A Week in the Japanese Alps with the Kumonodaira Trail Club

In September 2024, I volunteered with the Kumonodaira Trail Club (KTC), a small and dedicated team committed to maintaining the trails around this remote region and fostering a community of passionate hikers. I spent a week with these creative and hardworking people building stone trails, restoring vegetation, laughing over drinks, and discussing the future of national parks in Japan.

In this report I’ll recount my experience working with the KTC, detail what I learned about the challenges facing mountain huts and national parks in Japan, and share some tips on how to reach some of the last undiscovered regions of the northern Japanese Alps.

What to Know about the Kumonodaira Mountain Hut

The Kumonodaira Mountain Hut, our base of operations, offers breathtaking views of the surrounding plateau. But the lodge itself, first built in 1961, is reason enough to make the trek. Rebuilt in 2010 using traditional Japanese carpentry techniques, it offers a respite unlike any other I’ve seen.

Inside, you can rest your feet, flip through a library of books about the area, and enjoy a meal prepared with fresh ingredients foraged in the surrounding mountains—all while listening to the impressive vinyl collection that was helicoptered in at the behest of the owner, Jiro Ito. It’s all in service of a creative and inspiring atmosphere, which Jiro told me is meant to distinguish Kumonodaira from scores of more utilitarian Japanese mountain huts.

Source: https://www.fieldmag.com/articles/Japanese-alps-kumonodaira-hut-trail-club