The Honshū alpine conifer forests ecoregion covers 4400 mi2 in the high-elevation mountains of central Honshū

Honshu

is the largest island of Japan. The nation's main island, it is south of Hokkaido across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyushu across the Kanmon Strait...

 and the Oshima Peninsula

Oshima Peninsula

The Oshima Peninsula is the southernmost part of Hokkaidō, the northernmost of the Japanese islands. Where the peninsula starts is open to interpretation. A more generous interpretation is to draw a line southeast from Ishikari Bay across the Ishikari Plain to Yufutsu...

 of Hokkaidō

Hokkaido

, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island; it is also the largest and northernmost of Japan's 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu, although the two islands are connected by the underwater railway Seikan Tunnel...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. It is a temperate coniferous forest ecoregion in the Palearctic

Palearctic

The Palearctic or Palaearctic is one of the eight ecozones dividing the Earth's surface.Physically, the Palearctic is the largest ecozone...

 ecozone

Ecozone

An ecozone is the broadest biogeographic division of the Earth's land surface, based on distributional patterns of terrestrial organisms.Ecozones delineate large areas of the Earth's surface within which organisms have been evolving in relative isolation over long periods of time, separated from...

.

Flora

Northern Japanese Hemlock

Tsuga diversifolia

Tsuga diversifolia, commonly known as the Northern Japanese Hemlock, or in Japanese, Kometsuga , is a species of conifer native to the Japanese islands of Honshū, Kyūshū, and Shikoku. In Europe and North America, the species is sometimes employed as tree for the garden and has been in cultivation...

 grow with species of Rhododendron

Rhododendron

Rhododendron is a genus of over 1 000 species of woody plants in the heath family, most with showy flowers...

and Menziesia

Menziesia

Menziesia is a genus of flowering plant in the family Ericaceae.Species include:* Menziesia ciliicalyx* Menziesia ferruginea - False azalea or Fool's huckleberry* Menziesia multiflora...

. Maries' Fir, Veitch's Fir, and Jezo Spruce grow in forests with plentiful herbs and ferns in their understories. Sasa

Sasa (genus)

Sasa is a genus of running bamboo. These species have at most one branch per node....

grass is very dense in places.

Fauna

Sika deer and Asian black bear inhabit this ecoregion. Significant birds include the rock ptarmigan and the golden eagle.