10 BEAUTIFUL Day Hikes in Japan

[@RoyandAimee]

Well there was some disagreement when ranking these hikes 😅 But in the end... our tier list didn't look too bad. All of the hikes in this video and more are in the playlist below! Are there any you would add, and if so, what ranking would you give it? kzbin.info/aero/PLl9xWcj_kAbGhQ21LPgt4snK28z_ED1e7&si=1NiUqDvRJCFyzCUX

[@marifujisawa2942]

Hello guys, just to let you know that I’ve recently subscribed as I found your videos very interesting and reliable. Me and hubby are seniors but amateurs in hiking as we on,y started hiking like 5 years ago. We’ve don’t a ,or of hikes mentioned in the video except for like the one in Tottori, Mt. Daisen, Tanigawa and where the onsen is, Mt. Hosawa(?)…now. For my question.. where do you usually book for the night when you stay over? Any places you could recommend? I’m looking at Mt. Daisen in Tottori and Tanigawa! Thanks ❤🎉❤🎉❤🎉❤

[@RoyandAimee]

@@marifujisawa2942 Hello! Thanks so much for subscribing ❤ It's lovely to hear from others who also enjoy hiking! For us, we have our own campervan so we usually stay overnight in that when we go hiking. But for some recommendations, near Mt. Tanigawa is the Minakami area where there's quite a few hotels. If you wanted to pair the hike with a stay in a Japanese inn with onsen, we've stayed at both Ryuudo onsen and Takaragawa Onsen and can highly recommend those. As they're a bit further up the valley though, a car would be better to reach them. For Mt. Daisen, we don't have any specific recommendations but the most convenient location would be to stay in the area near Daisenji Temple. Hope that helps! 😊

[@marifujisawa2942]

@@RoyandAimee thanks! Huge help indeed! You guys take care. I love your blogs it’s so natural and resonates honesty without sounding cheeky at all. So many out there seem to be! Best regards!

[@RoyandAimee]

@@marifujisawa2942 No worries! And thank you so much for such a lovely comment 😊 It makes our day to hear you're enjoying our videos. Take care!

[@pdxxx97266]

I actually like the disagreements and appreciate the different perspective from more than one person!👍

[@mymemoriesofgoldenricefiel6472]

It makes me happy to think that there are foreigners who love Japan like you do. Recently, a foreigner called Thomas Lockly did something very serious and quickly became a famous foreigner in Japan, and Japanese people reacted to his many comments about Japan and wrote two songs called Yasuke isn't to blame and The sin of Thomas Lockly. So when I see someone like you who loves Japan, I feel relieved from the bottom of my heart. I feel relieved and moved from the bottom of my heart when I see someone like you who loves Japan.

[@nowgaku]

Indeed, experience Japan in its true essence.

[@teneileharris2650]

Thank you. I have been googling day hikes in Japan and studying best transport option for our trip late July. This is awesome.

[@RoyandAimee]

Glad it was helpful! Do just let us know if you have any questions for your trip 😊

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

I recently walked to Happo Ike and then flew down right from Happo Ike on my paraglider, I love the place!

[@RoyandAimee]

Waah that's so cool! When we were there hiking, we saw quite a lot of paragliders and thought wow we want to try that one day. Do you have your own that you brought with you?

[@Japan_Changed_My_Life]

I hiked up Mt. Jinba in 2003 in winter... in the snow! It was quite an experience at the top during that season as the view was very bright white and snowy. It was kinda fun sliding down on my butt on the way down though.

[@RoyandAimee]

Nice! It's awesome to think that Jinba (so close to Tokyo) gets enough snow. I wonder if there were many other people doing the hike as well?

