Kirishima-Yaku National Park

Kirishima-Yaku National Park, Japanese Kirishima-yaku Kokuritsu Kōen, national park in southern Kyushu island, Japan, centring on the Kirishimayama volcanic group, consisting of 23 volcanoes, 15 craters, and 10 caldera lakes. The two major peaks are the volcanic Karakunidake (5,578 feet [1,700 m]) and Takachihonomine (5,164 feet [1,574 m]), the latter sacred in Japanese mythology as the site where the god Ninigi no Mikoto supposedly descended from heaven. Some of the volcanoes are still active. In the southwest part of the park is the Kirishima Hot Spring, around which are found several resort facilities. In general the area is a mixture of forests, lakes, mountains, hot springs, peninsulas, bays, and an island off the southern coast called Yakushima, noted for its forests of giant cedars, some over 1,000 years old.