Kamikochi to Karasawa

The route

Kamikochi is a high valley in Chūbu Sangaku National Park, about 1,500 m up, where the Azusa River runs flat and wide below the Hotaka peaks. Private cars are not allowed in: you arrive by bus or taxi, and from the bus terminal everything is on foot. Walter Weston, the English Anglican missionary whose 1896 book introduced climbing in the Japanese Alps to Western readers, made his name here, and Kamikochi still holds a Weston Festival each year.

The route to Karasawa follows the river upstream on its east bank. Myojin comes after about an hour, Tokusawa after two, and Yokoo after three. Tokusawa’s meadow was once grazing land, and it is linked with Inoue Yasushi’s mountaineering novel Hyōheki, The Ice Wall. At Yokoo the valley route ends. A suspension bridge takes you over the river and into the side valley that leads, past Hontani Bridge, up to Karasawa.

On Nagano’s route table Karasawa is only 746 m higher than Kamikochi, yet the round trip climbs 1,170 m, because the path rises and falls on the way. Nearly all the real height comes after Yokoo.

What the walking is like

The first hours are easy. Out of the bus terminal and past Kappa-bashi, the path goes into woodland beside the river, broad and gentle underfoot, with openings onto gravel bars and clear water. On a fine morning high rock faces show above the trees. In low cloud the same stretch feels enclosed by woodland. Walkers say the gentle gradient tempts you to go too fast here, and that it pays to keep something back for later.

At Tokusawa the forest opens into a grassy clearing with lodges and tents, green in summer and turning colour in autumn. Beyond it the valley is still nearly level, but the scale grows: rock walls loom larger ahead, and the path alternates firm earth, gravel and the odd rocky patch. You know Yokoo by its suspension bridge, its hut and the walkers resting outside it.

Across the bridge the walk changes character. The side valley narrows, and the tall rock wall of Byōbu-iwa rises above the trail and blocks the wider view. The ground turns rocky, slippery when wet. At Hontani Bridge the noise of the stream marks the last easy moment. After it the climb is sustained: big steps, uneven stones and loose rubble, each footfall placed with care. Slowly the trees thin, the slope opens and turns to boulders, and the bowl of the cirque appears above you.

Karasawa itself is a wide, stony basin. A fork near the top leads to the two huts, and the tents stand on the rocky floor below the peaks. The huts ask you to arrive by about three in the afternoon, which leaves the rest of the day to sit and look. In late September and early October the dwarf shrubs and mountain ash on the slopes turn red and gold against the grey rock; the timing shifts from year to year.

The cirque faces the wrong way to see the sun come up, but early light strikes the high walls of Okuhotaka and Karasawa-dake while the floor is still in shade. After dark, on a busy night, the lit tents scatter small points of light across the basin.

The way back starts with the hardest part: the steep, stony descent to Hontani Bridge and Yokoo, on legs that climbed it the day before. Wet or frozen rock makes it slower still. Below Yokoo the walk eases into the long valley path, but the last 10 km still take around three hours.

The stages

There is no official stage plan, so these are two common ways to split the walk, built from Nagano’s whole-route figures and the huts’ own timings. Choose one; do not add the two together. Stage distances are approximate, and the times are for walking only.

Places on the way

Four stops mark the changes in the walk: the bridge where it begins, the meadow halfway up the valley, the junction where the climb starts, and the cirque at the top.

Kappa-bashi and the Azusa River

The footbridge just beyond the bus terminal, with the Hotaka peaks framed upstream. It is the first view of where you are heading, and the last landmark on the way home.

Tokusawa

A meadow, once grazing land, about two hours up the valley, with lodges and a campsite under the trees. Tokusawaen is the hut here; it asks guests to arrive by 16:00.

Yokoo

Where the valley ends and the climb begins: a hut, a rest area, a campsite and the suspension bridge to the Karasawa path. It is a good first night on a three-day plan, and the obvious place to turn back.

Karasawa

Two huts, Karasawa Hutte and Karasawagoya, run separately with their own bookings, and a designated campsite on the stony floor between them. The campsite has room for about 400 tents.

