A winter hike of Mt Oku-Shirane (奥白根山)

Mountain: Oku-Shirane (奥白根山), also known as Nikko-Shirane

Map sheet: 13 [Yama-to-kougen-chizu (山と高原地図) series]

If you’re looking for picturesque scenery within striking distance of Tokyo, you can hardly do better than the Nikko National Park.  It’s accessible by either the JR Line or the private Tobu Line, with Asakusa being a popular starting point in Tokyo.  The Tobu company also run the buses around the Nikko area, and you can buy special discounted passes which will cover all your travel on Tobu Line buses and trains, as well as discounted entry into some of the temples, within set periods of time… well worth doing if you’re going for a few days.

The list of things to do around Nikko is huge.  Cyclists can test themselves against the famous hairpin bends of the road up to Lake Chuzenji (中禅寺湖), runners could try the 25km circuit of Lake Chuzenji (it has a hiking trail all round it), and hikers have several big possibilities.

The hike described in this post will take you to the top of Mt Oku-Shirane, the highest mountain in the Nikko National Park at 2578m.  It’s a beautiful hike all year round, but in winter Oku-Shirane sees FAR less traffic, and commands impressive views of big snowy peaks in all directions.

Getting there:

As described above, you need to get to either the JR Nikko station or the Tobu-Nikko station.  Tobu-Nikko is just a 2-3 minute walk up the road from JR Nikko.

Outside Tobu-Nikko there is a bus stand, and you need to take a bus that goes all the way to Yumoto onsen (湯元温泉).  The journey takes about 1.5 hours there, and about 1 hour on the way back, and costs just over 1500 yen each way.

On the way the bus winds its way up the hairpin bends to Chuzenji onsen, on the shores of Lake Chuzenji.  It then continues along the north shore of the lake, past the Futara-san jinja temple, which is the start of one of the hiking routes up Mt Nantai (男体山 2484m).  At the far end of the lake, the bus turns north and drives along the edge of the Senjogahara plateau (戦場ヶ原) as far as the pretty little resort of Yumoto onsen.

Description:

From the bus station in Yumoto onsen, walk back along the main road about 100m in the direction of Yu-no-ko lake (湯ノ湖) and then turn right.  Walk up this side road for about 150m past a big hotel on your right, and you will come to the Yumoto ski resort.  

The initial part of the hike does actually involve walking up the ski pistes, keeping to the left edge, until you get to the top lift station.  It will take about 25-30 minutes to get there from the bus stop.

From the last lift station you need to strike out left up the steep and forested hillside.  At the beginning there is a brief series of zig-zags, but very soon you are just heading straight up the hillside.  

Keep going until after about an hour you reach the ridgeline at the top, where you will see a wooden sign giving directions to Mt Mae-Shirane (前白根山).  

Follow the sign, and walk along the ridge for another 30-40 minutes, and you will reach the summit of Mt Mae-Shirane.

Looking back at Mt Nantai, Senjogahara and lake Chuzenji:

From here you will catch your first views of Oku-Shirane itself. The hiking trail to the top of Oku-Shirane takes the steep snow slope on the left-hand side.  The gully that splits the centre of the face would make an excellent descent for ski tourers.

Looking down from Mae-Shirane, you will see the small and pretty lake of Goshiki-numa (五色沼), where people often camp if they are doing this as a 2-day trip.

Follow the ridge over Mae-Shirane, and down to your left.  Walk along for about half a kilometer, and you will come to a signed path that traverses off down the hillside to your right, in the direction of Oku-Shirane.  Follow it down and you will shortly come to an emergency hut.

Continue past the hut and the trail eventually strikes out up the steepening snow slope towards the top of Oku-Shirane.  Several hundred metres above, you will emerge over a lip onto a flat area, and you will see first a false summit with a small shrine on it, and then the actual summit just after it, with wooden signs on top.

False summit:

Actual summit:

Enjoy the stunning views from here, particularly over to Mt Nantai and Lake Chuzenji.

For the descent you have two choices.

1. You could continue over the top and do a loop which passes over Goshiki-yama and follows a parallel ridgeline down the other side of the ski slopes back to Yumoto onsen. However, the turn-off at Kokkyoutaira (国境平), where the descent ridge branches off to hiker's right, can be very difficult to find, and will be far less travelled in winter. There is a very real risk of missing it and continuing on in the direction of Kinseitouge (金精峠), which is taking you away from Yumoto. Do not take this way in anything less than perfect weather.

2. The recommended descent is to simply reverse the way you came up.  It is slightly shorter, and given that there is a lot of travel still to get back to Tokyo, and daylight hours are shorter in winter, this is far preferable. You should also have the advantage of being able to follow your own trace if visibility is less than perfect.

Overall:

Oku-Shirane is, for my money, one of the most beautiful mountains outside of any of Japan’s alpine ranges, and gives some of the best value in terms of views and panoramas.  In winter there will be very few people up there on the ridgeline.  

It is a long day trip from Tokyo, because of the travel involved and the length of the hike, but is well worth the effort, and if you have more time available then there can be fewer more beautiful places to spend a weekend.  The mountain fully deserves its hyakumeizan status…


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