Let’s Climb Suwa Fuji
Recently, while walking around Kirigamine Highlands, I saw Mt. Tateshina from the summit of Mt. Kurumayama. It had such a beautiful conical shape, truly living up to its nickname, “Suwa Fuji.” Since I had to drive to Hamamatsu to pick up my family for the long weekend anyway, I figured I’d take a detour and squeeze in a day hike. I set off early for the Nanago-me (7th Station) trailhead.
I Thought It Was Just a Hike…
Today’s route was a simple round trip starting from the 7th Station trailhead, marked by the torii gate of Tateshina Shrine, passing through Shogun-daira where Tateshina Sanso is located, and heading to the summit. Since I was starting from the 7th Station and the estimated climb was only about 2.5 hours, I honestly thought it would be a casual hike.
Actually, the beginning of the trail was like a path covered in small stones. While it was a bit tricky to walk on, the incline was relatively gentle, and I enjoyed the pleasant “forest bathing” vibe.
The path gradually got steeper, and just as the view finally started to open up, I looked back and caught a glimpse of Lake Megami.
The moss was beautiful, and I spotted little mushrooms popping up here and there.
Before I knew it, I arrived at Shogun-daira where Tateshina Sanso is—took about 1.5 hours to get here. I was a bit surprised to see such a lively hut and wide-open space suddenly appear. Looking up, Mt. Tateshina stood massive and bulky right in front of me… It’s interesting how different it looks compared to the elegant cone shape you see from below.
After climbing a bit from Shogun-daira, the trail turns into a rugged boulder field, and the view opens up all at once.
The view looking back is truly stunning since it’s so open, but I saw a few people frozen in place, unable to turn around on the large, jagged rocks. If you come here expecting a simple hiking trail, this steep boulder scramble is actually pretty tough.
Looking back toward Ogawara Pass, there’s an area that looks like a lava field—it’s quite impressive. After wrestling with the steep rocky climb for about 40 minutes from Shogun-daira, the Tateshina Summit Hut finally comes into view. Everyone was taking a break there with food and beer.
The summit is just a short climb from there… but man, the top is completely different from what I imagined. It feels like a vast lava plateau. It’s basically a crater site, but it doesn’t feel like a typical crater at all. I was really blown away because I never would have guessed this is what the top looked like based on that perfect cone shape from below.
If I hadn’t come by car, I would have loved to descend the other side and soak in the Tateshina Onsen “Shinyu.” But today, I just did the round trip, stopped by Yonezawa Onsen “Shiotsubo-no-yu” in Chino City to refresh, and headed back to Tokyo.
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