Customer Reviews

Lonely Planet Hiking in Japan (Walking)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

And that is descriptions of longer treks.
There are a few described as 4-8 days long in this book, but when walking I found that that would have been at a snail's pace and the times given had to be halved. Even a quick look at the regional maps will confirm that all hikes described only cover relatively small areas.
So those planning a longer trek through the backcountry of Japan might be disappointed (I was, anyway), but I understand we are just the minority...
On the other hand, those looking for advice on a variety of short hikes in national parks or near the major cities will find lots of good ideas, and practical details that tend to be amazingly correct by guidebook standards!
Don't worry too much about the book being a few years old - Japan is such a stable country that much of the information remains as valid as ever.

Another specialized book from the Lonely Planet team, this one catering to those who like to take exercise with their nature. Japan is heavily populated, and the megalopolis called Tokyo is easily the world's biggest, but nearly all the people live on the coastal plain of the Pacific coast, leaving the rest of this mountainous country open for the adventurous hiker.
The book follows the usual Lonely Planet formula with the first pages devoted to the geography, history, climate, flora and fauna as well as social and religious areas of Japanese life.
The second section deals with specific information for the hiker, including suggested itineraries, weather information, safety while hiking and, usefully, pre-departure planning. This last section tells us to have health insurance and know something about First Aid; good advice for those who haven't thought of such things.
The hikes suggested in the book, and there are over a hundred, cover the length and breadth of Japan, are classified into five levels from easy to hard, and are divided up into day-long walks.
The maps in the book show a marked improvement over earlier Lonely Planet publications, early editions of which often had no scale or compass point! "Hiking in Japan" on the other hand contains maps that are very difficult to obtain even in Japan itself.
For those who speak no Japanese, there is the glossary of everyday language at the back of the book, and, perhaps even more essential, a transliteration of the Japanese character place-names into the roman alphabet.
Recommended.

This is a really good guide to the mountains of Japan, both informative and inspirational. All too often, walking guides focus on the easiest routes to tick off an artificial list of peaks (just about every Japanese-language guide fits this description), but instead the authors have produced a wide range of easy to fairly challenging walks in the most attractive settings around the country which should suit just about everyone. Ok, the suggested itineraries will not stretch the fittest (especially for hut-dwellers who are not carrying tents) but there is plenty of info to enable you to modify the plans to suit yourselves. For the routes that we have followed precisely, we have found the information to be very accurate and up-to-date, and they have all been memorable walks.

This book has significantly enhanced our time in Japan and I highly recommend it to anyone who is itching to get out of the cities but doesn't quite know where to go.

I found that you really don't have much of a choice if you are going to Japan and are interested in recent comprehensive English hiking guides. There is a lot of information once you get to Japan on day hikes available from the tourist information places in each town. I found that for a survey trip, this book was just extra weight in my pack. (I ended up using this book thrice for 1-2 days trips on a 3 week trip to Japan, and that was pushing it.)

I did read it and looked at the pretty pictures to get an idea of where to go during my Japan trip planning phase. It is useful to the person focused on hiking around Japan. This may seem obvious, but it's basically a trail guide. It gives great information (including translations of hiking signs) that isn't found in other more general guide books. It tells you how to get to a trailhead, and where to go once you get there, and has some sections on floura, etc. native to Japan.

Although they are great (just because they exist), I found the trail maps lacking at times, especially (and surprisingly) for the everybody-does-it Mt Fuji trek.

Good reading if you're thinking about multi-day treks. Otherwise, skip it for a more general (regular Lonely Planet) guide since it will just weigh down your pack.

I have to comment on this book because it's not reliable anymore.

I enjoyed the array of hikes that the editors chose, but it looks like they just translated some out of date Japanese books. Some of the trails in this book have been long closed and you will find yourself confused at night in the mountains if you attempt them. For example, the suggested descent from Aka-dake hasn't been maintained since an earthquake at least five years ago.

On the other hand, the book covers a fantastic variety of paths and makes it easy to find what you want. If you want to try a hike in this book, make certain you get current info on the state of the path as well as lodging along the way. This means call yourself, and ask specific questions.

But really, you're better off just getting a good Japanese book.

I was looking forward to the updated edition for some time but when I picked it up today I was very disappointed to see that very little was changed from the last edition. Most troubling was that information which was long out of date was still included in the guide. For example, the Kumotori hike which is described in the Tokyo section recommends taking a cable car up to the starting point for the hike. Unfortunately, the cable car stopped running several years ago and so anyone following this guide book will have a much longer hike on their hands than the one they may have planned (an extra 800 meters of climbing to get where the actual hike in the guide book begins). It is a useful book for those new to Japan but I am very disappointed that LP did not make the effort to make sure the information in this new edition was still accurate.

If you don't speak Japanese this is a pretty good starting point to identify interesting hikes in Japan. I wouldn't say that all the facts in the book are accurate. Many other reviewers have commented on this. Still without this book I wouldn't be able to know where I would do the hike. I've done three hikes using the book and the information has been accurate for me.

Some information is easy to double check. However, Japan Rail has an excellent website in English giving all the train schedules you need. You must also omplement with the 1:50,000 hiking maps. These are only availabe in Japanese but shouldn't create a problem as long as you are proficient with maps. You can buy them on amazon's Japanese site through the Enlish interface, but it is a bit hard to know which maps you need, but it certainly is possible even if you don't speak any Japanese. When you have the maps you will see the whole system of trails so you might decide to change the route. The maps come in a new edition every year so they will be fully updated.

This guide is unfortunately exactly average for a hiking guide.

The hike descriptions often only have one sentence discussing why you would choose a particular hike. You can read through the trail descriptions and front highlights to find more hints, this is often limited to quick phrases: "great ridge views". And, only a small percentage of the hikes have any photographs. If you don't know which hikes to choose, this book is unlikely to be much assistance. (IHMO "Don't Waste Your Time in the Canadian Rockies" is a good example of the right way to do it.)

When it comes to the technical hike details, the description of how to get to the trail and hike seems acceptable, however the maps are generally quite small and missing elevation lines, making them nearly useless for all but travel planning. And, the trail descriptions lack the detail that one would expect from say a Cicerone guide. (Cicerone's excellent trail descriptions almost make up for their typically not describing which hikes to choose.)

I cannot recommend this book enough. It IS the definitive English bible for hiking in Japan. The beauty is that you will find some places that even some avid Japanese hikers have not been to. Using the trails in the book to identify other lesser known trails and routes in the area was also phenomenal!

Only a few pictures, and the maps are very basic. You're really going to need to buy hiking maps at any book store once you arrive in Japan (maps aren't carried in most outdoors stores). I could wish for a few more stories or ratings on which mountains are the best and must be hiked, but the book is useful.