Japan will surprise you with its wealth of stunning landscapes. Throughout the country there are a network of national and regional parks, each one unique and with a network of well-maintained trails, efficient mountain huts and lodges, and the added benefit of plentiful hot springs. 75% of Japan is forested mountains, and the country has twice the biodiversity of the UK or New Zealand. From the mangrove swamps of Iriomote Island in the far south to the last frontier of the Shiretoko Peninsula with its wild bears and Stellar Sea Eagles in the north, Japan has a wealth of nature to share. And walking is also an ideal way to see much of its cultural heritage too, with a series of historic trails that offer easy and relaxing walks between villages. Few people visit Japan just to walk or hike, but taking time away from the bus or train and stretching your legs a little will give you a privileged insight into a side of the country and its people that few get to see.   Japan offers everything from gentle strolls in the countryside to Alpine treks, and everything in between.

 

 

 

 

Day Walks

 

There are a great variety of day walks easily accessible from all Japanese cities. Even from the centre of Tokyo, you can access lovely walks through the mountains in under two hours, and much less from cities such as Kyoto or Nara. In mountain areas such as the Okutama area west of Tokyo or the Ikoma range near Osaka there are challenging and easy walks. Around the Kansai area (Kyoto, Nara, Osaka & Kobe) there are many walks with a historic perspective, such as the Yamanobe-no-michi, which is said to be the oldest road in Japan, and the Katsuragi-kaido. Most of these walks last about 3-4 hours and can easily be done as a day trip if you are staying in a neighbouring city such as Nara, Osaka, or Kyoto.

 

Long Distance Trails

 

Try one of Japan's historic trails, called kaido. These highways of the feaudal era once criss-crossed Japan and though now parts of them go through built-up areas, there are still sections through wilder country that capture something of the essence of that time.

The most famous are the Tokaido (East Sea Road) and Nakasendo (Road through the mountains), two of the five designated routes of the Edo period (1603 - 1868). The Tokaido is now largely developed, but the more remote Nakasendo has some wonderful sections where the mountains rise from the plains and you can find yourself not encountering another person for many hours on some sections.

The 69 stations (post towns knows as juku in Japanese) of the Nakasendo lie between Tokyo and Kyoto, and many have been preserved. These post towns originally served travellers, with stables for their horses, ryokan for the ordinary travellers and special accommodations for the nobility.

 

Few people walk the whole route, and it is advisable to select your route carefully, but a substantial walk or hike can still be undertaken.

(See our Nakasendo Trail guided, or Nakasendo Self-guided walk for details)

 

Other multi-day walks are the Wakisagi-kaido, which weaves through the mountain valleys from Kyoto north to the Japan Sea Coast at Obama, and the Rokujugoe-kaido, which connects the holy sites of the Dewa Sanzan area in northern Japan. Both can be done in three days.

 

For more strenuous treks, the Kii Peninsula south of Kyoto and Osaka, is known for its Kumano Kodo trails. The Nakahechi, Kohechi, and Ohechi are three pilgrimage trails collectively known as the Old Roads of Kumano (Kumano Kodo), once linking the great cities of Kyoto and Osaka with the three grand shrines of Kumano, a wild and remote area known as the home of Shugendo, a syncretism of Buddhism and the native Shinto religion. Now a UNESCO World Heritage site, the area has many great shrines, small villages, and an abundance of hot water bubbling up in its many onsen (hot springs).

The Nakahechi is the most popular, and walkers commonly take four days to cover the core section, however it can easily be shortened or lengthened to fit with your available time.

This trail has days from four to eight hours, and is fairly strenuous - but again harder sections can be omitted by using the useful local bus service.

For adventurers, the harder Kohechi links the sacred temple complex of Mount Koya with Hongu Grand Shrine, commonly hiked in three days. This remote trail is less well-travelled and only for those with rural hiking experience.

National Parks

There are 29 national parks in Japan, from the island of Iriomote in the south, to the peninsula of Shiretoko in the north.

These are supplemented by quasi-national parks all around the country. The majority of these parks have extensive and well-maintained trails, with lodges staffed in season.

Notable national parks include the famous Fuji-Hakone around Mount Fuji, and Nikko, which covers the mountainous area behind Nikko. The nearby Oze Marshland have their own national park, and do does the mystical Yoshino-Kumano area of the Kii Peninsula, south of Osaka and Nara. In Kyushu the island of Yakushima together with the Kirishima volcanic range constitutes one of the oldest, and the large Aso caldera forms another.

The northern island of Hokkaido has six, including the wild and remote Daisetsuzan (Big Snow Mountain), and Shiretoko (End of the Earth in the Ainu language). We can arrange walks and treks in most of Japan's national parks. On our scheduled tours we visit Oze & Nikko (Mountain Spirits), Aso, Kirishima and Yakushima (Land of Fire), Chubu-Sangake (Mountains of Central Japan), and Yoshino-Kumano (Imperial Pilgrimage & Kumano kodo Self-guided).

 

Alpine Treks

 

Alpinism was first introduced to Japan towards the end of the 19th century by a British missionary, Walter Weston. Before then, the peaks has been the preserve of shinto priests or mountain ascetics, revered by locals as sacred.

The three most prominent mountain ranges (as opposed to volcanic peaks) were labeled the southern, central and northern Alps, and Japan now has some of the most dramatic maintained trails in the world.

 

These Alpine areas are mostly located in the centre of Honshu, the main island of the Japanese archipelago, about half-way between Tokyo and Kyoto. Well-served by public transport and a network of mountain huts (yamagoya), in the summer season the famous peaks can become crowded with hikers, and mountain huts can fill to bursting. It's relatively easy to avoid the crowds by going mid-week, even in the peak summer season.

 

Snow can linger on the higher peaks into early July, and by early October the first snows can fall again, so good planning is essential. Out of season mountain huts close and bus services to the trail heads will stop, so out of season treks will involve a degree more planning.

 

Our Mountains of Central Japan tour involves some spectacular alpine trekking in the Northern Japan Alps around Yari-ga-take.

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