We had originally planned to climb Norikura-dake, one of the tallest peaks in Japan. As we approached the trailhead, we were stopped by a bicycle race. The road beyond Norikura Kanko Tourist Center was closed to both cars and busses. We were a long way from Utsunomiya, and even further from California, so I was frustrated to say the least. I perused the map and researched alternate objectives on the fly. I needed to chose a hike short enough such that we could do it with a late start while carrying our child, at least part of the way. I selected Utsukushigahara Highlands, as it was on the way to Saku, which had a Shinkansen station. Our dear friend Jon would join us for the hike then take the train back to Tokyo later that day.
We had already driven quite a bit that morning, and now we had to drive even further, but after a long windy ride we made it to the Utsukushigahara Nagawa Municipal Parking Lot. It was wet outside from a recent rain and the entire area was shrouded in clouds. There was a visitor shop at the end of the paved road and a dirt road continuing beyond towards the summit plateau. Today’s “peak” is referred to as a highland, and while it was not striking in a traditional mountain sense, it did have almost two thousand feet to topographic prominence. Situated between several major mountain ranges, I now wonder how the views would have been from the top, considering we were socked in all day.
The dirt road took us through ranchlands. A wooden fence on each side barred us from the ponies and cattle, or rather them from us. It was a little mysterious and often I would find myself having to guess what the large animal was through the pea soup.
The walk vaguely reminded me of hiking through the Diablo Range in California; grasslands, cattle and rolling hills.
The dirt road made for easy walking. We let Leif walk at first, but eventually his lack of urgency had us put him in the carrier. The summit area was covered with a large building called Ougatou, which translates to King’s Head Hotel. Behind the building was a large radio facility and several shrines.
We walked around until finding the summit rock and a benchmark. From car to summit it was only 2 miles with about 300 vertical feet gain.
We stepped into Ougatou to get out of the weather. We ate beef curry and coffee jelly with soft cream inside the luxurious summit shelter. The curry was so good that I ended up eating two servings.
I could have sat there all afternoon, but we all wanted to get home that night. Rather than retracing our steps back down the bland dirt road, I picked up a trail system that circled around the southern part of the ranch.
The trail dropped down a couple switchbacks then contoured alongside the highland.
I left the trail briefly to investigate a rocky cliff that seemed a little out of place in the gentle rolling hills.
Leif wanted to walk again, so I let him do so for a while, but eventually I picked him up again because we needed to cover distance faster.
The trail reconnected with the dirt road. It was a longer, but slightly more aesthetic hiking route. We stopped for a short time for Leif to feed the pony.
The clouds began to clear as we reached the trailhead. We looked around the shop then began our trip back home. This wasn’t the most spectacular hike, but it was good for our two year old.
Kisokomaga-take is an ultra prominent peak, the high point of the Chuo Alps and one of the 100 Famous Mountains of Japan. Typically a peak with these kinds of credentials would be too difficult for a man with a very pregnant wife and an opinionated toddler to climb, however thankfully there is a ropeway that takes the softer variation of hiker to within 1,000 vertical feet of the summit. I planned to use this unapologetically. Tagging along with us was our dear friend Jon, who had joined me on a fruitful and adventurous tour of the Yatsuga-take mountain range the day prior.
We woke up at Hotel Route-Inn Komagane Inter, which had an incredibly rude and unintelligent staff. I will save our kind reader from the injustices endured, but I will strongly recommend future hikers to stay elsewhere. After breakfast we drove to the Suganodai Bus Center where we parked our car and waited for a bus to pick us up. After a long and windy ride, we arrived at Komagatake Ropeway Shirabidaira Station. We entered the gondola and flew briskly through the enchanted clouds above.
I had planned to put Leif in the carrier here, but he wanted to walk instead. The trail took us across and up the Senjojiki Cirque.
Leif hiked at a quick enough pace for a while, but eventually I put him in the carrier and we climbed up a series of switchbacks shrouded in clouds. We passed every single group ahead of us, even with babies in tow. We made it to the top of the ridge where there was a hut/restaurant then continued north.
The trail split here with one fork going around to the left and the other going up and over Naka-dake, an intermediate peak to the right. We took the path to the left as this required less gain, and soon after the crowds vanished.
