Japanese Mountains Research Articles

Debris-flow activity in the Japanese Alps is controlled by extreme precipitation and ENSO – Evidence from multi-centennial tree-ring records

Japanese mountains are recurrently affected by mass movements and sediment-related disasters. Large efforts have therefore been undertaken to enhance understanding of the impacts and triggering of recent disasters, but ancient and continuous records to put recent events into perspective are still lacking. Here, we present a multi-centennial tree-ring-based debris-flow reconstruction in two size-contrasting torrential catchments of the Japanese Alps. We analyzed 197 affected trees growing on debris-flow fans and along torrential channels, which allowed us to identify 62 past events (38 and 24 in each catchment) from the late 19th century to today. The new chronology shows a non-stationary behavior of debris flows in the long-term, and an upward trend in debris flow activity over the last decades. Analysis of the 3-day rainfall legacy explains the occurrence of debris flows best, whereas rainfall thresholds show a positive trend linked to an increase in the occurrence of extreme precipitation over the last decades. Our results clearly support a link between debris flows with the passage of typhoons as well as La Niña events. The unprecedented length of the debris-flow record provided here opens new avenues for climate change and sediment-disaster research in Japan. Thus, our findings have important implications for the understanding of past, recent, and near-future debris-flow trajectories under climate change scenarios.

RELIGIOUS PRACTICES IN THE JAPANESE MOUNTAINS: FROM FLEEING THE HELLS TOWARDS THE HEALTHY, SUSTAINABLE AND SPIRITUAL PRACTICES OF THE CONSUMER SOCIETY. By ZuzanaMalá. Brno: Masaryk University Press, 2019. Pp. 170. Paperback, € 22.28.

Religious Studies ReviewVolume 47, Issue 4 p. 558-558 Short Reviews of Recent Publications: East Asia RELIGIOUS PRACTICES IN THE JAPANESE MOUNTAINS: FROM FLEEING THE HELLS TOWARDS THE HEALTHY, SUSTAINABLE AND SPIRITUAL PRACTICES OF THE CONSUMER SOCIETY. By Malá, Zuzana. Brno: Masaryk University Press, 2019. Pp. 170. Paperback, € 22.28. First published: 19 January 2022 https://doi.org/10.1111/rsr.15607Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume47, Issue4New Religious Movements and Documentary FilmsDecember 2021Pages 558-558 RelatedInformation

防災科学技術研究所による山地積雪環境の長期変動モニタリング 2 −積雪・気象監視ネットワーク(SW-Net)−

防災科学技術研究所による山地積雪環境の長期変動モニタリング 2 −積雪・気象監視ネットワーク(SW-Net)−

National geographic distribution and number of TV nature programs across the Japanese archipelago

Cultural ecosystem services (CES) represent the intangible dimensions of the links between people and ecosystems. The evaluation and mapping of CES are critical and can be deeply involved in policy and decision-making concerning the management of ecosystems. Many previous studies have evaluated CES occurred through on-site and proximate contacts with nature such as walking in the forest, watching wildlife, or enjoying landscapes. However, fewer studies evaluated CES occurred in an off-site and distant way through conventional media such as TV and radio, and their spatially explicit evaluations are particularly rare. This paper focused on nature TV programs in Japan as an indicator of CES related to education, aesthetic enjoyment, and nature experience. We revealed the geographical distribution of nature programs across the Japanese archipelago. The associations of the number of TV programs with a range of key factors are discussed. The number of nature programs, and the temporal trends in such associations are explained. We obtained 4,117 nature programs that covered 1,691 locations across the Japanese archipelago between 2004 and 2017. We found that many nature programs dealt with World Natural Heritage Sites (WNHS) and World Cultural Heritage Sites (WCHS), including the Shiretoko peninsula (85 programs), Yakushima island (35 programs), Mt. Fuji (52 programs), and the mountainous areas around the Japanese Alps. In general, the number of Hyakumeizan (100 famous Japanese mountains) and the proportion of WNHS, WCHS, and lake areas within the search radii of 5, 10, and 15 km from the geotagged location of nature program were significantly positively correlated with the number of nature programs across the study period (2004–2017). In particular, the presence of famous mountains has become a relevant predictor of the number of nature programs since around 2012, consistent with the rise of mountaineering and hiking trends in Japan. Our result suggests that the designation as WNHS and WCHS would facilitate maintaining and managing invaluable nature and cultural landscapes of outstanding universal value, and thereby contributing to provide CES through TV programs.

