Hiking in Japan with Mt. Fuji (3776 m)

We are traveling towards Japan. The itinerary will vary based on where you are coming from. For some people, you will not have to leave until day 2 of the program. Group tours from Norway meet at Oslo Airport, and have a stopover before arriving at Kilimanjaro Airport. For other departures, airfare and tickets will not be included in the program, unless otherwise agreed.

We arrive in Tokyo. “Welcome to Japan. Please respect the rules.” This sign awaits you at the airport. And there are rules everywhere. The Japanese love rules and they respect them—perhaps that’s why this strange country is so clean and tidy. After arriving at the hotel near the airport, we enjoy a pleasant welcome dinner, and most people are probably eager to get to bed after a long flight. There will be plenty of traditional food in the days ahead—fantastic dinners with many small dishes, rice and fish for breakfast, and rice balls for lunch.

After breakfast at the hotel, we’ll take an early express train to central Tokyo, where we’ll transfer to a train bound for Kanazawa. At the train station, it’s a good idea to pick up a “bento” or lunch box for the train ride. We’ll arrive in Kanazawa around midday and head to our hotel to drop off our luggage. Then we’ll go sightseeing by public bus, where we’ll see, among other things, the city’s main attraction: Kenroku-en (one of the three finest Japanese-style gardens in the country). We’ll also take a stroll through Kanazawa’s old town, where we’ll visit the Higashi-Chaya district—an area with teahouses where geishas perform traditional song and dance. Kanazawa has three such districts that are still preserved. Dinner on your own tonight.

Today we’ll have an early breakfast and send the luggage we won’t need on the mountain hike by bus to Shirakawa Village, where we’ll end up tomorrow afternoon. You’ll therefore need to pack everything you’ll need for the next 24 hours of the hike into your backpack. We’ll be picked up at the hotel by a bus that will take us to the starting point of our mountain hike, a place called Betto Deai (1260 m). From here, we’ll begin our ascent toward today’s destination and tonight’s mountain hut (2450 m), where we’ll be served dinner this evening.

We’ll have breakfast at the mountain cabin and recharge our energy before heading up to Hakusan at 2702 m. Weather permitting, we’ll descend from the summit on a different side than the one we ascended (the east side) to O-Shirakawa Dam (1250 m). If it has rained heavily, we’ll descend the same way we ascended. Here, we’ll be picked up and driven to the village of Shirakawa, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We’ll have some time to stroll around here in the afternoon and explore the village. Group dinner at the hotel in the evening.

We’ll start the day with a short bus ride to Kanazawa, and from there we’ll continue by express train to the ancient imperial city of Kyoto. This is another highlight of the trip—Kyoto is full of fascinating architecture and history, and it’s one of the most culturally rich cities in the world. The city is one of the absolute highlights of all of Japan. If there’s time in the afternoon, we’ll take a guided tour of the city and visit some of the famous temples and attractions. We’ll spend the night at a cozy hotel.

Kyoto is surrounded by mountains on three sides. There’s no set itinerary for today, but our local guide will be with us, and we can, for example, head out to the beautiful Arashiyama Bamboo Forest—and experience a forest unlike anything you’ve ever seen before; this forest is magical and almost mesmerizing! The afternoon is free, but there are opportunities to visit more of Kyoto’s attractions before we return to the hotel for the night. For example, food enthusiasts can take a trip to Nishiki Market.

We’ll pack our backpacks again for a 4-day/3-night trip in the mountains; you’ll see the rest of your luggage again on Day 11. We’ll hop on the express train from Kyoto to Takayama and continue by bus to Shin-Hodaka-Onsen in the northern part of the Japanese Alps. This is the starting point for the hike up to Yariga-Take (3,180 meters above sea level), and the town is surrounded by mountains, flowers, and beautiful forests. We’ll hike for a couple of hours up to the mountain hut where we’ll spend the night and be served dinner. We’ll be hiking at a time of year when there’s a high probability of experiencing the Japanese Alps at their most beautiful—and after the peak season, when there are usually large crowds of hikers in the area.

