Shirakami-Sanchi
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How it came to be
Shirakami-Sanchi is a mountain range spanning Aomori and Akita prefectures, about a third of which is World Heritage. It is a remnant of the cool-temperate beech forests that covered the hills and slopes of northern Japan 8,000 to 12,000 years ago, and it holds the largest virgin beech forest left in East Asia. Because its core is steep and hard to reach, almost no beech has been logged there.
In December 1978 an alliance was formed to promote the Seishu forest road linking Aomori and Akita, and work began on both sides in August 1982. A society to protect the beech forest was founded in Akita in January 1983, and work on the Akita side stopped in November 1986. In 1987 more than 13,000 written objections from across Japan were gathered in Aomori, and the day after they were submitted Governor Kitamura Masaya spoke of reconsidering the road.
In March 1990 the Forestry Agency designated the area a Forest Ecosystem Reserve, which ended the road. On 9 December 1993 it became, together with Yakushima, one of Japan's first natural World Heritage sites. The property covers 16,971 ha and has no trails or man-made facilities inside it.
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