- Akiyoshi plateau
. Much of the area was protected as a Quasi National Park in 1955, and a portion is a Special Natural Monument.
Akiyoshidai is served by a natural history museum, visitor centre, resthouse, youth hostel and park headquarters building, and is traversed by a scenic roadway and several walking trails. Events include a fireworks festival in July, a Karst Walk in November, and an annual burning off of dry grasses in February called Yamayaki.
Geology
Uplifted reef
limestone s ofPaleozoic age were thickened by overfolding during the Akiyoshi orogenic movement. Subsequent erosion has created an undulatingkarst landscape dimpled with manydoline s and countless limestone pinnacles up to 2m in height. Beneath the surface lie hundreds ofcave s, a few of them quite significant. Fossils ofPleistocene age include the Japanese rhinoceros,Stegodon t elephant and Young tiger, and numerous animals from the last interglacial period.Akiyoshi-do
s.
References
"Akiyoshi Plateau and Akiyoshi Cave" information pamphlet
External links
* [http://www.ymg.urban.ne.jp/home/akihaku/Englishpage/English.html Akiyoshidai Natural History Museum website]
* [http://web2.cc.yamaguchi-u.ac.jp/~speleo/Akiyoshi-e.html Caves of Akiyoshidai]
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