[@tanyatokyo]

This is actually so helpful! Hope I can do some of the S or A rank hikes this year 🙂 they look amazing, need to check out your detailed videos. I was curious about your ranking of Asahidake, I felt the views are definitely S tier but I struggled sooo hard during that hike lool definitely a challenge if your fitness level is below average

[@RoyandAimee]

Yay! I'm glad you found it helpful! I hope you can get out and enjoy some of these top tier hikes (honestly even the lower tiers ones are great) And I'm so glad it wasn't just us thinking Asahidake was a hard slog. Like, I'd like to think our fitness levels are at least just average, but mannnnn it killed us hahaha.

[@GhieJam07]

Great video GOD BLESS you guys

[@dawnlinus]

Really nice video, thanks for uploading!

[@RoyandAimee]

Thank you for watching! 😊

[@shirankedo-ib8uv]

Many tourists climb Mt. Fuji, but we don't recommend it. Mt. Fuji is an isolated peak with no mountains to block the wind, resulting in constant strong winds and a desolate landscape with no flowers. Japanese ppl climb Mount Fuji as a pilgrimage to pray closest to the SUN GOD.

[@Serjoscha90]

You should climb the last part at night and see the sunrise from the top. Its magical.

[@shirankedo-ib8uv]

@@Serjoscha90 I can meet the Sun God at Ise, so I'd rather go to Oze than climb Mt. Fuji.

[@fukunaga-kane]

And there is no nature when climbing. Its pretty boring view unless you climb from the bottom.

[@shirankedo-ib8uv]

Yeah, Japanese should teach that "Mt. Fuji's strong winds&rocky terrain. There're many other beautiful mountains." Last year, nearly 100 ppl got lost on Fuji, with many dying from freezing or falling rocks. @@fukunaga-kane

[@chrissycox7166]

Thank you for the video and insights! I’ll be visiting in November and I’ll do more research on how the weather might change some of what I wanna do in terms of hike but this is a great start. Thank you!!!

[@RoyandAimee]

Thank you so much for watching & the lovely comment 😁 Great idea keeping on top of the weather conditions for hiking - I hope the weather pulls through for your trip in November and you can enjoy lots of lovely hikes & spectacular views!

[@SamawiIsmail]

Thanks Roy and Aimee. Your video helped me a lot. I just got back from Japan for 8-day trip. Did hiking at 3 places (2 from your video which were Nakasendo trail and Happo Ike). The views were insanely beautiful and breathtaking. However, just because of the thick clouds at Happo Ike, I could not see the mountains. The other place was Kamikochi, which for me personally, was magnificent!

[@RoyandAimee]

Thanks so much for your comment! It’s wonderful to hear from others after they’ve done the hikes. That’s a shame about the thick clouds but really glad you enjoyed Kamikōchi! It’s a beautiful spot, isn’t it 😍 We would have loved to include it in this video but unfortunately we didn’t film the couple of times we visited.

[@SamawiIsmail]

@@RoyandAimee Yes. Kamikōchi was magnificent. I was like 'Is this real in Japan?' The weather was nice and I could see the mountains clearly. I still managed to do a day trail hike even though the area was crowded. But it was unfortunate for me as I was stuck in a bus for almost 4 hours because of the car accident in Shinshimashima while I was traveling back to Nagano.

[@-ukiha-]

I just found your channel and not only is your videography absolutely beautiful, the sweet, cozy vibe y'all have is just so relaxing and fun to watch :) Will definitely be checking these places out!

[@RoyandAimee]

Aw thank you so much for such a lovely comment. That’s really made our day! ❤️ Hope you’re able to make it to some of these spots!

[@boxeopremier]

Thank you, i´m looking for this type of information lately and i was interested in the nakasendo but a little dissapointed is not so close to the places i was planning to visit, but now i know its worth it and i will go.

[@RoyandAimee]

It's definitely worth it! The surrounding area of Kiso is absolutely gorgeous, so if you wanted to chain the Nakasendo hike together with some sightseeing in the general area, I'd definitely recommend it.

