UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1993: the Fujisato centre tells the story of 8,000 years of forest, free of charge.
The Akita side of Shirakami-Sanchi (a virgin beech forest and UNESCO natural World Heritage Site since 1993, one of Japan's first two natural sites together with Yakushima) covers 26% of the protected area, in the municipality of Fujisato. The Fujisato-kan visitor centre, renovated in April 2026, uses dioramas and immersive projections to tell 8,000 years of the forest's history, and serves as the gateway to the Takadai educational trail, where a 400-year-old beech grows, the ‘Shimboru Buna’.
One of the largest virgin beech forests left intact in Japan, straddling Akita and Aomori prefectures: 130,000 hectares inscribed in 1993 as a UNESCO natural site. The Fujisato centre, opened in 1998, is the reference point for the Akita side of the site.
ℹ️ Fujisato-kan is open 9:00–17:00 from March to November and 10:00–16:00 from December to February; closed on Tuesdays (Wednesday if Tuesday is a public holiday; from December to February also closed on Mondays). Free admission. From JR Futsuii about 20 minutes by taxi, no regular bus. The core of the virgin forest, beyond the centre, requires permits and a guide for the innermost trails.
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