Japan for outdoorsy people

Hello Travelers,

Me and my fiancee are planning to go to Japan for our honeymoon in early May. Our plan is to stay there for 10 days(haven’t booked it yet so still flexible for up to 14 days) but not sure how to fill the days. She is a city girl who loves city vibes and I’m a gamer and anime nerd so we’re gonna chill around Tokyo for 5 days.

For the other days I want to go outside Tokyo. I am a trail runner so I’m attracted to forests, mountains, lakes and waterfalls. Are there any alpine mountains that can be hiked in no more than 6hours because my fiancee isn’t much of an outdoors person. Are there any suggestions for these kinds of places? Thank you!

22 comments
  1. [Hakone](https://www.odakyu.jp/english/passes/hakone) and region. Within 90 minutes west of west Tokyo Shinjuku. A long developed resort area for Tokyo-ites and has become popular over the years for international visitors. it is very volcanic and hot water and the Onsen culture everywhere. Honeymooners would be common here at times.

    Dozens and dozens of hotels for a variety of prices. Focused on nature.. some waterfalls.. there are many walking/ hiking trails. The big attraction is Hakone is to the east of Mt Fuji reserve and can be seen at various points along the mountain side. There is a two stage gondola, well connected transportation via a smart card and pretty easy connections via Tokyo for a 2 or even 3 night packages.

  2. I think you could have a good time finding a cable car and having your partner take the cable car to the top, enjoying a coffee at the top, and waiting for you to climb the associated trail if she is not particularly up for doing a long outdoor hike with you. I don’t really have much experience with alpine locations, but I’m thinking along the lines of the ropeways at Miyajima, Kobe, Kankakei Gorge, Beppu etc.

  3. Mount Takao could be good for you, not so far from Tokyo by public transport. There are some other cool one around Tokyo 🙂

  4. Go to Nagano, there’s tons of easily accessible mountains near there with cable-cars that get you to the alpine in minutes. Japan isn’t the greatest country for “real” backwoods exploring (eg: truly wild areas with no people), but it’s great for easily accessible trails with good infrastructure.

  5. If you take the Shinkansen to GALA/Echigo yuzawa, you can try ski or snowboard the frist week of May. And it’s also great hiking since it’s not hot out yet. I had my last snowboard lesson of the season in Kandatsu the 6th of May this year.

    The snow quality is really poor/slushy and you are skiing down in 15°C weather but I think personally it’s also the most forgiving time of the year to learn since the fall will be on slush. Also, skiing with the trees being green around the resort was completely new to me and a new neat experience I enjoyed.

  6. Check out Kamikochi. It’s in the Japanese Alps. We haven’t been there yet but are going this fall. There are day mountain hikes you could do while she relaxes at an onsen. There are also flatter, valley hikes you could do together. Shirakawago is near there and maybe could be worked in? So many Japanese visit their Alps that I’ve read that there are direct busses to Kamikochi from Tokyo, but I haven’t researched them yet.

    Other options…
    Near Osaka is Mount Koya. It’s extremely beautiful, has fantastic food, and lots of hikes (that we didn’t get to do because of rain). There are many templestays there. It’s near Osaka.

    The Miyajima suggestion is a good one, though I don’t actually recall a Cafe at the top of the cable car. The hike from peak to peak is moderately challenging (a lot down, a lot up, uneven terrain). The views from there sort of blew our minds. You could stay overnight on Miyajima, though many people day trip there from Hiroshima (and that’s what we did).

    Also agree with another comment that Hakone might be a good fit to your itinerary – we just haven’t been there yet. Based on your time in Tokyo, I think Hakone or Kamikochi might be good fits.

  7. Japan is mostly made of mountain so you will have no problem finding places to hike. I’m not familiar with the hiking close to Tokyo, so I can’t be super helpful to you. If you were in Hokkaido on the other hand, I’d have lots of great recommendations.

  8. I highly recommend [Mt. Nokogiri](https://goo.gl/maps/YMtq15xWYbY3pSg28).

    Perfectly fits your bill I think. It’s only about 2hrs from Tokyo, take the train down to Keikyu-Kurihama Station and walk over to the ferry terminal, the ferry is about a 20 min hop to the other side of Tokyo bay. The ferry ride itself is rather enjoyable, crossing one of the busiest harbor bays in the world. From there you can take the ropeway to Kenkonzan Nihon-ji Temple which has a huge stone diabutsu, a freaking fantastic apex view overlooking the bay, and giant carvings in the side of the mountain. The temple is well over 1000 years old, but despite it’s long history and incredible scenery is I think lesser known/popular because it isn’t recognized as a unesco heritage site.