[@pdxxx97266]

Thanks for the video! Definitely will check out a couple of them on my coming trip! (First time to Japan)👍

[@RoyandAimee]

Thanks for watching! That's really exciting that your first trip to Japan is coming up. What time of year will you be visiting?

[@phillydisc9708]

I'm going to be visiting the Hokkaido to Tohoku regions on my trip in September, so I hope to get in at least one or two day hikes. Thanks for the video! I'll have to see if any of these hikes are within my route. For sure Asahidake is on my list of things to do in Hokkaido

[@RoyandAimee]

That's awesome! We did a month-long trip in Hokkaido in September a few years back and it was one of the best trips we've done. Hope you also have a fantastic time! Unfortunately, we didn't cover Tohoku or Hokkaido much in this video. Some other places we really enjoyed in Hokkaido though for nature and hiking were Shiretoko National Park and Akan-Mashu National Park. In Tohoku, Oirase Gorge is lovely, as well as some of the mountains in Yamagata like Mt. Zao, Mt. Gassan and Yamadera Temple. But anywhere you travel, you'll definitely have a great time!

[@EresTremulent]

I can also recommend Mt Onoyama, starting from Yaga station. Very easy to access from Shinjuku via the Odakyu line. Absolutely incredible views of Mt Fuji.

[@RoyandAimee]

Thanks for leaving your recommendation! Absolutely love a hike with great views of Mt. Fuji 😍

[@sarahhdg8280]

Thank you very much ! This will come handy 😁

[@Paulthecelt]

Thanks for the video, gave me a few chuckles too.

[@RoyandAimee]

Haha glad to hear it. Thank you for watching!

[@steffe2444]

You two are so cute! ❤ I’m not an avid hiker but this makes me want to try one of the hikes during my visit next year.

[@RoyandAimee]

Aw thank you for the lovely comment! Glad we could convince you to maybe do one of these 😝 Some are not too long at all but with really rewarding views.

[@gotakazawa408]

As a Japanese resident living about 30 minutes by car from Magome-juku, I found your video very enjoyable. (I've also watched your video on Nakasendo.) In fact, I visit there several times a month, and I notice that many tourists from Western countries enjoy hiking the trail. On the other hand, many tourists from Asia take photos at the observation deck and then leave. Haha. Either way, I meet a lot of foreign tourists. I've spoken with dozens of Western tourists at Magome-juku, and Australians seem to be the most common. I also upload short videos as mementos on my channel.

[@RoyandAimee]

Thank you so much - I'm glad you enjoyed the videos! 😊 Yes the Nakasendo is truly an amazing place - we noticed the same thing you mentioned. Perhaps 90% of the people on the trail were foreign tourists, and it's great to see so many people getting out and enjoying the nature! We'll have to check out your short videos!

[@dwalker6868]

Thank you for sharing the information and I plan on visiting this year in September October not a real hiker as far as quick, nice and slow laugh out loud

[@RoyandAimee]

You're welcome! Thank you so much for watching & commenting, hope you have a fantastic trip!

[@anjerowalker9566]

Mt. Shibutsu is a great hike, in the Oze National Park.

[@RoyandAimee]

That's good to know! Oze National Park is still on our list of places to get to.

[@fukunaga-kane]

While Kiso-Komagatake is recommended here for a day hike, a 4-hour Shinkansen ride is awfully long by Shinkansen standards. Staying in Komagane City for a night would be a more preferable option if you're looking for a leisurely experience. And if I'm not mistaken, there’s also a bus ride with long intervals (I got there by car, so my info might differ if you’re arriving by train) before you can ride the ropeway, so you might rush a bit if you embark from Tokyo.

[@RoyandAimee]

Yes certainly wouldn't recommend doing Kiso-Komagatake in a day from Tokyo! The video shows hikes that can be done in a day but not necessarily hikes that can be done as day trips from Tokyo. Most of them in fact would be better if you stayed nearby the trailhead for at least one night 😊 Did you enjoy the Kiso-Komagatake hike?