I felt like we were in the Lord of the Rings.
We emerged at the saddle on the north side of Naka-dake and continued up the south slopes of Kisokomaga-take until we reached the summit.
We walked around a bit looking at the various summit structures and shrines, but there were no views to be had.
It was a little cold so we didn’t stay long. We headed back down, but this time chose to climb over Naka-dake. World famous and highly accomplished peak bagger Rob Woodall claimed it was not something he would risk soloing. I was able to free solo what I believe was a 5.6 granite summit block. There is minimal exposure but the climb does require some basic rock climbing technique. I did it in my TX4 approach shoes. Other options included an off-width and a crack. I even found a couple old pitons drilled into a face.
So now it is settled. Most likely everyone on the peak bagger app who logged a successful climb of this peak is a liar. Shame on them. After joining Leif and Asaka on a lower nearby summit, we continued back down to the hut/restaurant. Asaka, Jon and Leif would wait here while I attempt Hoken-dake, another bonus peak to our south.
Many reports online claim this as a difficult peak, but I found quite the opposite. I was literally able to jog almost the whole way to this peak. There was some scrambling near the top but it never exceeded easy class 3.
I didn’t stay long since I had a family waiting for me so I snapped a couple photos and resumed my jaunt back down the ridgeline.
I met the others inside the warm hut. They had ordered food and were ready to go. We hiked back down to the ropeway, getting back earlier than we expected. The hike was only 3.5 miles with all bonus peaks included.
We rode the gondola back down to the bus, then rode the bus back down to the parking lot.
We spent some time in the little village area looking around at the shops then continued on our way.
We then drove to a small village in the countryside where we spent the night at a very remote inn.
Yatsuga-take is a volcanic range that lies just north of the Minami Alps on the main island of Honshu. The highest peak Aka-dake marks the boundary between Nagano, Yamanashi and Gunma Prefectures. I was interested in Aka-dake for two reasons; it has more than 6,000 feet of prominence and it is included in the Nihon Hyakumeizan book which documents the 100 Famous Mountains of Japan. I was in for a treat this time as my friend Jon, who recently moved to Tokyo, was willing to join me. He had almost no hiking experience but I’ve played rec league sports with him and knew he was in good enough shape. Jon was a “Tokyo Boy” and this was his first time visiting the countryside. We met for dinner the night before where we ate Okonomiyaki and planned the logistics for the following day. Asaka would drop us off and spend the day with Leif down in the city of Hara while Jon and I hiked to our heart’s content. I had three exit points in mind, and planned to text Asaka throughout the day to advise her when and where to pick us up. We were lucky to have such a resource waiting on standby. We then drove to Image House Lodge where we spent the night.
The next morning Asaka drove us to the trailhead at Minoto Lodge. We started hiking a mile short of reaching the lodge because the road was a little too rough for my mother’s-in-law car. Any bit of clearance and we could have made it past the obstacle, but there was no point in pushing our Toyota Roomy too far.
The mile of road walking went by very quickly and we reached the official starting point in under 20 minutes.
We didn’t bother stopping and continued hiking alongside the Yana River. It had been lightly raining over the last few days so the ground was moist and the creeks were all flowing. We were also gifted with mushrooms throughout the day.
Four miles from our starting point, and three miles from the Minato Lodge, we reached the Gyojagoya hut. We paused here for a water break and chatted with some other young hikers.
The trail continued steeply from here. The young climbers we met at the hut were hiking behind us so I led a strong pace to prove to everyone that we were the fastest hikers on the mountain that day.
We took a left at the fork which led directly towards Aka-dake, but I couldn’t help but admire the slightly lower Amida-dake, which stood to the west of the crest. I wish we could have included this peak into our outing. Since there is limited information available online for English speakers, I often discover these worthy bonus peaks while on the hike, and rarely I feel confident enough to include them on the day’s itinerary on the fly. The mountain will always be there, or so they say.
The trail became too steep for erosion free climbing so stairs were built into the mountainside. This really made things much easier than they would have been otherwise. It was a pretty gnarly staircase. I could see someone who is afraid of heights having trouble here, but then again why would someone who is afraid of heights be climbing mountains to begin with?
