Japan is known as an island country in East Asia. The Japanese Alps are the largest nonvolcanic mountains located in Central Honshu Island. The volcanic peaks that tower over central Honshu have long been the object of veneration and pilgrimage. A leading proponent of mountain climbing in Japan would refer a decade later to the majestically towering range that forms the Shinano-Hida border as the so-called 'Japanese Alps. Shinano's mountains had long been exploited for raw materials, including timber, fuel, fertilizer, fodder, meat, minerals, and medicines. Most visitors came to the mountain for pilgrimage, especially to the Buddhist temple and the sacred peak of Mount Ontake.