Minami Alps City gets its name from the Southern (Minami) Alps mountain range.
However, Minami Alps is a colloquial name and its correct name is the Akaishi (red rocks) range.
Stretching 120km across the prefectures of Nagano, Yamanashi and Shizuoka, the Southern Alps is one of Japan’s preeminent mountain ranges.
There are nine mountains with an elevation of over 3,000m.
Two of these are within the city limits of Minami Alps City; the second highest mountain in Japan, Mount Kitadake (3,193m), and the third highest, Mount Ainodake (3,190m).
With the so-called ‘Queen of the Southern Alps’ Mount Senjo, and the pyramid-shaped Mount Kaikomagatake among the many peaks of the Southern Alps, it is a truly unique mountain range.