In the dragon-shaped group of islands which is Japan, it is said that one is never out-of-sight of a mountain. These are the Japanese Alps, which run down through the main island of Honshu like a backbone. In this volcanic landscape hot springs, bubbling and boiling mud, and roaring vent-holes are all part of a sinister seismography. Snow blankets the peaks in winter, but in spring all kinds of wildlife come out of hibernation or up from the lowlands as the snows melt: Asiatic black bears, foxes, hares, flying squirrels, and a variety of birds.