[@fukunaga-kane]

@@RoyandAimee Yes! The beginning is quite rough but it was worth it!

[@morgwn2377]

Thank you 🙂

[@RoyandAimee]

You're welcome! Thank you for watching 😊

[@Rainyyvlogs]

I was waiting for hikes from Aso Kumamoto, Mt. Yufu and Kamikochi :(

[@RoyandAimee]

Ooh that’s fair, these are great spots! We’ve been to these ones but didn’t spend enough time or get enough footage to really do them justice in this video. Hopefully we can visit again and share them in a future video 😊

[@clownearound5751]

Hi guys I trust you’re both well? The sofa looks to be a great addition to your new home. I really enjoyed this video, hope it inspires others that do visit to explore a little further a field from the cities and I also realised that I’d missed a couple so will be great to go back a catch up on those. The Nakasendo Trail is a walk that would be a ‘must do’ for me, again to agree with Roy, this is Japan in so many ways, especially from the historical perspective. That was the one I thought you’d both agree on and put it at the top. Had to laugh at the ‘yes dear’ moment too, so true lol 😂 I believe the saying is happy wife, happy life lol 😂 Out of interest how long is your rainy season and is there a big difference between areas? Our ‘summer’ has been very mixed so far this year, the last couple were ridiculously dry and hot so it’s been a bit more pleasant for me personally in England/UK. Thank you as always for sharing your experiences and insights with everyone, best wishes to the two of you and have a great weekend. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇦🇺🇯🇵😊

[@RoyandAimee]

Hello! Yes the Nakasendo Trail was an easy one to put at the top... and one of the few we agreed on 😂 Roy was very kind to go with my ranking for Tsugaike haha 😆 Much like you summer in the UK, rainy season varies a bit year to year. It's usually a few weeks to a month around June to mid-July. Down south in Okinawa and Kyushu it starts earlier and then up north in Hokkiado they don't really have a rainy season at all. It sounds like you're having a nice summer so far over there! Thank you as always for watching and hope you have a lovely weekend! 😁🍃

[@clownearound5751]

@@RoyandAimee hi guys, thank you for the great reply and also for the information on the rainy season. The summer has been cooler this year, which is much more to my liking, we’ve seen quite a few breezy days with sunshine so a nice mix. Thank you, I’m having a relaxing weekend after having a couple of quite busy weeks. Have a great weekend too 😊

[@angelaandglenn3573]

Hello again fellow Aussies. Once again another great video, always love your content and style. We have booked a Japan Campers van for October and November and are really looking foward to our trip. We had planned to do 3 hikes that were in in your list (as well as a lot of others ) and were pleased to see they ended being in your top 3 rankings 😊 WRT to our upcoming trip. I do have a question. We want to heabily utilise cheap Onsens for bathing. Is there an android app that is pretty comprehensive of where and how much they are, or even a public google map with onsens as POIs? Thanks

[@RoyandAimee]

Hello again Angela & Glenn! 🤗 Oooooh I'm so excited for you guys. Oct/Nov is just around the corner, you're going to have an absolute blast (and hopefully the Autumn leaves can put on a show!) I'm super interested to know which hikes that you've got planned that weren't on this list, please do share! So regards to Onsens, over the years we've tried different apps on the App Store/Play Store, however from our experience, nothing does better than good old Google Maps. The dedicated "Onsen" apps often have their information slowly get out of date. We've found Google Maps lists more facilities, with more up to date information, and there's usually plenty of Japanese commenters posting good tid-bits of information. You can make use of the auto comment-translation feature and find out things like price, parking facilities, busy times etc. If you're looking for cheap, I recommend using the search terms "Public bath", "Super public bath", or in Japanese "銭湯", "スーパー銭湯". Sento are great for us campervanners because it's cheaper than Onsen, maybe up to about half, which over a long trip really adds up - they're just slightly less bougee. However sometimes the town you're in might only have dedicated onsens and/or daytrip onsen/spa within hotels, so a lot of the time the area you're in might end up deciding where you can go. By that mark, I'd search the town I'm in for "Sento" first, and if there's nothing, change the search to "Onsen" and go for the nicest looking one at the best price point. ~750yen for a visit is looking pretty good, anything over ~1000yen and you're in for a more "boogee" experience. Hope this helps! If you have any other questions, we're happy to answer & our DM's are open on Instagram too :)