This section could best be described as a calf workout. My enthusiasm grew with every step. The weather was perfect and the reddish dirt of the mountains contrasted with the thick green vegetation that clung to the mountainsides.
We soon reached a junction with the ridge trail that came from Amida-dake. I could make out several hikers high on the adjacent mountain’s slopes.
Down below was the Gyojagoya hut.
North along the ridge were Yoko-dake and Io-dake. I hoped to climb these two bonus peaks at the very least.
To the south was Gongen-dake, and beyond that the Minami Alps.
From the ridge we continued eastwardly towards the summit. Just when I thought the trail couldn’t get any steeper it did just that. There were chains bolted into the rocks spoiling what would have been a fun class 3 scramble.
The volcanic rock was solid for the most part. The route never became difficult or hard to follow. We reached the summit after 2 hours and 30 minutes of hiking.
To the south was Fuji-san.
To the southwest were the Minami Alps.
To the west were the Chuo Alps.
To the north were Yoko-dake, Io-dake and Tengu-dake.
I asked Jon how he was feeling and his feedback was positive. He was willing to continue on towards some bonus peaks, and surprisingly he was most interested in Tengu-dake, which was the furthest peak I had considered. Jon was mostly interested in the name; Tengu-san is the character with a red face and big nose from Japanese folklore. After a snack, we continued north along the ridge down towards the Aka-dake Tenbo Inn. The trail was very steep here and covered with loose rock, but we made it down to the mountain hut without incident.
We continued along the ridgeline climbing the south side of Yoko-dake. Aka-dake stood impressively behind us.
The route snaked over and around the volcanic pinnacles that covered the ridgeline, climbing ladders and following chained sections with steep drop offs along the way.
A peacock butterfly joined us atop the rocks.
The highest point of Yoko-dake was on the north end of the ridge.
We eventually reached our second peak, which gave us a new perspective of the surrounding area. I could notice the number of clouds beneath us were starting to grow. To the south were Aka-dake and Amida-dake.
To the southeast was Fuji-san.
To the north was Io-dake, the next peak on our agenda.
We didn’t wait long on this peak and continued following the ridge. The remaining way to Io-dake looked like it was over mostly easy terrain. There was an interesting fin which I climbed over, but Jon took the official trail that went down and around.
We passed by another, though smaller, mountain hut and began our climb up Io-dake. Several large cairns were constructed alongside the trail all the way to the top.
I wasn’t sure which point of Io-dake was the true summit. First I went to the eastern point which was marked closed. Using my gaijin power, I walked by these signs not being able to read what they were saying. The volcanic rock at this point was eroding off a cliff.
I then walked back to the west summit where all the other hikers were resting. The volcanic cliffs of Io-dake were impressive.
We had our official lunch here on the broad summit plateau.
The two summits of Tengu-dake looked tantalizingly close, but we had a deep saddle to drop down into first. Jon remained sanguine and determined to continue.
I texted Asaka and told her to pick us up at Karasawa Kosen, on the northwestern side of Tengu-dake. We continued north along the trail down towards the saddle.
We passed by yet another hut at the saddle, but we didn’t dally here. For the first time I was feeling some fatigue, but I was motivated to maintain our strong pace.
After the hut the crowds completely disappeared, and for the first time I felt like we were in a remote setting. The fog rolled in and thoughts of bears started creeping into my head. I could smell sulfur emanating from the Yatsugatake Honzawa Hot Springs below.
Along the way we passed by a minor summit named Mt Mikaburi, which I won’t even both to put into any mountain database as I don’t believe this minor bump along the ridgeline deserves recognition.
Shortly after we emerged on a barren ridgeline at the base of Neishi-dake, a sub peak just south of Tengu-dake. The weather was now beginning to turn sour. There were clouds and wind, but thankfully no rain.
To our left was yet another mountain hut, and at the time it looked rather inviting. Determined, we continued up the south slopes of Neishi-dake.
After a little more than 100 vertical feet of climbing we reached the top. There was no time to rest with the ongoing instability of the weather, so we continued onwards, even though our next peak was no longer visible.
What ensued was a misty yet beautiful hike though the unknown. At times we would get glimpses of the surrounding peaks, but for the most part whatever was around us was a mystery.
