What you can see on the Norikura cam
Norikura is a long ridge of small peaks rather than a single cone, with low green growth on its slopes cut by pale gullies and bands of loose rock. Morning light picks out every ridge and gully, and mist often drifts along the lower slopes. Snow covers the upper slopes from late autumn well into summer.
Scree gullies on the upper crest
From the Norikura plateau, the camera looks up at part of the summit crest in close-up. A pointed peak rises in the middle, with a smaller one on the left and a rounded, pale summit to the right. Low green growth covers the slopes, cut by pale gullies and bands of loose rock, and the morning light picks out every ridge. Mist sometimes drifts along the lower slopes.
Norikura, 3,026 m, is a line of small volcanoes along one ridge rather than a single cone, and it has been quiet for about two thousand years. Snow covers these slopes from late autumn well into summer.
The road to 2,700 metres
The Norikura Skyline from the Gifu side and the Echo Line from Nagano meet at Tatamidaira, at 2,702 m — the highest point reached by a paved road anywhere in Japan. Private cars have been banned since 2003; the only way up is by bus, taxi or bicycle, which has made the climb a fixture for cyclists. The snow walls at the top survive into June, and there is spring skiing above the bus stop. Near the summit the University of Tokyo runs the Norikura Observatory, a cosmic ray station that is the highest permanently staffed laboratory in the country. The volcano itself has been quiet for a long time: the last eruption was around two thousand years ago.
When to watch Norikura
The roads open at the end of May or in June and close in late October, and those months give the busiest, clearest views. Winter mornings are often sharp and completely empty. Japan is nine hours ahead of UTC.
Around Norikura
The Norikura plateau has hot springs, the Zengorō falls and a network of easy walking trails. Kamikōchi, the valley below Yakedake, and the old post town of Hirayu are both close.
Visiting Norikura
Buses run to Tatamidaira in season, from Hirayu on the Gifu side and from Norikura Kōgen in Nagano. From the car park the summit of Kengamine is about ninety minutes on foot.
