Group Tours
Autumn 2025
Hiking the Lesser Known Trails of Ancient Japan
Duration: 9 Days
Price: 685,000 JPY per person
Maximum Group Size: 8 people per tour
Dates: - Trip 1: Oct 1-10, 2025 - Trip 2: Oct 15-24, 2025 - Trip 3: Nov 12-21, 2025 -
Accommodations: Onsen Ryokan and Traditional Mountain Inns
Difficulty: Moderately Strenuous - This tour is aimed at casual but regular hikers in good physical condition
Guides : Your guides will be Michael, Sachi and Yuta. Check them out here.
Tour Creators: Really Rural Japan & My Japan Planner
Why Choose This Tour: This tour is researched, designed and guided by the local experts at Really Rural Japan. This tour will take you on 5 different ancient trails, 1 alpine mountain, and have 1 day for local culture and craft. This is a tour nobody else is offering and a once-in-a-lifetime experience for anyone who does it.
To Book Your Spot: Contact Us and tell us which trip you would like to join. If there is still availability we will then connect you to the legal seller of this tour (an entity licensed to sell this tour in accordance with Japanese travel law)
Itinerary
Day 1 - Tokyo
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If arriving that day in Japan, a representative of My Japan Planner will show you to the airport shuttle bus and from there you can check into your hotel in Tokyo and have a free day. If already in Japan, just check in and enjoy the day.
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Hotel Monterey Ginza - https://www.hotelmonterey.co.jp/en/ginza/
Day 2 - Magome to Tsumago
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Your main luggage will be delivered to your hotel in Hirugami onsen that morning. It will arrive the following day so please prepare a night bag for yourselves.
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Meet with the assistant at the hotel's lobby floor. Take an arranged taxi to JR Tokyo station. On arrival, take the bullet trains bound for Nagoya. Upon arrival, change to the limited express train to Nakatsugawa. The assistant ends at JR Tokyo station.
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【Distance = 8 km - Ascent = 230m - Descent = 365m - Terrain = Easy】
On arrival at Nakatsugawa station, your guide will be waiting for the group. You will take a private transfer to Magome-juku for the start of the hike. The driver will then continue on with your night’s luggage so you can have it later that day. After strolling through the historic town of Magome Juku you will enter the deep mountainous forests of the Kiso Valley. The goal of this 8km hike is Tsumago Juku, the shining jewel of the Nakasendo. Tsumago Juku is unchanged since the Edo period and a place of unparalleled historic beauty. Your inn’s shuttle bus will be waiting to pick you up from Tsumago Juku and take you to the accommodation. Tonight you will stay at a hot spring ryokan in Hirugami Onsen, a quiet mountain full of onsen and luxurious hot spring resorts.
For more info: https://reallyruraljapan.com/magome-tsumago-tourLunch at the local restaurant.
Dinner at the hotel. -
Keigetsu Ryokan - https://keigetu.co.jp
Day 3 - The Seinaiji Kaido
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【Distance = 11 km - Ascent = 500 m - Descent = 650 m - Terrain = Mostly Easy, Occasionally Moderate】
After a traditional Japanese breakfast, your guide will join you and a private transfer will take you to Shimo-Seinaiji, a tucked away mountain village famous for its handmade firework festival. After a look around the village and it’s shrine which is home to the firework festival, the hike plunges deep into the woodlands. Buddhist stone relics scattered along the ancient road remind you of the history of the road you are traversing. The path emerges at the top of the Nashino Pass with amazing views looking out over the Ina Valley and Southern Alps on a clear day. From here the hike goes down into the Ina Valley passing by ancient road markers and onto a road you could never hope to find by yourself. The hike ends in the Ina Valley where a bus will be waiting to take you back to Hirugami Onsen.
This hike is very secretive and very few people, Japanese included, are aware of its existence. This hike is for anyone who loves quiet woodland hikes and exploring places that have yet to be thoroughly explored.
For more information - https://reallyruraljapan.com/seinaiji-kaido-hiking-tour
Lunch is not included. We will take you to the convenience store to get meals for your lunch (at your own expense)
Dinner at the hotel. -
Keigetsu Ryokan - https://keigetu.co.jp
Day 4 - The Tosando
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【Distance = 12 km - Ascent = 300 m - Descent = 950 m - Terrain = Mostly Easy, Occasionally Moderate】
In the morning, a private transfer will take you to the small mountainside village of Sonohara. From there, a ropeway and chair lift will take you up into the mountains. From there you will hike over the Misaka Pass to the summit of Fujimi Daira (1,739m) with its stunning 360° panoramic views. Then begins the descent. The 950m or so descent winds along the ancient Tosando. The forest is dense and full of character and life. At the bottom of the trail is the historical Misaka Shrine and its 2,000 year old ancient cedar tree. Finally, the walk winds back into the picturesque village of Sonohara with its rice fields and alpine views. Finally, the visitor center is the finishing point and a hot drink awaits those needing a break.
