Category
Mountain and Land
ActivitiesMountain and Land
Japan’s mountains and inland terrain hold the deepest well of outdoor activity on this site — hiking trails through century-old pilgrimage routes, cycling routes across the Japan Alps, campsites beside hot springs, and rivers still holding wild trout upstream of it all. Start with our complete guides to hiking, cycling, and camping in Japan for a full regional breakdown of where to go and when, or head straight to fly fishing if you’re chasing yamame and iwana in the headwaters. Beyond those, this section covers everything from technical rock and ice climbing to trail running and mountain biking across every region of the country, all searchable below.
Hiking
100 Famous Japanese Mountains: #56 Kita-Dake
It was my third day out in the South Alps, and I was convinced I was an “ame-onna” (rain woman) as I had been in my rain ge...
Mountain Biking
Kyushu MTB
Riverbeds, tabletop mountains, volcano rim touring—I had heard the rumors about the incredible mountain biking down in Kyushu. Th...
Camping
Protected: Bringing Van Life to Japan with Dream...
Japan is well known for its high-speed bullet trains and extremely efficient transportation schedules. But for the traveler w...
Hiking
100 Famous Japanese Mountains: #30 Ishizuchi-san...
On the ferry from Tokyo to Tokushima, a local woman told me it was a good choice to climb Ishizuchi-san, as it is the guardian an...
Rock Climbing
Rock Shots
From hand helds to hand holds, from being dangerously exposed to overexposure, good climbing photography sometimes means letting i...
Cycling
Pedaling Through the Past
Exploring new destinations by bike is a unique experience. Traveling with your bicycle, however, can be difficult, but renting is...
Trekking
Summit Day
On the scale of great enthusiasms and devotions it’s hard to think of anything physically, emotionally or symbolically grander th...
Trail Running
The Unsuspecting Trail Blazer
An interview with one of Japan's top female trail runners: Chigaya Mase “I baked these Danishes today. Please, try one,” ...