Malá, Zuzana. Religious practices in the Japanese mountains: from fleeing the hells towards the healthy, sustainable and spiritual practices of the consumer society

Malá, Zuzana. Religious practices in the Japanese mountains: from fleeing the hells towards the healthy, sustainable and spiritual practices of the consumer society

Cecal Microbiome Analyses on Wild Japanese Rock Ptarmigans (Lagopus muta japonica) Reveals High Level of Coexistence of Lactic Acid Bacteria and Lactate-Utilizing Bacteria.

Preservation of indigenous gastrointestinal microbiota is critical for successful captive breeding of endangered wild animals, yet its biology is poorly understood. Here, we compared the cecal microbial composition of wild living Japanese rock ptarmigans (Lagopus muta japonica) in different locations of Japanese mountains, and the dominant cecal microbial structure of wild Japanese rock ptarmigans is elucidated. Coriobacteraceae and Lachnospraceae were the two dominant bacterial families in all samples analyzed. At the genus level, 10 genera Olsenella, Actinomyces, Megasphaera, Slackia, Cloacibacillus, Bifidobacterium, Escherichia, Dialister, Megamonas, and Bilophila were dominant. These results reveal the high level of coexistence of lactic acid bacteria (Olsenella and Bifidobacterium) and lactate-utilizing bacteria (Megasphaera). This coexistence should be taken into account for the successful breeding of captive Japanese rock ptarmigans in the national conservation program.

低温領域の熱年代学の発展と日本の山地の隆起・削剥史研究への応用( 内陸盆地の構造と形成プロセス)

低温領域の熱年代学の発展と日本の山地の隆起・削剥史研究への応用( 内陸盆地の構造と形成プロセス)

Landform development of mountains and rivers in Japan

The geomorphic development of Japanese mountains and rivers during the Quaternary is the result of tectonic effects, sea-level change and climate change. The majority of the Japanese archipelago is being uplifted, with its mountains rising at rates ranging from 0.1 to 7 mm/y, as calculated by the mean altitudes of mountains under the assumption that they are in equilibrium between uplift and erosion. Filltop terraces built by climate-controlled accumulation of gravel are distributed throughout central and northern Japan. These terrace surfaces formed during glacial periods, and their surface ages are progressively younger upstream. This phenomenon was caused by sea-level lowering. These fluvial terraces are keys to reconstruction of geomorphic and topographic changes in Japanese mountain.Yonekura et al. classified the 61 mountainous areas of Japan into seven types, from the steepest type I to the gentlest type VII, on the basis of a steepness metric incorporating mountain heights, a steepness along the longitudinal and transverse profiles of ridges, and the heights of ridges relative to the valley floors. Half of Japanese mountains (types I to III) are in a state of equilibrium between uplift and erosion. Slowly rising or young mountains (types V to VII) have preserved uplifted peneplains on their tops and are not in the state of equilibrium.A proposed classification of river morphology into upper, middle and lower reaches, combined with the seven types classification of mountain morphology offers insight into the Quaternary development of Japanese landforms. The lower reaches of rivers in Japan are defined as lower area in elevation than the aggradation limit of sea level change. Terraces here are controlled by sea-level change. The middle reaches are defined as the part between point AL and the upstream limit of river terraces. Several terraces of older to younger ages are formed in middle reaches, indicating that the middle reaches are also uplifting. Sea level acts as the base level of erosion in the lower and middle reaches. River terraces are not formed in the upper reaches. Down-cutting for terrace emergence ceased at the LR, suggesting that the LR is stable. The upper reaches are defined by the LR point, which acts as a local base level of erosion.