We could at least see the trail beneath our feet, and that was enough for us to make it to the top of the eastern summit of Tengu-dake.
We took a long break here and met a young climber named Go who was planning to do the JMT the following year.
We then continued towards the higher western summit.
This was a lonely summit, but the true high point of Tengu-dake and the last peak of the day.
A steep descent down giant boulders ensued.
The trail then continued west along the top of the ridge.
The ups and downs along the top of the ridgeline began to take a toll on me. I was ready to just descend, and just when I thought I was done with the climbing, another small section of uphill would appear.
I was relieved to find the turn off to Karasawa Kosen because the route we were on wasn’t completely matching the trail on the topo layer I was following.
From there it was a steep descent down to the bottom of the canyon.
As we approached the exit, I found Leif and Asaka, or rather they found us. We were about 15 minutes later than my estimated arrival time so they had started up the trail to look for me.
Even though I was tired I was happy to pick up Leif and carry him. Jon seemed fresh enough to climb ten more mountains. The Karasawa Kosen looked nice, but we didn’t bother looking around.
We got done early enough to drive down to Kowagame where we had delicious cha soba for dinner. With the hardest hike in the books, we had two easier hikes planned for the next couple of days.
We woke up in our Ryokan in Kaminoyama, a medium sized town in Yamagata prefecture. Our goal for the day was to climb Zao-san then drive back home to Utsunomiya. Asaka told me that Zao-San was famous, to which I replied, of course it is, since it’s included in the Hyakumeizan, which documents the 100 Famous Mountains of Japan. Kumano-dake is the name of the highest peak on Zao-san, so multiple names are used to describe the top of the mountain. Such is the case with many peaks in Japan. There are several ways to climb this peak, but since I had with me a toddler, a pregnant woman and a unstable weather forecast, I planned for the easiest route which started from Zao Kattadake Sancho Parking Lot at the end of Zao Highline. We paid 550 Yen to park at the end of the toll road where there was a restaurant and visitor center. We walked by this large building and turned left at a T junction, heading for the highest point of the volcano.
There were bear warning signs, which had me a little concerned because of the limited visibility. I had no idea what was more than 20 meters away from me. In Japan there are two types of bear, the Asiatic Black Bear and the Ezo Brown Bear. The latter is closely related to the Siberian Grizzly Bear but found only in Hokkaido, while the former is allegedly much more aggressive and dangerous than the American Black Bear that I am familiar with.
Aside from my irrational paranoia, the hike was super easy and straightforward.
The vividly colored Okama crater lake was to our right, but it was too foggy to clearly see the reportedly spectacular sight below.
Leif did a good job walking but eventually he asked to be carried. After about a mile of mostly flat walking, the trail started to climb more steeply. We would hear bells in the distance, and moments later other hikers would emerge from the mist. Leif started demanding that I summon more bells, as if I had the power to do so. Leif didn’t want to get in the carrier so I carried him in my arms, and after a bicep workout we finally made it to the top.
There were several markers, rocks, shrines and a shelter atop the summit.
I climbed the tallest of these rocks, which was more of a decoration that a natural feature.
We then entered the summit shelter where we had our lunch protected from the elements.
After our lunch, we headed due east aiming to take a slightly different way down.
On the way down we visited Zao-San East Slope. I’m not sure why this location is marked on Peakbagger, but my guess is that it is possibly a contender for the Miyagi prefecture high point. It’s a liner so I wandered about somewhat aimlessly until I felt satisfied.
On the way back down we got a better view of the Okama, which is the main attraction of the area.
After returning to the visitor center, we decided to continue up the bonus peak Kattadake.
There was a shrine at the summit, but sadly we still had no views.
As we returned back to our car the weather started to clear. We would have had much better views if we started off an hour later. Oh well, at least we avoided the crowds.
We then had a long drive back to Utsunomiya, ending our hiking trip with successful attempts of three Hyakumeizan peaks; a P2k, P3k and P4k respectively.
We spent a restful night at Shirabu Onsen Nakaya Bekkan Fudokaku. The beautiful 100 year old onsen stands above the Otaru River a short distance from the Tengendai Resort Ropeway. They served us breakfast and we were quickly out the door.
