Hiking in Japan

Hello.

We are a couple landing at Tokyo at beginning of April 2009 and intending to hike most of our 3 and a half weeks stay. We are just at the beginning of organizing the trip and I assume we will keep mostly at the south west region (due to weather). we are looking for non crowded hikes where we can avoid crowded and packed tourists buses hikes. we are not a professional hikers however we experienced a few around the world. so..

1. Are they any hikes around Chubu with alpine peaks we can take at this season

2. Is it worth going to Nansei-Shoto area?

We are not familiar with all possibilities yet and would love to get info or links to hiking sites with updated weather forecasts.

Thanks Lian.

Hiking in Japan

japantravelinfo.com/adventure/鈥?/a>

Hiking in Japan

http://japanhike.wordpress.com/

Hate to be a naysayer, but if you%26#39;re talking about the area like Northern Japan Alps, you need to risk your life more than ever. You%26#39;d be better off waiting for summer to come around. Never been to the mountains on ';Nansei Shoto,'; but that sounds a lot better for spring hike.

%26lt;%26lt;1. Are they any hikes around Chubu with alpine peaks we can take at this season%26gt;%26gt;

%26gt;%26gt;%26gt; 1. Are they any hikes around Chubu with alpine peaks we can take at this season %26lt;%26lt;%26lt;

You can find the map of mountains in Chubu as well as detailed hiking info.

japantrek.de/english/鈥hubu-frames-e.html

%26gt;%26gt;%26gt; Hate to be a naysayer, but if you%26#39;re talking about the area like Northern Japan Alps, you need to risk your life more than ever. You%26#39;d be better off waiting for summer to come around. %26lt;%26lt;%26lt;

I agree with Shot. Early April would be too early to climb unless you are professional or very experienced WINTER mountain climbers.

%26gt;%26gt;%26gt; 2. Is it worth going to Nansei-Shoto area? %26lt;%26lt;%26lt;

It鈥檚 hard to talk about Nansei-Shoto as a whole because there are so many islands there. As you know, one of the most famous islands in Nansei-Shoto (for sightseeing, not swimming) is Yakushima. See

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4650.html

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4651.html

http://www.yakushima-town.jp/English/

I was just wondering whether you have though about visiting Mt. Yoshino, which is one of the most popular cherry blossom (Sakura) spots in Japan. Early April would be a great time to visit Mt. Yoshino as there are about 30,000 cherry trees there. I know the place would be more crowded than you like, but seeing Sakura would be something you can鈥檛 experience in other countries, and highly recommended. See

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4150.html

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4151.html

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4152.html

If you%26#39;re really keen on hiking in Japan, there%26#39;s a lonely planet book called ';Hiking in Japan'; which might be quite useful for you too look at- it includes hikes all over Japan and of all levels, though many of them are multi-day hikes. I';ve done a couple of them from the book (Hokkaido region only). Plus it has information on signs and useful Japanese for hiking.

It might be worth a look to get an idea of what to expect and other areas of Japan to consider, if you%26#39;re still struggling for information.

You may want to consider ';Yaku-shima';

In the Nansei-Shoto area the obvious choice is Yakushima. The trails are well marked and in April very quiet. Lots of hiking trails, mountain huts to stay in and wild animals. See www.yakumonkey.com