The Shirakami Sanchi, a vast mountainous area straddling Aomori and Akita prefectures, was registered as a World Natural Heritage site in 1993. The area encompasses approximately 130,000 hectares of one of East Asia’s largest virgin beech forests.

Beech is a deciduous broad-leaved tree that represents the cool-temperate zone and is central to the ecosystem of the Shirakami Mountains.

Beech trees take a long time to grow. The annual rings of a large beech tree that has endured wind and snow are estimated to be 200 to 300 years old, meaning that once a tree is cut down, it will take several hundred years for the old-growth forest to recover.

The beech forests of the Shirakami Sanchi were born about 8,000 years ago and have never been logged or developed, preserving their pristine nature. Although the mountains are only about 1,000 meters high, they have deep, intricate valleys that have long been difficult for people to enter. Possessing a high level of environmental preservation, this rich forest is home to valuable plants such as Aomori-mantetsu and Tsugaru-misebaya, as well as many wild animals such as the black bear, golden eagle, and black woodpecker. This rich beech forest attracts visitors with its beautiful scenery in each of the four seasons.

In particular, at the Shirakami Sanchi Visitor Center located in Nishimeya Village, Aomori Prefecture, visitors can learn about the charm of the Shirakami Sanchi in each season, its ecosystem, and its relationship with people through a large video.

Also in Nishimeya Village, the “Nishimeya Dam Lake Tour” is a popular amphibious bus tour of Lake Tsugaru Shirakami. In this tour, the bus enters the lake directly from the land and visitors can enjoy the magnificent view of the Shirakami Mountains from the lake.