{"id":280,"date":"2025-08-27T17:53:53","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T08:53:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/geo-itoigawa.com\/en\/?page_id=280"},"modified":"2026-08-26T14:09:28","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T05:09:28","slug":"area07","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/geo-itoigawa.com\/en\/igp\/area\/area07\/","title":{"rendered":"7. Maikomidaira"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n<h1>Maikomidaira Area<img src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/yama_icon.png\" \/><\/h1>\nKarst Topography and Alpine Plants\n\n\t<p><b>Karst topography<\/b> is a type of landform created when large areas of soluble rock (such as limestone) dissolve, leaving behind unique stone formations and caves.<\/p>\n<p>Maikomidaira is a large polje, a type of basin that is characteristic of karst topography. Situated on the southern side of <b>Mt. Kurohime<\/b>, a 1,222 meter limestone mountain, the entire region is blanketed with dolines, ponors, vertical caves, and other features of<strong> karst topography<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>As a result of continued uplift of the surrounding limestone areas, several vertical caves measuring hundreds of meters deep have taken form in the area. Including <b>Byakurend\u014d Cave <\/b>(Deepest in Japan at 513 m) and <b>Senrid\u014d Cave<\/b> (Second deepest at 405 m), <strong>Japan&#8217;s four deepest caves<\/strong> are all found here in Maikomidaira! Water which collects in Maikomidaira travels through a subterranean river network about 3.5 km to <b>Fukugakuchi Limestone Cave<\/b> where it is expelled into what becomes the T\u014dmi River, which empties into the nearby Sea of Japan at <strong>Lavender Beach<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The region&#8217;s <b>heavy snowfall<\/b> collects in Maikomidaira&#8217;s many dolines, where they often remain throughout summer, creating an environment similar to that of the glacial periods. Near the bottom of theses dolines, the snow creates microclimates supporting a variety of <strong>alpine flora<\/strong> which normally can only be found at elevations above 2,500 m!<\/p>\n<p>Because of the area&#8217;s ecological and geological value, as well as the dangerous nature of the topography, <b>entrance to Maikomidaira is restricted to those who have obtained special permission.<\/b><\/p>\n\t<img src=\"\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/map7-maikomidaira-eng.jpg\" usemap=\"#area_illust\" id=\"area_illust_image\" width=\"992\" alt=\"Maikomidaira Area\" \/>\n    <map name=\"area_illust\">\n  <area shape=\"rect\" coords=\"367,14,547,72\"  alt=\"Cave \"Tsutendo\"\" title=\"Cave \"Tsutendo\"\" \/>\n  <area shape=\"rect\" coords=\"722,83,957,141\" alt=\"Sinkhole \"Shinmaikomi\"\" title=\"Sinkhole \"Shinmaikomi\"\" \/>\n  <area shape=\"rect\" coords=\"85,162,280,219\" alt=\"Cave \"Senrido\"\" title=\"Cave \"Senrido\"\" \/>\n  <area shape=\"rect\" coords=\"31,238,221,294\" alt=\"Cave \"Byakurendo\"\" title=\"Cave \"Byakurendo\"\" \/>\n  <area shape=\"rect\" coords=\"707,226,927,284\" alt=\"Polje \"Maikomidaira\"\" title=\"Polje \"Maikomidaira\"\" \/>\n  <area shape=\"rect\" coords=\"41,316,260,371\" alt=\"Sinkhole \"Ginbukibachi\"\" title=\"Sinkhole \"Ginbukibachi\"\" \/>\n  <area shape=\"rect\" coords=\"741,322,960,378\" alt=\"Sinkhole \"Komaikomi\"\" title=\"Sinkhole \"Komaikomi\"\" \/>\n  <area shape=\"rect\" coords=\"93,388,295,445\" alt=\"Ponor \"Omaikomi\"\" title=\"Ponor \"Omaikomi\"\" \/>\n  <area shape=\"rect\" coords=\"690,445,887,496\" alt=\"Mt. Kurohimeyama\" title=\"Mt. Kurohimeyama\" \/>\n  <area shape=\"rect\" coords=\"203,536,376,591\" alt=\"Jodomon\" title=\"Jodomon\" \/>\n    <\/map>\n\t\t\t\t<img src=\"https:\/\/geo-itoigawa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/maikomi.jpg\" alt=\"\" itemprop=\"image\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\n\tJ\u014dd\u014dm\u014dn &#8211; &#8220;Heaven Gate&#8221;<br \/>\n(Entrance to Maikomi-daira)\n\t\t\t\t<img src=\"https:\/\/geo-itoigawa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/maikomi_3-1024x686.jpg\" alt=\"\" itemprop=\"image\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\n\t\u014c-Maikomi (Nunakawa Cave)<br \/>\n(Vertical Cave, Depth 