Not the Quiet Afternoon I Had Planned Exhausted from a gruelling morning traversing the three peaks of Mt. Houou, I arrived at Hayakawaone Hut on the second day of a three-day hike, ready for a quiet, solitary lunch. What I got instead was an...
Hiked on Jul 8, 2025 . Yashajin-toge 夜叉神峠 – Jizo-dake 地蔵岳 – Hirogawara 広河原 Duration: 3 days Distance: 26.8 km Elevation change: 1460 metres Highest point: 2840 metres Start: Yashajin-toge trailhead bus...
Are Japan’s Mountain Huts Becoming a Luxury? As the 2025 summer hiking season kicks into gear, one thing remains clear: staying in a mountain hut isn’t cheap—especially in the Northern Alps. At huts like Hakuba-yari Onsen-koya and Kiretto-goya, a...
Where Japan’s Mountain Names Come From and What They Mean Place names in Japan can range from tricky to downright impossible—even if you know your kanji. Ask most native speakers how to pronounce 水松山, a quiet, forested peak in Tokyo’s Okutama...
Hiked on June 27, 2025 . Village Hakushu ヴィレッジ白州 – Suisho-Nagi 水晶ナギ – Hokugino-daira ホクギノ平 Duration: 2 days Distance: 22.9 km Elevation change: 1357 metres Highest point: 2037 metres Start:...
Fuji Fatigue: Can the Mountain Keep Up? Each summer, Mt. Fuji opens for a fleeting two-month season, welcoming tens of thousands of climbers hoping to witness the sunrise from Japan’s highest peak. For many, it’s a bucket-list moment—an iconic...
Unearthing a Forgotten Legacy More than ten years ago, while trudging up the now cordoned-off Inamura-iwa Ridge from the sleepy village of Nippara on Tokyo’s fringes, something glinting on the side of the track caught my eye—a rusted soft drink can...
Rethinking Where and How we Sleep in the Mountains I’ll start with a confession: I wild camp in Japan quite a lot. If I had to guess, I’d say about a quarter of my overnight hikes have involved camping outside of official campsites. For regular...
Are They a Force for Good – Or a Blight on the Landscape? In Japan’s high mountain ranges, you’re never far from a hot meal, a warm place to rest—and sometimes even a vending machine. Contrast that with Victoria, Australia, where I cut my teeth as a...
More Mountains, Less Backtracking There’s nothing quite like wrapping up a long day on the trail and hopping on a nearby local train or bus for the ride back to the burbs. No need to retrace your steps or worry about where you left the car. In...
Hiked on May 20, 2025 . Karasawa Junction 涸沢分岐 – Hanadate 石楠立 – Mt. Banjiro-dake 万二郎岳 Duration: 5 hours Distance: 9 km Elevation change: 366 metres Highest point: 1,406 metres Start: Amagi juso...
The Familiar Jingle of the Trail On nearly every well-trodden mountain trail in Japan, from the gentle slopes of Mt. Takao to the exposed ridgelines of Yatsugatake, one sound is almost always present: the steady jingle of bear bells. Dangling from...