Introduction
Who and Why:
This site is for anyone who is interested in hiking in Japan, be it scaling peaks in the Alps or wandering up the hill in your neighbourhood. We at Japan Hiking hope you will join our community and add stories about your climbs and add more information about the places that you visit. This site was made to increase the amount of information for people who want to go hiking in Japan or are planning a trip to the mountains in Japan. We hope the information on the site is useful for you.
How to use this site
If you are new to hiking or just want information simply click on the links that lead to the information you want. If you have hiked in Japan and have stories, recommendations or information about mountains that you want to share please join our members list and start uploading the information. The more people who join and write the better a resource this site will become. When you enter information fields with an asterisk are compulsary fields. The other fields are optional so if you do not complete them other users will be invited to "add information" to the page to make it more complete. The process to add information to the site is fairly simple so if you have a story to include or wish to upload some details about a mountain please give it a try. Please note that you must be a member of the site and logged on to add information.
About Japanese Mountains
Japan is a country with an abundance of mountainous areas. Appoximately 80% of the country is covered with mountains. However, the mountains in Japan are all under 4000m, with the tallest, Fujisan of course, standing at 3776m. This relatively low altitude and the fact that roads in Japan are everywhere means all the mountains in Japan are reasonably accessible by car, bus or train. The low altitude also removes some of the dangers of mountain climbing such as altitude sickness (though some people may experience symptoms on mountains over 3000m) and excessive snow and ice year round. All of the mountains can be climbed with normal hiking equipment and reasonable fitness. Naturally some peaks and routes are more dangerous than others but when hiking popular peaks in Japan there are sometimes literally hundreds of people climbing the mountain with you.Japanese mountain names can sometimes be hard to decipher even if you can read the Kanji that make up their names. Almost all mountain names consist of a name and then one of two suffixes -san or -take/-dake. This site follows the Japanese spelling of the names, for example Mt. Fuji is referred to as Fujisan and Mt. Yari is called Yarigatake. Another factor making it difficult to understand some maps is the fact that sometimes the highest point, or the summit, has a different name from the mountain. This is usually the case when a mountain has two or more peaks and they are all individually named. An example of this is Yatsugatake. The name translates as 8 mountains. The highest point of Yatsugatake is Akadake but on this site the mountain is referred to as Yatsugatake. The mountain's Japanese name and summit name are noted on the left hand side mountain info box.
Safety
Japanese mountains, despite their low altitude, can still hold many dangers. Mountain weather is unpredictable and can change suddenly, wet weather gear is essential. It is also easy to get lost on some trails, especially in bad weather. Make sure you are carrying up to date maps. Any number of things can happen even if you are well prepared. You may twist an ankle or injure your knee. In some areas falling rocks are dangers. Because of this inherent unpredictablity we reccommend that you always hike with a partner, tell people about your plans and expected return dates, and fill in the hiking plan sheets at trail heads.So what gear do you need? Anyone who has been on even a day hike in Japan has seen an elderly couple lugging huge backpacks up a steep hill and wondered 'What on earth could they possibly be carrying?'. Having said that there are a number of essential items that you should carry with you, even on day hikes. Here is the list of items that are reccommended by the producers of the 'Yamachizu' map series. This list is for a 3 or 4 day summer hike (i.e a little or no snow) and is divided into essential, depending on the conditions, and optional.
Essential: a hat, a waterproof jacket, waterproof pants, a long sleeved shirt, pants or shorts, a change of underwear, gloves, socks, hiking boots, spare laces, spats, a backpack, a waterproof backpack cover, food and water, a lighter, a headlamp, spare batteries, a watch, a compass, a map, a knife, a pen, a mobile phone, toilet paper, a flannel, a first aid kit, a rubbish bag, identification, insurance details.
Depending on the conditions or your route: a primus stove, a cooker, sunglasses, suntanlotion, a GPS unit, a portable toilet.
Optional: a down fleece, a thermos, an umbrella, an altometer, a thermometer, a camera, a radio.
Finally, please use this site as a tool to plan trips and get information about hikes but always carry current maps and check information before you go into the mountains. The Yamachizu map series is excellent. They are updated every year (The year of printing is written on the map cover spine), however it is only produced in Japanese. Local tourism offices, often located in major train stations, are also an excellent place to check information before departing on a hike. The staff generally speak English well and are very helpful.