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Highest Mountains in Japan
The Highest Mountains in JapanLet's be frank....I'm obsessed with the highest mountains in Japan. During my long-term tenure in Japan, I've been blessed to have had many opportunities to pursue my favorite hobby....mountain climbing. And there is no question that I definitely succumbed to the John Denver "Rocky Mountain High" fever that was prevalent in the early 70's. That Rocky Mountain euphoria had a big influence on my choice of workplace locations through the years and, in turn, my career path as well. So ever since arriving in Japan in 1991, I've been chipping away at the list below of the highest mountains in Japan. I guess you might say I just really enjoy getting high !! 
Mountain Climbing 101
One of the beauties of living in Tokyo is that exercise is already built-in to our everyday lifestyle. You walk or bike to the train or subway station and, thru the course of a typical commute, have to negotiate FLIGHTS and FLIGHTS of stairs in the stations. And we don't "hike" stairs....we "climb" them. So even if we "hike" to the top of a peak, I would
argue it's definitely a form of climbing, especially in the many cases
where you'll
gain well over a vertical mile (~1609m) in elevation. The awesome
"hiking" section shown
above is called "kani-no-tatebai"
(Japanese for "crawling upwards like
a crab"), near
the summit of Mt. Tsurugi-dake, the 22nd highest mountain in Japan.
Whether you wish to call it
climbing or hiking, you can be the judge. "True" MountaineeringI'm certainly no technical rock climber, and have used ropes, crampons, or ice axes only a handful of times in my entire lifetime. Actually, the closest I ever came to true mountaineering was in Sept. 1979 when with friends I climbed Gannett Peak, the tallest peak in Wyoming in the spectacular Wind River Range, which contains the largest concentration of active glaciers in the American Rocky Mountains (this was my 3rd attempt at Gannett Peak). Nonetheless, Japan has some of the most spectacular peaks I've ever had the pleasure of climbing, and thru the years I've somehow managed to get atop all of the 29 highest mountains in Japan, and 38 of the tallest 50. With the exception of
Mt. Fuji (富士山),
the highest mountain in Japan, & Mt. Ontake-san (御嶽山) which are
independent peaks, all of
the
nation's
25 highest
peaks are in the Northern, Central, or Southern Japan Alps mountain
ranges, with
12 in the north, 10 in the south, and only 1 in the Central Alps.
Japan's Highest Mountains
(Note:
one
meter = 3.28 feet)
(Click on the hot-linked Japanese
mountain
names above to see
more details on those mountains, including photos, maps, and videos.) (Note: "Dake" (or "take") (岳), "san" (山), and "yama" (山) all mean "mountain" or "peak" in Japanese, and are added as a suffix to Japanese mountain names.) My Google Map of the
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| “Climb
the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into
you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own
freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop
off like autumn leaves.” --John Muir-- |
Mt.
Yakushi-dake (薬師岳), elev. 2926 m,
the 27th highest mountain in Japan
Climbing Mt. Fuji
Because it is the tallest mountain in Japan, rises up magnificently out of nowhere, and is unobscured by any surrounding foothills, on a clear day Mt. Fuji can be easily viewed from over 150 kilometers away. I can often see Mt. Fuji from my apartment building on the far east side of the Tokyo metroplex, around 120 km (~75 mi.) away.
With a near-perfect volcanic cone and snow-capped most of the year, the tallest mountain in Japan is also considered one of the world's most beautiful peaks. The attraction for me was immediate, and within only 4 short months of moving to Japan over 20 years ago, I was standing atop its summit.
Thru the years I've always gotten a good chuckle at the version of the old Japanese proverb specially modified for the benefit of foreigners: "If you come to Japan and don't climb Mt. Fuji, you're a fool; but if you climb it more than once, you're an even BIGGER fool." Cracks me up....every time.
