Shirakami Sanchi

Remote, pristine and exceptionally beautiful.... Shirakami Sanchi, a UNESCO World Heritage Site (along with Yakushima) is a mountainous area extending across Aomori and Akita. It is home to one of the world’s largest primeval beech forests stretching over 130,000 hectares, 17,000 hectares of which are designated Natural Heritage. Although much of the designated area is unexplored, there are various hiking trails available through the pristine natural surroundings of Shirakami Sanchi. Several decades ago, a plan to build a road through the mountain range was scrapped due to protests from local residents. The reason - Shirakami-Sanchi is considered a "divine forest". All the guides who take visitors to Shirakami Sanchi perform a ceremony once a year to give thanks to the deities of the forest or “White Gods” (the translation of Shirakami). Much of the reverence is connected to it being viewed as a “life-giving” region, feeding the local population through-out the ages with edible flora, nuts, berries, mushrooms, fish and wild game.