Ainodake

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Ainodake
Ainodake
Elevation	3,189 m
Location	Chūbu region, Honshū, Japan
Range	Akaishi Mountains
Coordinates	35°38′45 N°138′13
Easiest route	Hike
Translation	間ノ岳 (Japanese)
Pronunciation	[aino-dake]

Shiranesanzan（from left to right: Nōtoridake, Ainodake, Kitadake. view from Kenashiyama in Shizuoka Prefecture. November, 2006)

Ainodake (間ノ岳, aino-dake^?) is one of Japan's 100 famous mountains. The 3189m-high peak lies in the Akaishi Mountains or Southern Alps of Japan on the border of Aoi-ku, Shizuoka and Minami-Alps, Yamanashi Prefecture. Within Japan it is the fourth tallest and in the Southern Alps the second mountain. It is situated about 3km south of Kitadake, the tallest peak in that range. Together with Nōtoridake (農鳥岳, noutori-dake^?) further to the south the three mountains may be referred to as Shiranesanzan (白峰三山, shiranesanzan^?).

East of the summit lies the cirque Hosozawa Kar (細沢カール, hosozawa-karu^?).

[edit] Geography

As in all of Shiranesanzan, the mountain abounds with alpine plants. The neighbourhood of the summit however is dominated by rocks and only few plants can survive there. Furthermore it is conceivable that landslides around the summit have led to the growth of linear hollows. Taking into account such landslides, Ainodake might have been dozens of metres higher in the past compared to its present altitude. Because of that, it might have been Japan's tallest mountain during the Last Glacial Maximum. At that time Mount Fuji had not reached its present height, and the second and third mountains (Kitadake and Hotakadake) are presently only 4 or 1 metre taller.

Even though today Ainodake does not reach the height of Kitadake, in its shape and dimension it seems to exceed it. It is a massive mountain.

[edit] Mountain trails

Ainodake lies on the traversal route between Kitadake and Nōtoridake. On the summit a trail forks off to Mibudake (三峰岳, mibu-dake^?) in the west where it connects to the Senshio ridge (仙塩尾根, senshio-one^?) traversal route.

The nearest alpine hut is Nōtori hut (農鳥小屋, noutori-koya^?) which lies on a saddle to the south below Nishinōtoridake (西農鳥岳, nishinoutori-dake^?). Another, Kitadake mountain cottage (北岳山荘, kitadakesansou^?), is situated to the north on a saddle between Ainodake and Kitadake.