[@chudtopiagd]

Are there any you would avoid in winter

[@RoyandAimee]

Hey there! Out of all of these hikes we'd recommend avoiding Mt Tanigawa, Happo Ike, Tsugaike, Kiso-Komagatake, Asahidake, and Mt Daisen. Some of these certainly can be done in winter by those who have deep experience in winter hiking (certainly not us!) and appropriate gear, and of course doing so is at their own risk. Another reason is also because some of these also turn into Ski Resorts during the winter so not so good for hiking.

[@johnacharice]

Thank you for a beautiful video! Enjoyed this so much! You two are incredible! Just wanted to know when is the best time months wise, to hike these trails?

[@RoyandAimee]

Thank you for such a kind comment! A lot of the hikes will only be accessible to experienced winter climbers during the colder months due to snow. So the best time is around June to October. In summer you'll have lovely vibrant green views and then nice fall foilage from around the start of October.

[@SMARTYN89]

Very honest and helpful video, thank you! Question, I see that you have done most of your central Japan hikes (Mt. Tanigawa e.g. Mt. Kiso-Komagatake) in Autumn (let's say end of Aug to early Dec). Is this because you love the Autumn colours, or is it to avoid snow in Spring? We are plannign to visit Japan either May (after Golden Week), or Oct-Nov, and I'm now curious if those hikes are less likely in May. We don't like hiking in snow with Crampons!

[@RoyandAimee]

Hi there! Thanks so much for watching! A good amount of the hikes were done July through October. Mt. Kiso-Komagatake was the start of July, Mt. Tanigawa - September, Happo-ike and Tsugaike - the start of October. But yes you guessed right! It's mainly to avoid the snow in spring. After Golden Week though, you should be okay to hike mountains up to 2,000m without crampons. Mt. Daisen was done during Golden Week and the hike in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bYrTin2va5ihaNEsi=PLr7MhyYlwQDK30o was also at the start of May of a ~2,000m mountain. For a lot of the hikes featured in this video, November will be too late with the first snow starting. Hope that helps!

[@SMARTYN89]

@@RoyandAimee Very helpful thank you!

[@israelcunningham9141]

Great video, thanks for sharing. Only thing is how packed those hikes are. Holy moly there are a lot of people. That kind of kills the nature vibe a bit. But really, thanks for sharing your top list.

[@RoyandAimee]

Yeah so true. That's why we super recommend going on a weekday if possible. We did all these hikes on the weekend with all the other workers also trying to make the most of their weekend 😅

[@israelcunningham9141]

@@RoyandAimee noted, good advice for us on vacation and are more open on the weekdays.

[@robertrollins9068]

I'm a trail runner but haven't ran many mountains, do you have clothing recommendations for a late November run?

[@RoyandAimee]

In late November, quite a few of these mountains - Mt. Kiso-Komagatake, Tsugaike Nature Garden, Happo-ike, Mt. Asahidake, Mt. Tanigawa - will have snow on them already. Some of the lower ones like Mt. Oyama and Mt. Jinba won't have snow but will probably be getting down to 5 - 10 degrees celcius during the day. We really can't comment on trail running as we've never done that before 😅 But if hiking them at that time, we'd usually have layers - a t-shirt, fleece and then larger jacket for near the summit.

[@magicmic04]

Hi guys great video! Looking to hike at least one of these trails. Are there any rules on flying drones?

