Hakone Hachiri Trail and Izu Peninsula Guided Hike

After your breakfast, at checkout, please ask your Tokyo Hotel concierge to help you courier your main luggage to the Day 3 accommodation in Minami Izu Kyukamura: 889-1 Minato, Minamiizu, Kamo District, Shizuoka 415-0152, Japan. Bringing just a light backpack with your change of clothing for the next two nights. You will meet with your guide in the foyer of the Shiba Park Hotel at 07:20am, sharp. Then catch the Tokaido Shinkansen Kodama and get off at Odawara Station. Your guide will conduct the trip briefing whilst on board. Then we will catch a local train/bus part-way up Mt Hakone (active volcano) to where we start our hike. Experience Amazake Chaya, under 13th generation management and one of the few remaining of hundreds of teahouses that lined the Old Tokaido, Cedar Avenue with towering 400 year-old Japanese cedar patrolling both sides of the trail. Enjoy a café lunch by Lake Ashi, and stunning views of Mt Fuji (weather permitting) from Yamanaka Castle Ruins. Stroll along Genbegawa World Water System Heritage area into Mishima City (a location in James Clavell’s epic historical fiction novel Shogun). Catch another local train to Shuzenji where we overnight (Yukairo ryokan or similar). Total walking today about 10kms.

Meals:  L,D

So after spending Day 1 trekking westwards along Old Tokaido foot highway, at Mishima we make a left hand turn and hike south along Old Shimoda Foot Highway that runs down the middle of Izu Peninsula UESCO Global Geopark. From Shuzenji station local bus takes us south to start our hike (pick up picnic lunch from convenience store). We walk southwards all day following two rivers bisected by Izu Peninsula’s highest point, Amagi Range. This ancient route, connecting the Peninsula’s southern port town of Shimoda with the rest of the country, has seen famous travelers including the first foreign diplomat to live in Japan, Townsend Harris, as he journeyed from his Shimoda US consulate to Tokyo (Edo) to negotiate Japan’s first international trade agreement. The route is also the location for a famous Japanese love story, Dancing Girl of Izu, remade as a movie five times in the 20th century. Picnic lunch en route. We hike through lush forests and are rewarded with the last stretch of our walk being through the famous Kawazu 7 Falls area, where the gushing river has carved out pretty waterfalls from the volcanic strata. Bus to Kawazu, overnight on Imaihama Beach at Blue Moon cabins. Total walking today about 12kms.

Meals:  B,L,D

This morning we will start on the Urban Legend Walk. Stroll along Perry Road, following the footprints of 19th century US Pacific Fleet’s Commodore Perry as he made landfall here to negotiate the opening up of Japan to the world. Walk around Shimoda’s pretty harbor taking in the history of Japan’s first contact with the outside world after 250 years of seclusion. Pick up picnic lunch from convenience store. Afternoon: coastal walk. From Shimoda we bus southwards to walk the pretty volcanic coastline. Our mighty Pacific Ocean rolling in from Sagami Bay to our east has carved out cavernous sea caves from the softer volcanic material deposited along this section of Izu Peninsula UNESCO Global Geopark. A delightful easy jaunt along varied volcanic coastlines and through quiet coastal resort villages, where one thinks “I could happily live here”. Our destination today is Yumigahama Beach where we stop for the night, stay Kuykamura (shared bathroom). Walking today about 10kms.

Meals:  B,L,D

At checkout, your guide will help you orgainse the luggage courier service to send your main luggage to your Day 5 accommodation. From our Yumigahama hotel we local bus and train northwards up the scenic east coast of Izu Peninsula to start today’s hike. Picnic lunch from convenience store. Jogasaki Coastal Trail is an excellent opportunity to appreciate the power of volcanic and tectonic forces. The cliff-top walk is over ancient lava flows that have oozed out into the Pacific before solidifying to present form. Stunning views of Sagami Bay and breakers rolling in from the Pacific. Picnic lunch en route (sourced from local convenience store). Take the local train further north along Izu’s east coast to Atami, where we overnight. Walking today: 10kms.

Meals:  B,L,D

Great opportunity to summit one of a number of small volcanoes that dot the Izu Peninsula. Walk/bus or taxi from ryokan to hike start point high above Atami township. We then climb steadily to Mt Kurotake summit at 800m, great views of Mt Fuji from here weather permitting. Picnic lunch en route (sourced from local convenience store). A loop around a small natural pond at altitude. Bus or taxi to Atami Station. Tour concludes. Walking today about 8kms.

Meals:  B,L