Mt. Wanakura (Wanakurayama)
Soaring at 2,036m, Mt. Wanakura stands as a monumental peak in Chichibu City, Saitama Prefecture. This colossal mountain is the crown jewel of the massive ridgeline extending north from the renowned Mt. Karamatsu-Oyama, the highest summit of the Okuchichibu Mountains and birthplace of the Tama River.
Close to the summit on the eastern slope exists white-rusted rock faces, hence Mt. Wanakura is also called Mt. Shiraishi (White Stone Mountain). But the mountain is more widely known as Mt. Wanakura. Sitting at the edge of a long ridgeline extending from the Koshu side, it has been revered as the mountain god of Okuchichibu since ancient times.
While the primal forests along the ridge were lost to reckless development in the 1960s, the valley streams around the foothills retain their pristine beauty. Natural woodlands also spread across the mountainsides of eastern and western Senba. The hiking trail from Koshu-side Shoganto Pass follows the old Kiso Road used by Takeda clan to access their gold mines. Passing through the two sub-peaks of Higashi-Senba and Nishi-Senba, the mountain is a popular sacred site to relish the origin of landscapes in Okuchichibu.