We’ll have breakfast and get ready for today’s long hike. We’ll be climbing 1,200 meters in elevation today, but the view from the mountain cabin where we’ll be staying tonight is well worth the effort. We’ll start out walking through a beech forest, and the terrain will gradually become more alpine as we climb higher. We’ll hike on well-maintained trails and take breaks along the way. Today we’ll bring a packed lunch. Dinner will be served at the mountain hut in the evening. If time and weather permit, we can take a short afternoon hike up to Mt. Sugoroku-dake, which is 300 meters higher than the mountain hut. The round-trip hike takes about 1.5–2 hours.

After a good night’s sleep, we’re ready for a new peak: Mt. Yarigadake (3180 m). The peak is the fifth highest in Japan and is known as Japan’s Matterhorn. The hike doesn’t require any climbing, but the very last stretch up to the summit has some chains and ladders. We’ll hike along a ridge with great views the whole way. From the summit of Yarigadake, we’ll have panoramic views of large parts of the Japanese Alps—if we’re lucky, we might even see all the way to Mt. Fuji, which is our next destination. We’ll have lunch along the way, either a packed lunch or at the mountain hut just below the summit. Those who do not wish to hike all the way to the summit can wait at the mountain hut where we’ll be spending the night, just below the summit. Tonight we’ll stay at the Yarigatake Sansou Hut, located at 3080 meters above sea level. (The last photo of the day is from the Sugoroku Plateau).

Today, the hike takes us from the mountain cabin down to Kamikochi. The entire hike takes about 8 hours. Upon arrival in Kamikochi, we’ll take the bus to Matsumoto, where we’ll spend the night at a hotel and prepare for our climb up Mt. Fuji. Matsumoto is the second-largest city in the Nagano Prefecture, and it’s best known for Matsumotojo—one of Japan’s most beautiful original castles.

After breakfast, we’ll visit Matsumoto Castle before continuing on to the starting point of our mountain hike, which takes 4–5 hours. We’ll stop along the way to have lunch and buy some snacks for tomorrow’s hike. We’ll hike from 2,380 meters above sea level (known as the 5th Station) up to the 6th Station (2,780 meters), where we’ll spend the night in a simple mountain hut. It depends on which station is open this late in the season, so it might also be the 7th Station. Here we’ll be served a traditional dinner and stay in a dormitory. We’ll spend the evening getting ready for the ascent of Mt. Fuji (3,776 meters above sea level), Japan’s highest mountain!

Early in the morning, before sunrise, we begin our ascent to the summit. It is only in the last 100 years that people have climbed this mountain—previously, the summit was considered sacred and therefore off-limits to anyone other than priests and pilgrims. The summit is not a single point but a circular crater rim, with the highest point at 3,776 meters above sea level. Here, we will hopefully witness the sunrise before beginning our descent to the base of the mountain. Mt. Fuji is located about three hours outside of Tokyo; we arrive in Tokyo late in the afternoon. Suddenly, we’re in one of the world’s largest cities—and compared to the mountain hikes we’ve been on, the contrasts are, of course, enormous! We’ll head out into Tokyo for a group farewell dinner and celebrate the wonderful days we’ve spent in the mountains! We’re having the farewell dinner tonight because over the next two days, we’ll have the opportunity to explore the city on our own.

To get an exciting glimpse into everyday life in Tokyo, we’ll take a guided half-day bike tour. Some of the highlights of the bike tour include: Ginza, Nihonbashi Bridge, Old Ningyocho Town, Ryogoku Sumo Stadium, Akihabara, the Imperial Palace, Tokyo Station, and Hibiya Park. The afternoon and evening are free for you to explore exciting Tokyo.

Breakfast at the hotel, and the day is free to explore more of the city. We must check out of our rooms by 12:00, but we can store our luggage at the hotel. In the late afternoon, we’ll meet at the hotel for shared transportation to the airport by bus and express train. The flight home departs late in the evening, and we’ll wave goodbye to this exciting country from the plane.

Depends on where home is, we arrive home today. For group departures departing from and returning to Oslo, we usually arrive in Oslo in the morning. Thank you for joining us this time!