But I guess only those who've actually climbed Mt. Fuji can truly appreciate the significance and wisdom of the old Japanese saying. To assist those who wish to avoid being a fool, I've compiled a short list of some of the more frequently asked questions (FAQ) about climbing Mt. Fuji.
The View from the Top of Japan©
Several years ago I had an opportunity to participate in an innovative project conceived by a grad student in S. Dakota that he called the 800x600 project. He solicited many interesting 8x8 photo collages from all over the world, with the requirement that each photo be sized 75x100 pixels and pertain to some common theme.
When
I first heard about this project from my sister, I immediately knew my
contribution would be about the highest mountains in Japan. The collage
below, entitled "The View from the Top
of Japan," is a scaled-down version of the one I submitted as part of
the project.
The original full-size 800x600 pic is here.
(another really cute entry in the 800x600 project is entitled "Blue Popsicle")
Oh yeah, one of the best reference sources I've found for climbing the highest mountains in Japan is Hiking in Japan
by the Lonely Planet, which was just updated in Aug. 2009.By the way, if you're in the market for any outdoor gear, including packs, tents, sleeping bags, jackets, etc., right now is a good time to save big money at some of the more popular outfitters like Altrec Outlet, where you get up to 70% off on clearance clothing and gear; Mountains Plus, where you can receive up to 30% off their Big Agnes tents; Rocky Mountain Trail, where you can save up to 70% on select apparel from Patagonia, North Face, prAna, Marmot, Columbia, and more; Moosejaw, where you can save up to 40% on The North Face discontinued styles and colors; BigSkyCountry, a 50-year-old company in Montana that doesn't charge sales tax (except in Kentucky) and offers free shipping for most orders over $45, and Eastern Mountain Sports, where you can get up to 60% off at their Outlet Store.
Mom always worries herself to death whenever I trek up into the high country, and yet she often reminds me to never stop mountain climbing, as "that's what keeps you young, Gary."
Stay tuned as I populate this section of my website over the next several months with pics, videos, route maps, elevation profiles, and more details on the highest mountains in Japan, based upon my climbing experience here over the past 2 decades. In the meantime, feel free to check out my links to other noteworthy mountain climbing sites in Japan.
And if you have any questions, comments, or stories to share, by all means please do so by using the form below. I'd be delighted to hear from you. Thanks so much for visiting!
Have a Question or Story about Climbing the Highest Mountains in Japan?
Do you have a question or story about climbing the highest mountains in Japan? Be among the first to pay it forward and share your climbing experience (along with up to 4 pics) with other visitors to this page still planning their climb!
Unlike social media sites like Facebook & Twitter where your post quickly gets pushed down off the page, your story will be given a dedicated webpage and its own URL, giving others a chance to comment (you can see similar stories submitted so far on Climbing Mt. Fuji). And feel free to link your story back to your webpage, blog, or any other page of your choosing.
What Other Climbers Have Said
Click below to see contributions from other climbers of the highest mountains in Japan...
Your site is by far the best on the internet
Hi Gary, I've just moved back to Japan after living here in '96-'98. Went back to South Carolina, USA for about the last 15 years, making return trips ...
I always use your stories, photos, and videos for hiking in Japan
Not rated yet
Hi. I am so glad to find you on Facebook. I always use your stories, photos, and videos for hiking in Japan. It's very important for me coz I started climbing ...
Japan Mountain Pages:
Climbing Mt. Fuji - FAQ
Mt. Kita-dake
Mt. Oku-hotaka-dake
& Mt. Yari-ga-take
Mt. Ai-no-dake &
Mt. Shiomi-dake
Mt. Warusawa-dake
& Mt. Akaishi-dake
Mt. Tateyama &
Mt. Tsurugi-dake
Mt. Shirouma-dake
Mt. Yakushi-dake
Mt. Kasagatake
Mt. Kashimayari-ga-dake
Mt. Suisho-dake &
Mt. Washiba-dake
Mt. Jonen-dake
Let's connect !!
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