The Shirakami mountain range on the border of Aomori and Akita prefectures is home to ancient primeval beech forests.

Can you hear the song of the trees? A beech forest in the Shirakami-Sanchi region, where 2,600 species of plants and animals live in a forest unchanged from prehistoric times. The deciduous layer of the beech trees, which are 2 to 300 years old, stores rainwater like a sponge and eventually turns into humus, which provides abundant blessings. The beech forests of the Shirakami mountain range on the border of Aomori and Akita prefectures have a rich ecosystem and have been living in isolation from human society for 8,000 years. The Shirakami beech forest, which is said to have been created at the end of the Ice Age, covers an area of 45,000 hectares. The Shirakami beech forest, which is said to have been created at the end of the Ice Age, is 45,000 hectares in size, and the virgin forest designated as a nature conservation area, which is almost untouched by humans, covers 14,000 hectares, making it the largest virgin beech forest in East Asia. The Shirakami Sanchi area on the border between Aomori and Akita prefectures is home to an ancient virgin beech forest, with Mt. Photo taken from the head office helicopter on December 21, 1992.1 Published in the morning edition of January 1, 1993 [New Year's Day Special, Part 4].