[@RoyandAimee]

Hi hi! The main rules in Japan are that if your drone is over 100g, you need to register it, which you can do online. Also you can't fly it in some areas like near airports, big cities or 150m above the ground. Otherwise, we generally just move away from the main crowd to a quiet area to take off and we've never had any issues. This is the website with details on registering: www.mlit.go.jp/en/koku/uas.html

[@magicmic04]

@@RoyandAimee thank you so much!

[@leonardmulrooney3806]

What does “3 hours return mean?” Does that mean round-trip? American asking.

[@RoyandAimee]

Yes! It means round-trip 😊

[@leonardmulrooney3806]

@@RoyandAimee Thanks. I enjoyed your video!

[@deanzaZZR]

Nothing in Tohoku? Consider hitting up Quinlan in Morioka (Go North Japan).

[@RoyandAimee]

No unfortunately we haven't done much hiking up that way. We did hike one time with Quinlan though, which was great! We did Mt. Moriyoshi in this vid: kzbin.info/www/bejne/boGagquajb9mrq8 We just didn't include it in this list as we thought info on non-winter hikes might generally be more helpful.

[@deanzaZZR]

@@RoyandAimee Right, I remember that colab now. Here's a curve ball, have you two ever been out to Hachijojima Island? There's nature and hiking, fresh seafood and hot springs about 30 minutes by plane from Haneda.

[@RoyandAimee]

No we haven't! Always been really interested in making a trip to the Izu islands though. Have you been to Hachijojima Island? It looks and sounds beautiful!

[@deanzaZZR]

@@RoyandAimee Several times. It's crazy how few Tokyoites find there way there. I think you two would love it.

[@RoyandAimee]

Yeah honestly we didn't realise it was just a quick flight from Haneda, that's really helpful to know! Especially as Roy usually gets quite motion sick on boats. Thanks for the recommendation!

[@Libertybell-z8x]

機会がありましたら是非とも上高地や国宝松本城🏯に来てください😊✋ 絶景と清流に癒され楽しんで頂けましたら幸いです😌✌️ 信州そば、焼きたての五平餅、おやき、山賊焼き、ワサビなど郷土食も味わって頂きたいです😁

[@RoyandAimee]

色々な場所や食べ物を紹介してくれて、ありがとうございます！長野県にはもっと旅行したいです🤩

[@ObeluStrawberry]

i am going to japan this coming november, are these hike suitable for november like is it too cold too windy thanks.

[@RoyandAimee]

Hi there! The ones near Tokyo - Mt. Jinba and Mt. Oyama will be okay as well as the Nakasendo trail. For the rest, they’ll be seeing snow from around mid-October onwards so not really suitable for hiking anymore. If you’re coming in very early November, the gondolas for Happo-ike are usually still going until Nov 4th.

[@lacardwell]

I'll be there in November too. Gotta stay at lower elevations or bring all my snow hiking crap which is heavy.

[@marifujisawa2942]

What are the initials mentioned? Can’t catch them😮

[@RoyandAimee]

Hello! Do you mean the letters on the ranking list? Honestly I don't know if they have a meaning 😅 Except for maybe 's' meaning 'superior'. Otherwise, it's just a scale people often use on KZbin etc. to rank things 😊

[@marifujisawa2942]

@@RoyandAimee 😂thanks!

[@LakshyaArya-d8q]

Bro you want to stay cheap in Tokyo , go to a manga cafe and book a reservation for 10 hours at night , they’ll give you a free shower pass and free drinks all night along with free manga and that to on a bed

[@しょん-r2k]

いいところ　しってる。　たのしみ　かた　しってる。

[@ScoobertDoobertBurrito]

I feel like the dude doesn’t actually like hiking.

[@RoyandAimee]

Aimee’s the hardcore mountain goat, and I just come along for the ride 😅 But at the end of the day it’s a great adventure and very rewarding! Hiking and I have a complicated relationship 😂