information on how to access the area is here.
i bused from nagoya, you can bus from tokyo as well. the bus stops next to the motorway at komagane, there is another local bus service to take you to accomodation and then up the mountain to 1600m,
http://www.chuo-alps.com/en/from there you take a cablecar to 2600m to the hotel. its a well established track that zig zags up a couloir to a saddle on the top of the ridge at 2800m.
https://maps.google.co.jp/maps?q=Mt.+Ko ... atake&z=15i'm not super fit, just a moderate amount of fitness. short jogs and spend up to an hour and a half walking hills in the weekend, and more time walking on the flat, i'd been sitting around for a week before i did this climb, i was huffing and puffing a bit in the thinner air and having to walk slower but other than that it wasnt a hard climb, completed in under an hour
once you're at the top of the climb theres a wide ridge you can wander around,
as a lot of places in the Japanese alps there are huts staged along the ridge tops that you can overnight in. its basic accomodation in places you can walk a whole week along the ridge lines going from hut to hut... the facilities can vary, some huts at least can provide food , you may have to book the meal or accommodation in advance, i havent looked at the details.
once on the ridge i wandered to a peak just to my east, then back and to the north over another peak then on to mt komagotake, about a 70 metre climb on each upn moderate slopes, have to boulder hop a bit on stale boulders, about an hour from the saddle to komagotake at 2950m
the views were stunning, unrestricted in all directions mountains in all directions, including the top of mt Fuji 80kms away and towns in the valleys below , .
i returned the way i came.
for september it was a lot warmer than usual... we had around ten degrees on top with a breeze but it was warm in the sun. temperatures can be around freezing at altitude at this time of year but you shouldnt have snow yet.. it is typhoon season but there is a lot of stable weather in between, there was a major tropical storm the previous day dumping 500mm of rain. but it cleared by the end of the day, it did close teh road, delaying our trip by ten hours.
i'd highly recommend the trip. it's by far one of the best places to get easy access high into the alps, there were dozens of people around though, but if you are doing an overnight trip you'll get more solitude... the Japanese arent into talking loudly as the chinese tend to do, so i didnt feel that intruded on by having other people around.
hte sun was pretty strong and i didnt take enough precautions and got a bit burned on teh side of my face because i only had a peak cap. also burnt my arms....
this is one of the better times of the year to go with the cooler stable weather, summer can be pretty hot then, and the sun would be scorching.... winter is very cold with deep snow on the ranges, this is in the nagano region, its a popular skiiing destination. they had a skiifield at 1000m and a photo of deep snow in the valley....
photos
https://picasaweb.google.com/1079507089 ... pan2900mUp
from the land of the long white clouds...