Adatarayama (Mt Adatara) is a 1700 metre high volcano west of Fukushima in Nihonmatsu. There is a lovely onsen (hot spring) town called Dake nearby. The mountain is popular for skiing in winter and hiking in the summer. We picked a hot and sunny day (maximum temperature of 35 degrees!) to make the climb. It was of course a lot cooler on the mountain so the walk was in fact a nice little escape from the summer heat. As an added bonus, the final 20 minutes of the hike passed along a beautiful cool river gorge, a perfect end to a hot day walk.

Mt Adatara Fukushima Japan

Adatarayama – One of Japan’s Famouns 100 Peaks

Adatarayama is listed in Japan’s “hyaku meizan” or Famous 100 mountains, meaning it is a popular mountain amongst climbers wanting to “tick the box”. Our route up the mountain started from the ski fields. There was a great deal of infrastructure there, meaning a visit to the Japanese wilderness has quite a different feel to it than a visit to the Tasmanian wilderness. From the car park we boarded the Gondola, and rode to the start of the trail at approx 1300m.

Rhododendron (Shakunage) on Mt Adatara

The climb to the peak took a couple of hours, and the trail was easy to follow. We had picked a perfect day for the walk and could see a long way from the top – the well known Mt Bandai was very close by as were some snow capped peaks a long way in the distance.

Mt Adatara Fukushima Japan – view from the peak

Near the summit of Adatarayama in Fukushima

I was most interested in seeing “Numa no daira” – the volcanic landscape just a short distance past the summit. Obviously we don’t have any landscapes like this in Australia so it was fascinating to see. It reminded me of the Kurodake to Asahidake walk in Daisetsuzan National Park in Hokkaido which I did a few years ago.

Numa no daira – the volcanic caldera behind the peak of Adatarayama

After a fairly rapid descent we found ourselves in a lovely green gorge, and the cool water and cool breeze was a magic way to finish the day 🙂

Adatarayama Gorge at the end of the hike

Adatarayama Gorge at the end of the hike

Back to Tasmania…

This will be my last post from Japan as we are now back in Tasmania and planning more trips and workshops across Tasmania. Thank you for keeping in touch with my travels and please make sure to like my Facebook page for regular updates and events.