Bushwalking in Japan - Osaka - April

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Bushwalking in Japan - Osaka - April

Postby davidp » Tue 23 Feb, 2016 8:27 am

Does anyone know some good walks in Japan preferably without a tent in April 10-23 via Osaka?

In particular we wanted to visit Kamikochi but the opening festival is on April 27th (after we have left) and the tunnel does not open to vehicles until about April 20th. I understand you can walk through the tunnel. Is it possible to walk through and do a three day walk - but we were hoping not to take a tent. Are there any huts or shelters? Will we need crampons? Thanks
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Re: Bushwalking in Japan - Osaka - April

Postby wayno » Tue 23 Feb, 2016 10:42 am

I did the kyoto area close by osaka, has a lot of easy access tracks, straight off the train and up into the hills
fujimi inari is a good two hour hill walk,
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3915.html

and take in the castles and gardens down below as well

theres no shortage of walking trails especially around kyoto, they leave the surrounding hills for forests and tracks

daimonji gives a good view of the area
http://openkyoto.com/sightseeing/hiking ... -yama.html

couple of extra bigger kainsai mountains mentioned here
http://www.halfwayanywhere.com/japan-hikes

the only high mountains I did was up around nagano Mt. Komagatake
https://www.chuo-alps.com/en/ropeway/

it can get very hot and humid, for the lower walks i only walked in the morning to avoid the worst of it.
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Re: Bushwalking in Japan - Osaka - April

Postby Phil1 » Wed 16 Mar, 2016 5:28 pm

Hi David,

The northern Alps where Kamikochi is located are still snow-bound in April but many of the mountain huts will be open so you can still walk from hut to hut, but you will need crampons. Most of the map and hut information is in Japanese so you'd need a local to help you. Otherwise, skip the high Alps and go for areas below the snow line near Osaka and or in Kyushu and Shikoku. Apart from Lonely Planet I dont know of any English guide books and maps that are available. I live and hike in Japan so let me know if you need help.
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Re: Bushwalking in Japan - Osaka - April

Postby Mark F » Sat 02 Apr, 2016 10:58 am

You could have a look at a section or two of the 88 temple pilgrimage on Shikoku. There is info in English available on the web.
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Re: Bushwalking in Japan - Osaka - April

Postby rachel_g » Wed 06 Apr, 2016 6:51 pm

I recently walked the Kumano Komo (Nakehechi Route) on the Kii Peninsula - not wilderness but a good walk, would be a few hours on trains from Osaka so not sure if it's within the bounds of what you're looking for. I wrote it up here: http://grindlay.org/?p=488
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Re: Bushwalking in Japan - Osaka - April

Postby davidp » Mon 18 Apr, 2016 10:39 pm

Thanks everyone for the comments on hiking in Japan
Have just spent 4 days doing day hikes in the kumono kodo area in mid April 2016. Some comments
Accomodation was very hard to book as this is peak time. We only found one place to stay on the Internet so could not do the walk as a four day journey but rather as 4 one day hikes catching buses each day back and forth. I expect if you just turned up you could manage to squeeze in somewhere especially as a single. The price seems to be per person so was no cheaper as a group of three. Despite the fact that it is peak time we actually saw very few people walking. I think there was a local festival that booked everything out. The weather was either excellent for walking .... Cool and sunny tee shirt weather ... or very wet. One day we only passed three small groups. There are lots of bus routes though some only operate twice a day. The bus timetables are on the Internet and they run 100% on time ... Unless as in our case there was a landslide and the road is blocked. Yunomine would be the pick if you have to base yourself somewhere as it is central. If you get to Shingu check out the bog forest ... Floating island in the middle of town. It is like a Daintree rainforest in a pond.
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Re: Bushwalking in Japan - Osaka - April

Postby Stroller » Tue 19 Apr, 2016 6:45 pm

Rule of thumb for Japan is to book your accommodation in advance. They do not appreciate you just turning up without a booking. And given that the Japanese, who seem to travel a lot within their own country, along with the chinese and taiwanese, there's a lot of competition.
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