Kevin’s comment mentions the 1:25000 scale maps, as well as a link to the free online versions. There’s another similar service in my links below (Electronic Maps of Japan!), and also a rather useful declination site (Magnetic Declination).

Hope that helps!

I guess Yuka’s attitude is the one to have if you’re gonna fall.

A year ago or so, I recall that you mentioned that one could buy proper maps (not the 1:50,000 scale things) in Tokyo. I cannot find that post now. I believe you said that they are available in Kinokuniya in Shinjuku, is that correct? If I remember, they are not corrected for magnetic declination.

It looks like our snow-season is winding down to an end. I figure we have another few weeks before most of the do-able lines in Yuzawa and Tanigawa-dake area melt away. So, we have been going further out lately. We did a great 1-day trip to Yarigatake via Hidasawa from Shin-Hodaka Onsen – tremendous views but a very long day. If the weather is ok, we’ll also be back during GW, to bag more lines in the Yarigatake and Hotaka region.

Vegetablej – I know what you mean. So often we think of Japanese art as being stylised representations of reality, but that’s frequently not the case. I remember being in the hot spring on the beach in Yakushima a number of years ago, watching the spray hit the rocks at sunset – exactly like a Hokusai print.

Mike – certainly, would be a pleasure to feature in your podcast!

RedYeti – thank you, as always. I’m still musing on that comment too. I just can’t shake the feeling that it might have been spam, or some clever social experiment….

Honor – plenty more to come, I assure you – thanks for reading!

Matt – ah, Shikoku is definitely on our list for this year. I’ve never been, so we’re really looking forward to it. No itinery, we’ll just hire a car and go slow like we did in Tottori last year, tick off a couple of peaks..

Clint – Myogi is pretty impressive from the highway, I’m not surprised it caught your eye. I think you’d enjoy it. Camping in Japan is a grey-area & it’s difficult to give hard advice without someone jumping in with an alternative view. For what it’s worth, my ethos is that you camp in designated areas where you can, and if you camp outside of those areas then you must a) set up camp no earlier than dusk and be gone by daybreak, and b) leave the scene immaculate. For bonus points, take a trash-bag with you and pick up the litter other people have left. With my five children in tow, there won’t be a scrap of litter left anywhere…

As always, your pictures and story make your blog an amazing visit. We had driven past this mountain a few times on the way to the Nagano area in the past year and that mountain really drew me in, reminds me of mini Tetons, so it was cool to see 2 postings about the area.

I am curious about camping in this area. Are you required to get a permit to camp in wilderness area of Japan like this or can you just pitch a tent with only consideration being towards nature?

I also hope you would at least consider giving back by raising at least 5 children before you enter your geriatric years. I think that would be a fair trade for the joy that you wrestle from the grip of Japan.