving Yakushima Island’s Mountain environment and providing a quality visitor experience
Since its registration as a World Natural Heritage site, the mountains of Yakushima Island (the World Natural Heritage site and the Yakushima National Park) have seen an increase in the number of climbers and the concentrated use of the mountains has become problematic. In response, at the end of March 2021, following repeated consideration since 2016, 'The Vision for Appropriate Use in Mountainous Area of Yakushima' was created to limit the impact of trekking on the natural environment and to provide visitors with a quality experience befitting Yakushima Island through future-oriented active protection and management.
Download (in Japanese)
- The Vision for Appropriate Use in Mountainous Area of Yakushima [PDF ***MB]
Discover the Relationship between the Mountains of Yakushima Island, Its People, and the Natural Environment Through Trekking
Yakushima Island is a granite island adjacent to the Kuroshio current. The island receives massive rainfall due to its steep topography, and visitors can find almost all the climate zones of Japan, from the sub-tropical zone on the coast to the cool temperate zone of the mountains. The island also boasts a condensed, vertical distribution of natural vegetation for each climate zone. In the mountains, visitors can see unique natural scenery, including massive granite standing rocks and oddly shaped rocks eroded by the wind and rain, and sprawling natural forests of massive trees, including cedars more than one thousand years old.
Yakushima's topography and its natural peculiarities have had a major impact on the consciousness of its inhabitants. They exhibit a respect for the mountains, as evidenced by the take-mairi (visit to the mountains for religious purposes), and many still worship and revere the mountains.
The Vision for Appropriate Use in Mountainous Area of Yakushima was created to convey the relationship between the natural environment of the mountains of Yakushima, its people, and nature to future generations through the use of the mountains for general trekking on mountain trails. The quality of the experience on the trails is divided into five levels.
