Mt Hinata: the Southern Alps' "beach in the sky"

Updated 8 November 2025

Mountain stats

Elevation 1660m

When to climb April - December

Course options A 8km (5h) out-and-back course from the Ojiragawa-keikoku (尾白川渓谷) trailhead.

🚌 Public transport access

A 3-hour trip from Tokyo via public transport, with a mountain taxi from Kobuchizawa station.

🚗 Car access

A 2.5 hour drive from Tokyo to the Ojiragawa-keikoku (尾白川渓谷) trailhead. Free parking.

Mt Hinata (日向山, hinata-yama) is a mountain in Yamanashi unique for having a sandy white summit (nicknamed the 天空のビーチ or “beach in the sky” on social media). With an elevation of only 1660m it’s also probably the most accessible mountain in the Southern Alps, which makes it a good candidate for a day hike in the colder months.

Mt Hinata can be done as a daytrip with public transport - although the number of buses is limited, and you may have to walk 50 minutes from the bus stop to the trailhead.

Since I got my driver’s license in October, I decided to make this my first solo trip to the mountains by car. With this year’s winter being warmer than normal, I was able to climb this without any snow at the end of December 2023.

The course is fairly short which made it a good candidate for a beginner driver like me, as I didn’t want to tire myself out too much before my drive home.

The route up is a fairly straightforward mountain trail, with lots of leaves.

Once you get close to the summit, you finally start to see the famous sand.

The sand at the summit is so white it almost looks like snow. I’m not really sure why there is sand here at all, but it’s quite a unique feature that I hadn’t seen in any of the other Japanese mountains that I’ve climbed.

But more exciting than the sand, was the Japanese serow (カモシカ, Kamoshika) I spotted in the distance. They’re quite timid and this was only the second time I’ve ever seen one, but this one was far enough away that he either didn’t notice I was there or didn’t care.

He looked to be enjoying the morning sun

From Mt Hinata, you can also see the snow-tipped Mt Kaikoma (甲斐駒ヶ岳, Kaikoma-ga-take) in the distance. People can start from the same trailhead as I did and do a 2-day out-and-back course to Mt Kaikoma.

I was also able to see Yatsugatake in the distance - probably one of my favourite mountain ranges!

Yatsugadake - a fairly distinctive mountain range

I enjoyed some hot chocolate at the summit (while staring at the Kamoshika) before making my way back down. This was my final hike of 2023, and it was a really good one!

On the way back, I passed a family of monkeys who were playing on the trail ahead of me. I sneakily took some photos through the trees, and as I got closer they ran away.

Finally I stopped off at the Ojira-no-Yu (尾白の湯) onsen, which is under 10 minutes by car from the trailhead, before heading home.

Hiking course details

Date climbed	Length	Course time
2023-12-30	8.3km	4h55m (the expected time for an average hiker without breaks)

If you’re doing Mt Hinata as a daytrip, the out-and-back is the only course available. If you have the stamina you can extend it by continuing on to the nearby 鞍掛山 (Kurakake-san) before returning back the same way you came. The YAMAP course I linked assumes you are starting from the Yadateishi-tozanguchi (矢立石登山口) trailhead, but if you are starting from the Ojiragawa-keikoku (尾白川渓谷) trailhead, you will need to add an additional 2 hours and 4km to your hike.

There is one toilet available at the trailhead.

YAMAP activity diary + model course

💡 How to use YAMAP

Public transport access with example schedule

If you are coming between mid-June and mid-November, there is a mountain taxi running to the trailhead from Kobuchizawa station (小淵沢駅), at an affordable 1800 yen one-way. (Thanks to Ridgeline Images for this info!) You will need to book this in advance, but I would recommend using this to get to the trailhead.

Alternatively, there are buses running from Hinoharu (日野春) and Nirasaki (韮崎) stations. If you are coming from Tokyo, you will probably want to get the bus from Nirasaki station.

Time	Location	Transport	Cost
05:29	Tokyo (東京)	Train	2640
08:30	Nirasaki (韮崎)
08:45	Nirasaki (韮崎)	Bus	1040
09:18	Michi-no-eki Hakushu-Minami (道の駅はくしゅう南)

The 05:29 start involves taking a local train. You can spend an extra 1580 on the express train if you want to sleep in the extra 30 minutes.

From the bus stop, you have to walk an extra 40 - 50mins to the 尾白川渓谷 trailhead to begin the course.

There’s also quite a big gap between the return buses - they’re at 14:49 or 17:39. If you have a lot of time left over, I recommend killing time at the nearby Ojira-no-Yu (尾白の湯) onsen. You can also get the return taxi at 16:00 at the trailhead, or at 16:05 from outside the onsen.

You can get a local train home as well, but generally I prefer to pay the extra money rather than get home super late, so I’ve put the express train into the example schedule.

Time	Location	Transport	Cost
17:39	Michi-no-eki- Hakushu-Minami (道の駅はくしゅう南)	Bus	1040
18:12	Nirasaki (韮崎)
18:25	Nirasaki (韮崎)	Express train	4220
20:26	Tokyo (東京)
		Trip total:	8940

Car access details

Car park	Time (from Tokyo)	Round trip cost
Ojiragawa-keikoku (尾白川渓谷駐車場)	2h30m	~11100 yen

The car park at the Ojiragawa-keikoku (尾白川渓谷) trailhead is very large and fits 100 cars, so you shouldn’t have any trouble finding a spot if you come in a not-too-busy season.

To make your course shorter, there’s also the option to park at the Yadateishi-tozanguchi (矢立石登山口) trailhead, which you will walk past on the way. However this doesn’t fit many cars and is also closed off December through April. I did notice multiple cars parked along the road up to this trailhead though.