Hiking in Japan

The best seasons to hike in Japan

If you are looking to climb Mt Fuji, or any of the high-elevation mountains in the Japanese Alps, you'll want to aim for summer (mid-July to September). The downside to summer is that the weather can be quite variable due to typhoons, so I would try and give yourself plenty of flexibility in your plans to avoid the chance of your hike being rained out.

If you're looking to escape the heat, you'll instead want to aim for the autumn season (late September to early November). This is also the most popular (and crowded) time for hiking in Japan as the the autumn leaves are at their peak, so I would recommend trying to plan your hikes for weekdays if you can.

If you are looking for more stable weather, hiking in early winter (December to mid-January) or in spring (April - May) is actually a fairly underrated option if you don't mind hiking lower elevation mountains. And if you are hiking in the Tokyo area there are plenty of great mountains where you can get a clear view of Mt Fuji.

How to find weather forecasts

Checking the weather before your hike is super important! And you shouldn't rely just on the weather forecast for the nearest town, as weather on mountains can be super variable. One of the most popular weather apps for hikers in Japan is called Tenkura. Rather than giving a forecast, it gives each day a rating - "A", "B" or "C" based on the weather conditions for hiking. I definitely wouldn't advise hiking on a C day, and a B day could possibly mean there will be some light rain.

Another favourite of mine has been Windy.app, which provides pretty accurate rain forecasts down to the hour.

For both of these apps, the easiest way to use them is to find the name of the mountain you want to hike in Japanese, and Google for that together with the website name (e.g. "富士山 Tenkura" or "富士山 windy.app").

Download a GPS hiking app

Even if a trail seems well signposted, you should always download an offline map before going on your hike - getting lost is the leading cause of hiking accidents in Japan. I use YAMAP. It's the most popular GPS hiking app used by Japanese hikers, and is also a great resource for checking the latest trail conditions. Just remember to download the map before hike, as sometimes you might not have cell service by the time you get to the trailhead.

The one downside of YAMAP is that it is not fully translated into English. Your next best option would be to use AllTrails, which is a popular hiking app in English-speaking countries like America. It doesn't have as many course options as YAMAP, but will suffice in a pinch.

Getting there by public transport

One of the best things about hiking in Japan is how many trailheads are accessible by public transport. Google Maps may be useful here, but sometimes you may have to do a bit of research for local bus schedules. If you can find the name of the bus stops in Japanese, and then add the word "バス" (bus) to the end, you may be able to find the bus schedule on a website like NAVITIME or a PDF with the timetable.

For example, if you are hiking Mt Mitsutoge, you could search for 河口湖駅 三つ峠登山口 バス ("Kawaguchiko station Mt Mitsutoge trailhead bus") and find the latest schedule for the bus running between those two stops.

Although most train and bus services near Tokyo do have IC/Suica card capabilities, it's always a good idea to have some spare cash (in coins and 1000 yen notes) for the bus fares, as sometimes smaller rural buses only accept cash.

Hiking permits, camping and mountain huts

There are no hiking permits required to hike in Japan - other than Mt Fuji, which does have an entry permit and fee due to its popularity. However access to some mountains like Mt Aso can be closed off if there is increased volcanic activity, so that will need to be something to double-check before your hike.

If you are looking to camp, there are options available at trailhead campsites and next to mountain huts, but wild camping is usually illegal and/or frowned upon.

If you want to do an overnight hike without the hassle of a tent, Japan also has many mountain huts available near the peaks of more popular mountains, which will cost in the range of 10,000 yen for a night's stay.

Tips for solo hiking in Japan

More than half of my hikes are solo ones - and even as a woman, I think Japan is a very safe country to solo hike in. I have a separate guide with some tips for solo hiking in Japan which include:

• Pick a popular mountain, and hike it on the weekend, so you'll see other hikers around (I find this less daunting than being completely alone on the trail)
• Double-check the trail conditions on YAMAP before your hike
• Always let a loved one know your hiking plans, so they can alert the authorities if something goes wrong
• Learn how to say the names of the bus stops, trailheads and mountains in Japanese so you can communicate with locals if needed