Mt. Tanigawa, Tenjin-one Ridge (Round Trip) | HIKES IN JAPAN
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Mt. Tanigawa, Tenjin-one Ridge (Round Trip)

Take the ropeway for the shortest route to Mt. Tanigawa.
  • Duration
    1Day / 5 Hours
    Highest Point
    1977m
    Elevation Gain
    574m
  • Skill Level
    Fitness Level
    Gear Level

Mt. Tanigawa (Tanigawa-dake) is located on the border between Gunma and Niigata Prefectures and one of the Japan's 100 most famous mountains. The area around it is known as the Tanigawa Mountain Range (Tanigawa-renpo) that includes Mt. Ichinokura (Ichinokura-dake) and Mt. Shigekura (Shigekura-dake).The summit consists of the twin peaks of “Toma-no-mimi” and “Oki-no-mimi”. Located at a saddle on Mt. Ichinokura, Ichinokura-sawa is one of Japan's major rock faces and a rock-climbing mecca. Lots of climbers have scaled it covering routes like Tsuitate-iwa Rock, and some have even lost their lives in the effort. Here, we introduce the Tenjin-one Ridge trail. It reaches 1,502 meters above sea level and is accessible by ropeway.

Get off the lift and walk approximately 100 meters to the Tenjinyama Observatory. Follow the ridgeline with its gentle inclines and declines. When you descend into a beech forest, you join the traverse trail from Tenjin-daira ropeway station where a wooden path crosses to the Kumaanazawa-hinan-goya shelter hut.

Next you enter a shrub zone and the path narrows to a regular mountain trail. Before long you leave the tree line and begin climbing through a rocky area assisted by chains. The slope is gradual and there are lots of footholds in the rock, so it's not particularly difficult. From there you pass a flat ridge with a wooden walkway, ascend an easy rock face and a gentle slope, and go up a step-like mountain trail before arriving at a large scree field.

As you walk the wooden path through it, a mountain hut will come into view. Hiking from there through a bamboo grass field, you soon arrive at the summit of Toma-no-mimi, the highest peak on Mt. Tanigawa. A 10-minute walk along the ridge brings you to Oki-no-mimi. On a clear day, you can see Mt. Fuji (Fuji-san) and the Northern Japanese Alps from the summit.

From there retrace your steps to finish the hike.

Other Info

The area around Tenjin-daira blooms with lots day lilies and other flowers in summer. Gorgeous fields of alpine flowers come into bloom in early summer closer to the summit. The autumn leaves are also beautiful.


High Season:June to October

Notes

While this hike is a day trip, if you start hiking late, you need to check the ropeway operation schedule to make sure its last run for the day and plan accordingly. There's no other way down the mountain.

Route Map

Elevation Map

Height (m)
Horizontal Distance (km)

Spec

Duration
1Day / 5 Hours
Highest Point
1977m(Toma-no-mimi)
Elevation Gain
574m
Horizontal Distance
11.5Km
Skill Level
Fitness Level
Gear Level

On the Trail

Sleeping

Tanigawadake-katano-koya

Eating

View Terrace Tenjin Restaurant

Hot-Springs

Yu Terume Tanigawa

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Access

Take Joetsu Shinkansen from Tokyo Station to Jomo Kogen Station (Approx. 80 minutes). Take a Kan-etsu Kotsu Bus from Jomo Kogen Station to the Tanigawa-dake Ropeway Doaiguchi Station (Approx. 50 minutes).
The Tanigawa-dake Ropeway will take you to Tenjin-daira (Approx. 10 minutes). From Tenjin-daira, take the lift to Tenjin-toge Pass.

Links

COURSES

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