Do you love beautiful nature but wish to avoid the long, hard walk and climb?
Many of the mountains listed on ‘top 100 mountains in Japan’ are located right in centre of the main island of Japan, Honshu,
Among the 100, the one I want to recommend today for those nature lovers who are afraid of being worn out is….
Utsukushigahara Heights.
When the clouds cover the city of Matsumoto, you are still over the clouds, and what dives into your sight is the great creation by the nature, THE SEA OF CLOUDS.
It is a special phenomenon you can encounter only at the high places, like here.
The top of Utsukushigahara, called ‘Ougatou’ (=king’s head), marks 2034m/ 6673ft.
Ougatou is such a spiritual place when you see it in a distance.
Some call it a fort.
Yet, once you get to the top, it might feel like in Laputa from a Ghibli film, Castle in the Sky, because sometimes the place is suddenly hidden in the clouds (especially in summer.)
The only thing people enjoy here is nature,
No artificial sound,
No artificial piece of thing,
No artificial smell….
Just the nature as it is.
The day here starts with walking in a stunning sunrise,
it continues to the beautiful contrast between the blue and the green.
Then to the breath-taking sunset,
and ends with the starlit night.
(IT IS GREATER THAN THIS PHOTO OF MINE OF COURSE BTW)
There is a 40-minute walking course between the only 2 hotels up there: Yamamotogoya hotel and Ougatou hotel, where you can enjoy from the morning to afternoon there.
Then try 20-minute exercise to Ougahana (=King’s nose) to see the sunset. Grab a warm jacket when you go, as I guess it is one of the windiest places on the earth, without any jokes…
Are you getting interested in this place, and wondering how you can get there?
If you own a car,
just drive either to
1. Hotel Yamamotogoya, where you will have to enjoy the 40-minute walk as I mentioned above,
or to 2. Utsukushigahara Shizen Hogo Centre (Utsukushigahara nature Conservation Centre), where you will enjoy 20-minute hiking up to the top, Ougatou.
Both are free public parking.
If you don’t, you can either
rent a car and go the same route as above.
or, book a shuttle bus from Ougatou Hotel (0263-31-2751)
(note: you will have to stay at the hotel or take a taxi to go back)
or, take a taxi to Utsukushigahara Shizen Hogo Centre (Nature Conservation Centre) (about 13,000JPY /way) and hike up to the top for 20 minutes.
The driving route known as Venus Line is definitely one of the must-experience things.
Yet I rarely saw foreigners up there in a month I stayed.
If you want to be recognised as ‘Japan travel masters’,
and tell your friends the place they have never even heard of,
why don’t you choose Utsukushigahara Heights as your next destination?
tokie