MOUNT NANTAI
Mount Nantai is a 2486-meter-high stratovolcano that forms part of the Nikkō Mountains volcanic complex in Nikkō National Park. Along with Mount Nikkō-Shirane, Mount Nantai is the most recent volcanic edifice in the Nikkō Mountains, whose activity began around 560,000 years ago. Scientific studies of its geological structure have established that it first appeared around 23,000 years ago, and that its last eruption was around 7,000 years ago. Since its first known ascent by the Buddhist monk Shōdō Shōnin in the 8th century, the Nantai volcano, a sacred mountain for Buddhism and Shintoism, has been a place of pilgrimage maintained by the clerics of Nikkō's Futarasan Shrine, a World Heritage Site. For over 1,000 years, the site was off-limits to women. Legend has it that a woman was turned to stone when she tried to climb it. Although less well known than Mount Fuji, Mount Nantai is also one of Japan's hundred most famous mountains. Access to the summit is via a cable car, known as the Akechidaira, located between the town of Nikkō and the village of Chuzenji Onsen, which provides visitors with access to trails offering panoramic views of the famous Kegon waterfall and Lake Chuzenji. A hiking trail leads to the summit, criss-crossing the mountain on steep paths for around 6 km. Allow around 4 hours for the walk. During the Nantes Tohai Kosha Taisai festival at the end of July, pilgrims flock to the mountain.
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