345 m)\n\t\t\t\t<img src=\"https:\/\/geo-itoigawa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/maikomi_7.jpg\" alt=\"\" itemprop=\"image\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\n\tByakurend\u014d (White Lotus Cave)<br \/>\n(Vertical Cave, Depth 513 m)\n\t\t\t\t<img src=\"https:\/\/geo-itoigawa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/maikomi5-1024x767.jpeg\" alt=\"\" itemprop=\"image\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\n\t<p>Ts\u016btend\u014d (Cave to the Heavens) (Interior)<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<img src=\"https:\/\/geo-itoigawa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/maikomi_2-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" itemprop=\"image\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\n\tSenrid\u014d (Thousand Ri Cave)<br \/>\n(Vertical Cave, Depth 405 m)\n\t\t\t\t<img src=\"https:\/\/geo-itoigawa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/maikomi_4.jpg\" alt=\"\" itemprop=\"image\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\n\tCommon Butterwort<br \/>\n<em>Pinguicula vulgaris<\/em>\n\t\t\t\t<img src=\"https:\/\/geo-itoigawa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/maikomi_6.jpg\" alt=\"\" itemprop=\"image\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\n\t<p>Maikomidaira Tour<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<img src=\"https:\/\/geo-itoigawa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/kurohime.jpg\" alt=\"\" itemprop=\"image\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\n\t<p>Mt. Kurohime (1,222 m)<\/p>\n\t<strong>\u203bMaikomidaira Area can only be accessed during the Maikomidaira Tour<br \/>\n<\/strong>For more information about the tour, please check the Latest News &amp; Events.\n\t     View Map\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/d\/embed?mid=1oWSWdbz7KuYqLkAOWrVmZVw6PZulPKE&#038;ehbc=2E312F\"><\/iframe>\n<h3>\n\t\t\t Area Access &#038; Closures\t<\/h3>\n\t\n\t<ul>\n    <li><a href=\"..\/area06\/\"><u>6. Itoigawa-Shizuoka Tectonic Line and Salt Trail (North) Area<\/u><\/a><\/li>\n    <li><a href=\"..\/area08\/\"><u>8. Hashidate Gold Mine Area<\/u><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\t<ul>\n    <li><a href=\"\/en\/eng\/igp\/area\/#hisui_area\">\n        \u30d2\u30b9\u30a4<br \/>\u3092\u611f\u3058\u308b\n        <img src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/hisui_icon.png\"\/>\n        <\/a>\n    <\/li>\n    <li><a href=\"\/en\/eng\/igp\/area\/#history_area\">\n        \u65e5\u672c\u5217\u5cf6\u5f62\u6210\u306e<br \/>\u6b74\u53f2\u3092\u77e5\u308b\n        <img src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/history_icon_w.png\"\/>\n        <\/a>\n    <\/li>\n    <li><a href=\"\/en\/eng\/igp\/area\/#yama_area\">\n        \u96c4\u5927\u306a\u5c71\u3005\u3092<br \/>\u5473\u308f\u3046\n        <img src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/yama_icon02.png\"\/>\n        <\/a>\n    <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Maikomidaira Area Karst Topography and Alpine Plants Karst topography is a type of landform created when large [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":103,"menu_order":10,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_expiration-date-status":"","_expiration-date":0,"_expiration-date-type":"","_expiration-date-categories":[],"_expiration-date-options":[]},"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/geo-itoigawa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/280"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/geo-itoigawa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/geo-itoigawa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geo-itoigawa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geo-itoigawa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=280"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/geo-itoigawa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/280\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1605,"href":"https:\/\/geo-itoigawa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/280\/revisions\/1605"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geo-itoigawa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/geo-itoigawa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}