Today’s goal was Nishi-Azuma-Yama, the high point of a broad volcanic mountain range that runs 12 miles from east to west. The best view is supposedly a lower volcanic crater on the eastern side of the range, but today’s objective was the highest point on the western side. This P3k caught my interest due to its inclusion in the Nihon Hyakumeizan book which documents the 100 Famous Mountains of Japan. We parked in the gravel lot at the Yumoto Station and got on the first gondola, departing at 8:20am. The ropeway climbed 1,400 feet in 6 minutes! It was an impressive feat of engineering. We disembarked at the Tengendai Ski Resort where we were greeted by a troop of monkeys.
We then had a short walk along a paved road to Natsuyama Lift. Even though it was still morning, it was very warm and humid out. After the very warm hike up Bandai-san the previous day, I was not looking forward to another sweaty outing.
The chairlift ride was broken up into three segments. All combined, this is the longest summer mountain lift in all of Japan. I watched other more honest mountaineers hike the trail below, raising questions internally if I was climbing the Hyakumeizan ethically. Maybe doing it the hard way is more rewarding, or maybe they simply didn’t want to spend the extra cash.
It took us 40 minutes to reach the Gomeiho View Terrace at 6,000 ft. Waiting this long was worth it since we were now less than 700 vertical feet below the summit. I appreciated every inch saved, since carrying Leif was starting to take a toll on me. Leif rang the bell for good luck and we were off.
We started off up a rocky trail through a thick jungle.
We transitioned into a subalpine climate zone in a matter of minutes and the views opened up.
Our objective lay on the other side of the saddle to our south.
The weather was much cooler than it was down below. It was like a completely different mountain. The same smells that I remembered from the Pacific Northwest filled my sinuses throughout the day.
There was even a boardwalk to protect the sensitive plant life. This made walking easy.
We passed by a spring source, which marks the headwaters of the Nakatsu River. While it is potable, we did not drink from it.
The trail became steep and rocky again but soon we were back on planks.
Leif voiced his interest to get out and walk so we let him stretch his legs.
The lower northern summit was adorned with big rocks. Spoiler alert; this was a better view point than the true summit.
There was a fork in the trail so we took the most direct path south. I was now more thankful for the planks because the ground underneath was swampy.
The berries next to the trail caught my eye, and I realized they were huckleberries. A quick verification with Seek confirmed my identification, so Leif and I foraged on some fresh fruit as we made our final ascent. Not only did it smell like the Pacific Northwest, but it tasted like it too.
The designated “summit” of Nishi Azuma Yama was completely forested and a short distance away from the true summit. This is where most, if not all, hikers call it good.
From the sign, I left the others and bushwhacked straight into the thicket. It was really thick in places. After “swimming” for several minutes, I felt satisfied that I reached the high point and returned back to the trail. I sure hope I didn’t brush up against any urushiol.
From the summit we continued along the trail hoping to complete a small loop. To the southwest was Nishi-Daiten, a bonus peak which wasn’t appealing enough for me to visit.
Further south was Bandai-san, which we climbed just a day prior.
Back to the east was the summit of Nishi-Azuma-Yama.
We passed a hut and stopped for lunch along the planks.
Leif and I had fun playing with the dragonflies fluttering about.
After a few rice balls we continued “walking the plank” towards Tengu Iwa.
This rock pile had a shrine and some decent views. Any views were better than those from the true summit.
We completed our loop by returning to the north summit then we began our hike back towards the ski lift.
It was a last minute decision, but I decided to take a worthy detour to Ningyo Ishi, which roughly translates to Doll Rock. The effort was minimal and the reward was a fun class 3 summit block. It was spicy enough where I didn’t want pregnant Asaka or baby Leif to join me.
I had great views of Nishi-Azuma-Yama and Bandai-Asahi National Park.
Leif found inspiration from my performance and climbed several other smaller rocks nearby
From there we looped back down, taking a lesser used trail that connected us back to the top of the ski lift.
We had soft creams at the gondola to celebrate our success. It was a really nice day, and much more enjoyable than the day prior.
We then drove north to Kaminoyama where we spent the night.