When I first heard of the “Japanese Alps”, I thought its name was a cute reference to the real deal in Europe. Other than Mount Fuji, I had never heard of any serious hiking trails in Japan. Imagine my surprise, then, to be short of breath at 10,000+ feet on a quite strenuous rock scramble high above the clouds on a remote Japanese mountain top. No neon lights, no harajuke, absolute silence. The Japanese Alps are fer-real and they are quite wonderful…and challenging!

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We did a 5-day high altitude hut-to-hut trek in the North Alps in late September 2023. Our trek started at Murodo and ended at Shin-Hotaka in Chūbu-Sangaku National Park. Our route covered roughly 40 miles, with over 14,000 feet of ascent and 17,000 feet of descent over 5 days. The posts below include daily Stage details (mileage, trail conditions and photos) along with a Logistics Summary (total cost, transportation, weather, etc.). Hope this helps inspire your own hike!