Ontake, Mount

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Mount Ontake or Mount Kiso Ontake, volcano, 10,062 ft (3,067 m), on the Gifu-Nagano prefecture border, central Honshu, central Japan, 36 mi (58 km) SW of Matsumoto. The second highest volcano in Japan, it was historically inactive until 1979. Ontake is a stratovolcano, and lies within a buried caldera that is as much as 3 mi (5 km) wide. Regarded as sacred, it is a destination for religious pilgrims; there are five small crater lakes on Ontake.