New approach to resolve the amount of Quaternary uplift and associated denudation of the mountain ranges in the Japanese Islands

Low-temperature thermochronology is a widely used tool for revealing denudation histories of mountain ranges. Although this technique has been applied mainly to continental orogens, such as the European Alps, Himalayas, and Andes, recent technological development of low-temperature thermochronology has made it applicable to a wider variety of mountain ranges with various sizes and tectonic histories. The Japanese Islands comprise young and active island arcs, where an early stage of mountain range formation is observed. Numerous attempts have been made to constrain the uplift and denudation histories of the mountains in the Japanese Islands using geologic, geomorphologic, or geodetic methods. However, the number of thermochronometric attempts has been limited primarily due to the small amount of total denudation since the initiation of the uplift. In this review paper, we introduce the tectonic and geomorphic settings of the mountain ranges in the Japanese Islands, and discuss previous attempts to estimate uplift or denudation of the Japanese mountains using methods other than thermochronology. Furthermore, we discuss problems of the thermochronometric applications in revealing denudation histories of the Japanese mountains. Finally, we present a case study of the Kiso Range in central Japan and discuss the current effectiveness and applicability of low-temperature thermochronology to the Japanese mountainous areas.

Recent fluctuations of meteorological and snow conditions in Japanese mountains

AbstarctMeteorological data from mountainous areas of Japan have been collected by the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention (NIED) for almost 20 years. The collected long-period data indicate that neither a notable increase in mean winter temperature nor a reduction in snow depth has occurred in these areas. The maximum snow depth, SDmax, and maximum snow water equivalent, SWEmax, show similar fluctuation trends, although with large year-to-year variations in value and a larger fluctuation range for SWEmax than for SDmax. This result suggests that monitoring of only SDmax in mountainous areas is not sufficient for understanding the quantitative fluctuation of water resources originating from snow. The SDmax fluctuation trends in mountainous areas sometimes differ from those in flatland areas because mountain SDmax depends more on winter precipitation than on mean winter air temperature, whereas the opposite is true for flatlands. In addition, the dependence ratio of SDmax on fluctuations in winter precipitation changes with altitude because the distributions of precipitation with air temperature change with altitude.

南アルプス南部，大聖寺平および丸山における風食ノッチの発達プロセス

Turf scarps and patch-shaped barelands are clearly observed on windy alpine ridges and wind-swept slopes of Japanese mountains. This study investigates the formation and retreat of turf scarps at the Daisyoujidaira site (2700 m a.s.l.) and Maru-yama site (3025 m a.s.l.), Southern Japanese Alps. The average distances of scarp retreat are 2.2 cm/2 years (Daisyoujidaira site: 2006-2008), 0.5 cm/year (Maru-yama site: 2006-2007), and 3.6 cm/year (Maru-yama site: 2007-2008). At the Daisyoujidaira site, generation of turf scarps started on the walls of trails or gullies. The retreat processes of turf scarps are considered to be a combination of frost-thaw action (needle ice creep), deflation, rain-splash erosion, and slope wash. However, at the Daisyoujidaira site, turf scarps with curtain-like exposure of plant roots are protected from deflation and rain-splash erosion during summer. On the other hand, at the Maru-yama site, eave collapsing and turf plucking occur frequently, and turf scarps continue to retreat. As a result, patch-shaped barelands continue to expand on the wind-swept slope of Maru-yama.

北東アジア沿岸，海洋域の植生から見た日本の高山・亜高山帯の植生地理

北東アジア沿岸，海洋域の植生から見た日本の高山・亜高山帯の植生地理

Present and Late Pleistocene equilibrium line altitudes in Changbai Mountains, Northeast China