Planning the walk

When should I walk it?

Between late July and early October, when the hut association says the path is usually clear of snow. Neither end of that window is guaranteed, so read the huts’ condition reports before you go. Autumn colour comes at the end of September and the start of October, and the huts are busiest then. Kamikochi itself is open from mid-April to mid-November (17 April to 15 November in 2026), but the valley being open does not mean the path to Karasawa is free of snow. By 1 November 2026 the Karasawa Hutte was reporting ice on the path down and temperatures below freezing at night. For the seasons across Japan, see the best time to visit Japan.

Do I need to book, or get a permit?

We found no permit or fee for the walk itself, but you do need two things. The first is a booked bed: the Karasawa huts require a reservation. The second is a mountain route plan, which Nagano Prefecture asks walkers to submit for its designated mountain routes, and which helps rescuers find an overdue party. In autumn 2026 Nagano also ran a temporary check at Yokoo on walkers’ preparation for the trail, from 5 September to 25 October; expect something similar in the busy season. Camping is allowed only in the designated sites at Tokusawa, Yokoo and Karasawa.

Can I walk it on my own, or should I go with a guide?

Experienced walkers can do the standard route on their own in the snow-free season. The path is well used and the huts and the official sites give everything you need. But Nagano’s technical grade B assumes you can find your way and move surely on rocky mountain paths, so this is not a sightseeing trail beyond Yokoo. A qualified guide is worth considering if there is snow about, or if you have not walked in high mountains before.

Where do I sleep, and what about food and water?

In a booked hut, or in a designated campsite. The huts serve the meals you book, but do not count on a hot meal at any hour if you are only passing. Carry water and food for each day, and do not drink untreated stream water. The Karasawa Hutte supplies drinking water, but Karasawagoya reported water shortages and phone problems in October 2026, so check the latest notices before leaving Yokoo. Bring cash as well as cards: shops and campsites do not always take the same payments as the hut desk.

How do I get to the start, and back from the finish?

By bus or taxi, because private cars cannot drive into Kamikochi. The walk starts and ends at the same bus terminal. For trains, passes and buses across the country, see getting around Japan.

How fit do I need to be, and what should I carry?

Fit for a long day, and confident coming down rough, uneven rock. Stamina for 30 km on the flat is not enough: the 1,170 m of climbing, and the same again in descent, is what makes this a grade 5 walk. Splitting it over three days shortens the climbing day, but the last day is still long.

Can I walk it with children, or with limited mobility?

With children who already know long, rocky mountain days, yes. In 2026 neither Karasawa hut took overnight guests aged three or under. For younger children, and for anyone whose mobility is limited, the valley path to Myojin and Tokusawa makes a gentler outing in its own right. Beyond Yokoo the path is steep and narrow in places, and there is no step-free way to Karasawa. The Sawando shuttle carries only folding wheelchairs, stowed; check other operators’ conditions directly.

If the walk goes wrong

Heavy rain or thunderstorms before Yokoo. Do not go on into the side valley. Shelter at a staffed hut you can reach safely, or head back towards Kamikochi while you can. If the stream at Hontani is in flood or the bridge is damaged, turn back to Yokoo; never improvise a crossing or try a detour over the ridges.

Snow or ice above Yokoo. The calendar does not make the path safe. If the footing needs gear or skill you do not have, turn round.

A fall, illness or exhaustion. Stop if moving makes it worse. Send a companion to the nearest hut for help, or call 110 (police) or 119 (fire and ambulance) where there is signal. Do not rely on a phone: carry an offline map, a headtorch and spare food and water.

You miss the last bus. No private car can come to fetch you, so leave slack in the last day and know your onward connection before you start down.

Bears. Asian black bears live in Kamikochi. Make noise so you do not surprise one, keep your distance and back away calmly, and never leave food or rubbish out.

Late in the season. In 2026 the Karasawa and Yokoo huts closed on 3 November while the buses ran until 15 November. Buses running does not mean the huts are open.