For more information - https://reallyruraljapan.com/tosando-hiking-tour
Lunch is not included. We will take you to the convenience store to get meals for your lunch (at your own expense)
Dinner at the hotel. -
Keigetsu Ryokan - http://keigetu.co.jp/
Day 5 - Traditional Boats and Crafts
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This is a day to rest your legs with no hiking planned. A private vehicle will transport you to the Tenryu River. There, you will experience a ride on a traditional Japanese riverboat as it carries you along the beautiful views of the Tenryu River. You will learn about the history and the building process of the boats before heading off downstream with nothing but oars and oar men to carry you. After lunch at a local restaurant, you will head for an afternoon craft workshop. Here you are going to get hands on and make “Washi”(Japanese paper) and “Mizuhiki” (colourful chords tied into decorative shapes). During this experience you will get to meet master craftsmen of the two disciplines and interact with them, learning about the skills, history and much more.
Lunch at the local restaurant
Dinner at the hotel -
Suzuranso - https://suzuranso.com
Day 6 - The Central Alps
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Meet your guide at the front of your hotel and walk to the bus stop to take a local bus to the ropeway station. From there you will ascend the mountain. As the ropeway climbs the steep slopes, crystal blue mountain streams, and waterfalls make for breathtaking views! The hike today is unguided. You will have 3 hours to walk and enjoy the gorgeous scenery before returning on the ropeway and bus to the start. There a private vehicle will be waiting to transfer you to your evenings accommodation in Otaki Village.
Lunch: Box meal
Dinner at the hotel.NOTE - On the Nov 12-21 trip, this area will be too cold and the plan will be to hike from Yabuhara to Narai instead.
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Kurumisawa Ryokan - https://fu-kurumi.com/english-page/
Kurumisawa Ryokan is a basic traditional ryokan that has been serving pilgrims of Ontake for over 100 years. It does not have private toilets or bathrooms in the rooms. These will be communally shared with the other guests. While the baths and showers are gender separated, there are no swimsuits allowed in the bathrooms as is normal in Japanese culture. Bathing is to be done nude in communal gender separate bathrooms. We appreciate your understanding. This is the only inn of this type on this tour. Others will be more luxurious.
Day 7 - The Ontake Kodo
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On this hike of the Ontake Kodo you will start by walking to Satomiya Shrine. There you will climb over 400 steps and pray to the gods at the top. From there, a private vehicle will transfer you to Omata Sansha, where the three main gods of the Ontake faith, sit at the top of another mind bending staircase. From there the hike begins in earnest as it winds through ancient forests, passing hundreds, if not thousands of stone monuments called reijinhi. These are monuments to the dead followers of the faith who elected to forgo reincarnation and become ascetics for eternity at Mount Ontake. Their bodies are not here, but here their souls reside. The hike passes giant trees and towering waterfalls. Shintaki Falls and Kiyotaki Falls are surely the highlights of the tour for most. These huge waterfalls are used by practitioners of the faith for something called takigyo. Takigyo is the Japanese name for a waterfall purification ceremony. It used to be that mountain monks would have to meditate everyday under these waterfalls for 75-100 days before they were allowed to climb Mount Ontake. Nowadays once is enough. These are truly sights that will stay with you. After arriving at a shrine named Junigongen, a hike up to Hakkaisan Shrine completes the hike.
Lunch: Box meal
Dinner at the hotel. -
Kurumisawa Ryokan - https://fu-kurumi.com/english-page/
Kurumisawa Ryokan is a basic traditional ryokan that has been serving pilgrims of Ontake for over 100 years. It does not have private toilets or bathrooms in the rooms. These will be communally shared with the other guests. While the baths and showers are gender separated, there are no swimsuits allowed in the bathrooms as is normal in Japanese culture. Bathing is to be done nude in communal gender separate bathrooms. We appreciate your understanding. This is the only inn of this type on this tour. Others will be more luxurious.
Day 8 - The Hida Kaido
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This morning a private vehicle will take you to the Yamashita Residence Museum in Kaida. Take a look inside the ancient horse merchants' home for 10-15 minutes before starting the hike. This hike takes you over the Nishino Pass with its stunning views of Mount Ontake and Mount Norikura. The hike is about 80% forest, with 20% of the walk spent in the gorgeous agrarian pastures of the Kaida Plateau. At about 12:00 you will finish the Nishino Pass and head for lunch at a local soba restaurant and maybe an ice cream from a dairy business. Then you will begin the second pass of the day, the Jizo Pass. The hike ends at the stunning, cascading, Karasawa Falls.
After the walk, a private vehicle will be ready and waiting to drive you to Matsumoto station, where you can take the scheduled bus to Shinjuku, Tokyo. On arrival, you will be shown to your hotel just beside the station. The tour ends here.
Lunch at the local restaurant.
Dinner at the hotel. -
Day 9 - Tokyo
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After checking out of the hotel you are free to continue to explore Japan or fly home according to your plans. If you are flying home, your airport limousine bus will be arranged and covered in the price of the tour.
To find out about availability and book your spot on a 2025 autumn group tour, contact us and let us know about which dates you would like to join.