According to the glacial landforms and deposits with the optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating results, two glacial stages of the last glacial cycle (LGC) and Late Glacial were identified. The Late Glacial stage (Meteorological Station glacier advance) took place about 11 ka (11.3±1.2 ka), and the last glacial maximum (LGM), named Black Wind Mouth glacier advance, occurred at 20 ka (20.0±2.1 ka). Based on the Ohmura’s formula in which there is a relationship between summer (JJA) atmospheric temperature (T) and the annual precipitation (P) at ELA, the present theoretical equilibrium line altitude (ELAt) in Changbai Mountains was 3380±100 m. Six methods of accumulation-area ratio (AAR), maximum elevation of lateral moraines (MELM), toe-to headwall altitude ratios (THAR), the terminal to summit altitudinal (TSAM), the altitude of cirque floor (CF), and the terminal to average elevation of the catchment area (Hofer) were used for calculation of the former ELAs in different stages. These methods provided the ELA for a range of 2250–2383 m with an average value of 2320±20 m during the LGM, which is 200 m higher than the value of previous investigation. The snowlines during the Late Glacial are 2490 m on northern slope, and 2440 m on western slope. The results show that the snowline on northern slope is 50 m higher than that on western slope during the Late Glacial, and the average snowline is 2465m. The ΔELA values were more than 1000 m during the LGM, and about 920 m lower than now during the Late Glacial stage respectively. Compared with Taiwanese and Japanese mountains in East Asia during the LGM, the effect of the uplift on ELA in Changbai Mountains during the glaciations (i.e. 20 m uplift in the LGM and 11 m in the Late Glacial) is not obvious.

Risk assessment of wind disturbance in Japanese mountain forests

Wind damage of coniferous plantation forests containing hinoki (Chamaecyparis obtusa) and natural broad-leaved forests was studied in the Japanese mountains. Wind conditions determined using an air flow simulation model and historical wind disturbance records were integrated within a Geographic Information System (GIS). Based on the data set, the relationships between wind disturbance, wind speed, and stand height in plantation and natural forests were analyzed. A logistic analysis technique was applied to assess the probability of wind disturbance in stands that remained intact or were damaged as a result of the Isewan Typhoon. The results indicate that higher wind speeds and greater stand heights increase the probability of wind disturbance in both plantation and natural forests. Cross tabulation of the observed disturbance percentages in relation to wind speed and stand height in coniferous plantation forests and natural broad-leaved forests revealed that the former are more likely to be disturbed by strong winds than the latter. The logistic regression model enabled us to predict the likelihood of wind disturbance at our study site. Our results confirmed that it is possible, using wind condition prediction software, to analyze wind disturbance in mountain forests with complex terrain and steep slopes.

NEW TREND AND APPLICATION OF RUNOFF ANALYSIS

Water-related disasters such as floods and droughts are increasing in the world and their scale of damage and impact is becoming increasingly serious. This may be caused by factors like climate change in global scale, rapid population growth, the high concentration of population and property in urban areas, etc. In Japan, flood risk is seriously high because of its special meteorological and geophysical conditions. Typhoons and Bay-u fronts bring heavy rainfall to Japan. Rivers are characterized by rapid runoff because of steep slopes of Japanese mountains. In addition, large fraction of the population and property are concentrated in floodplains which have the large potential of inundation.

山地の地形計測のためのＤＥＭの解像度に関する一検討

The effects of changes in DEM resolution on Japanese mountain topography are examined from the viewpoints of geomorphometry. First, in order to examine the influence of resolution on the histogram of slope angles, the changes in the descriptive statistics value as a function of resolution are plotted. As a result, DEM with 25-m resolution or more high-resolution DEM should be used when calculating slope angles. Next, we examined the appropriate resolution from the viewpoint of magnitude frequency distribution of landslides that greatly contributing to slope formations in Japanese mountains. From this examination, it was clarified that 5 to 10-m resolution DEM is needed to observe slope forms in and around landslide area. However, more high-resolution DEM is preferred to analyze the detail of landslide topography. At last, we evaluate the effects of DEM resolution using the accuracy of drainage network construction. We could judge that the 10-m DEM is enough to extract the drainage network for practical applications. From these results, we need 25-m DEM at least, and about 5 to 10-m DEM ideally for geomorphometry in Japanese mountains. Therefore, it is desired to be equipped with around 5 to 10-m DEM acquired by direct measurement for geomorphology.

Human and Ecological Dimensions of Conservation Controversy

Human and Ecological Dimensions of Conservation Controversy

What is the contribution of climatology to the geoecological research on Japanese Mountains

What is the contribution of climatology to the geoecological research on Japanese Mountains

Monkey business in Japanese mountains

Monkey business in Japanese mountains

Present Situation and Problems of the Geoecological Studies on Japanese Mountains

Present Situation and Problems of the Geoecological Studies on Japanese Mountains