    I didn’t do it myself, but you should be able to hike up as well. It’s not crazy high or anything, the peak is only about 250m but I think that’s a good middle ground for both active and non-active people. Plus you don’t want anything too extreme since you don’t want to exhaust yourself for the rest of the trip.

    Bonus: This was a decade ago when I did this but for some reason I feel like this would never change… When you take the ferry ride back, there was a vending machine on board that sold alchohol. Riding back after a hike on the top open deck of the ferry drinking a shochu highball at sunset was pretty unforgettable.

  9. Go later in the year and climb Mt. Fuji.

    Absolutely stunning sunrise and incredible views throughout the hike

  10. I would look north to the Sapporo area, it’s a quick flight from Tokyo. There is a ton of hiking to do in the north and if it’s early May you might be lucky enough to get the cherry blossoms. I went for 3 weeks in late April this year, spending one week in Sapporo and 2 weeks in the south (Tokyo to Hiroshima) and want to go back to Sapporo in early May. I was too early by a week or 2 for the cherry blossoms in Sapporo.

  11. You may want to consider Hokkaido. It’s a bit of a stretch to get to from Tokyo but very much worth it and warrants a trip of its own. It has a lot of natural spaces which are relatively untouched compared to the ones closer to major Japanese cities.

  12. In Shikoku, walk sections of the Shikoku 88. In Kyushu do Olle hikes. Visit Yakushima, amazing hikes. Visit national parks. Hokkaido has wonderful hiking options.

  13. Travelers will need to rent a car if they want to visit sweet spots that do not appear in Japan travel guidebooks.

    If you want a simplified Japanese mountain experience, we recommend Mount Daisen in Kanagawa or Mount Takao in Tokyo, but they are crowded during the day and not ideal for enjoying the Japanese scenery…

    Takao at night, the shrine near the top is lit up and there are no other people around, so you and your partner can monopolize the nice view.

    For you gamers, I recommend the industrial area of Kawasaki. You will see some of the most fantastic factory lights in the world, just like in the game and one of the most fantastic in the world.

  14. Hello fellow trail runner. If you will be going to Kyoto, at the top of Fushimi Inari comes upon a nice trail. If you have time you can do the whole thing which was ~8 miles from what I recall. We didn’t go back down the shrine but continued on to other shrines

  15. If you just want a day hike my favorite is Mt. Mitake. Unlike Takao it feels very secluded yet there’s a cable car up to it.

    Then you can hike up to thr shrine (short), and then you can run on to Mt.Odake, it’s about 6 hours at reasonable hiking pace so if you’re running it it’ll be much faster.

    Aim for Mitake (not Mitaka) station on the Ome line. Then take the bus to the cable car station (you do NOT want to walk this if you value your new marriage). Cable car up then walk through a sleepy mountain village up many stairs to the shrine. Ask at an information building for a map to Odake. Hike. Enjoy!

    Also Sake brewery with cheap pours of their amazing Sale at Sawanoi at Sawaii station on the Ome line.

    Also feel free to jump in that river at Mitake or anywhere along the river really!

  16. Go to Hokkaido! They have great national parks with good hiking! I recommend Lake Tōya specifically! When I went we canoed in the lake!

    Since you are going in early may you can also visit the Furano flower fields which are acres upon acres of lavender and other flowers!

    We were able to visit both via public transportation while situated in Sapporo, which is also a great city!

  17. We hiked the Nakasendo Trail between Magome and Tsumago – it was one of my favorite parts of the trip. A 3-4 hour, minimal elevation change hike between two gorgeously preserved Edo-era villages. So cool!

  18. Mount Tsukuba in Ibaraki is an all-year round climb. Takes four to five hours (all up) and if you’re tired by the time you get to the top you can get a cable car down.

    Nikko (Tochigi prefecture) and the surroundings are good to hike and has one of the most visually stunning temples in all of Japan.

    Gunma has several mountains and onsens as does Nagano (Karuizawa is a famous Tokyo day-trip snow resort).

    Overall, Kanto has more than enough hiking places that you shouldn’t feel the need to spend hours on a train to a different region should you desire to base yourself in Tokyo for your trip.

    Sadly, it’s a little early to hike some of the bigger mountains in Japan though since there’ll still be a lot of snow, lack of services and risk of landslides etc.

  19. Nikko (north of Tokyo) is a very nice place to visit. There’s a few huge waterfalls and plenty of smaller ones, it’s in the mountains, there’s beautiful temples as well and it’s just an all around beautiful place.

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