The View from the Top of Japan: My 2-Decade-Long Quest to Scale the Nation’s 25 Highest Peaks

By Gary J. Wolff

Japan has some of the most spectacular peaks anywhere on the planet and so it’s only natural that visitors to the country are immediately drawn to peaks like the iconic Mt. Fuji, the most visited mountain in the world; the many beautiful peaks of the Northern, Central, & Southern Japan Alps; as well as the 100 Famous Japanese Mountains spread throughout the Japanese archipelago.

Being a lifelong climber, the attraction for Japan’s breathtaking mountains was immediate for Gary J. Wolff, and so within only 4 short months of arriving in Japan over 21 years ago, he was standing atop Fuji-san, the nation’s highest peak. After becoming firmly hooked on the exhilarating 360-degree panoramas afforded by Japan’s alpine country, over the course of the next 2 decades Gary managed to climb all of the 29 highest mountains in Japan and 38 of the tallest 50.

To the greatest extent possible within the confines of an eBook, Gary has shared intimate details of his love affair with Japan’s highest mountains including pics, maps, trail descriptions, and other useful info based upon his 2-decade-long climbing experience in Japan. Not a hiking guide per se, "The View from the Top of Japan" will nonetheless whet your appetite to the point that you’ll want to hit the Japanese mountain trails immediately!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gary J. Wolff
• Release date: Sep 24, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301679430

Gary J. Wolff

Gary Joe Wolff is a Tokyo-based university professor, corporate communications consultant, actor/model, and all-round nice guy. :-) From Houston, Texas, USA, Gary earned a master's degree in civil engineering from the University of Texas and worked 12 years as a registered professional transportation engineer before moving to Tokyo in 1991.For the past 21 years, Gary has taught both undergraduate and graduate engineering and science students in the School of Science and Technology at one of Japan's oldest and most prestigious private universities.Also, since first arriving on Japanese shores, he's served as a specialist in intercultural corporate training for Japanese engineers and managers in preparation for their overseas assignments, and has taught at over 80 different companies, schools, and agencies.In his free time thru the years, Gary has enjoyed mountain climbing and has scaled all of the 25 highest mountains in Japan. He has found living in Japan to be a truly fascinating and rewarding cultural experience, and claims to still have a few more books on his mind.Stay tuned to Gary's latest updates from Japan at GaryJWolff.com !

Book preview

The View from the Top of Japan

My 2-decade-long quest to scale the nation’s 25 highest peaks

by Gary J. Wolff

Copyright 2012 Gary J. Wolff

All Rights Reserved

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only and may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Dedicated to Paul Caillet, my scoutmaster who instilled in us boys a love for the great out-of-doors, and my dear Mom who always worries herself to death whenever I go up into the alpine country, and yet always reminds me to never stop mountain climbing, as that’s what keeps you young, Gary.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 - The Highest Mountains in Japan

Chapter 2 - Mt. Fuji's Fujinomiya Trail

Chapter 3 - Mt. Kita-dake

Chapter 4 - Mt. Oku-hotaka-dake & Mt. Yari-ga-take

Chapter 5 - Mt. Ai-no-dake & Mt. Shiomi-dake

Chapter 6 - Mt. Warusawa-dake & Mt. Akaishi-dake

Chapter 7- Mt. Ontake-san

Chapter 8 - Mt. Notori-dake & the Shiranesanzan

Chapter 9 - Mt. Senjo-ga-take & Mt. Kai-koma-ga-dake

Chapter 10 - Mt. Norikura-dake

Chapter 11 - Mt. Tateyama & Mt. Tsurugi-dake

Chapter 12 - Mt. Hijiri-dake

Chapter 13 - Mt. Suisho-dake & Mt. Washiba-dake

Chapter 14 - Mt. Kiso-koma-ga-take & Mt. Utsugi-dake

Chapter 15 - Final Wrap-up

Chapter 1 - The Highest Mountains in Japan

"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

Let'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.

Being from Houston, Texas, which is very flat (we don't even have hills), I've always been fascinated by mountains. I acquired hiking fever while I was still a Boy Scout, when our scoutmaster would take us on summer camping trips to experience the gorgeous mountains in Colorado & New Mexico. But I didn't start doing serious mountain hiking until I was in college.

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

I was once asked by a friend whether my recent trip to the Japanese Alps was real climbing or just hiking. Hiking in the Japanese Alps is a real pleasure, even in the most vertical sections, as there are always plenty of ropes, chains, ladders, and even steel stairways to assist you. This is great, as it means there is no need to lug along any heavy technical gear like ropes, axes, or pitons.

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 gain well over a vertical mile (~1609m) in elevation. The awesome hiking section shown below 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 one wishes to call it climbing or hiking, you can be the judge.

Mt. Tsurugi-dake’s kani-no-tatebai

True mountaineering

I'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).

Atop Gannett Peak, the tallest peak in Wyoming

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.

Notes: (1) one meter = 3.28 feet

(2) 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.)

(3) Click here to view a continuation of the list above.

My Google map of the 25 highest mountains in Japan

In Oct. 2009 I created a customized Google map, as I thought it'd be cool to see all of the 25 highest mountains in Japan at a glance. Google Maps recently added the Google Earth feature to their maps, which offers a very impressive 3D view if you have Google Earth installed on your PC. Using GE's tilt & rotate features, you can actually fly around each of Japan's 25 highest mountains as if you were in an airplane.

For eBook formatting purposes, I’ve divided the 25 highest peaks into 2 sections, the Northern Alps and the Southern Alps, displaying a representative concentration of peaks in both mountain ranges. Of course, you can view all of Japan’s 25 highest peaks at a glance in the Google map linked