1)Why go to Daisetsuzan?
2)Getting There...
3)Where to go?
4)Where to stay?
5)When to go?
6)What to bring?
7) Safety
8) Notes about hiking in Japan.
	View of the southern end of Daisetsuzan from Biei Dake More Daisetsuzan Photos

1) Why go to Daisetsuzan?

Daisetsuzan is the largest National park in Japan. It has active volcanoes, beautiful alpine lakes and flowers, natural hot spring, a 7 tier waterfall, Free huts to sleep in, lots of wildlife (including bears), and challenging back country wilderness.

2) Getting there...

There are many options. I think the best way to arrive in Daisetsuzan is on a bicycle. There are bike paths and beautiful country roads that bring you directly to many trail heads. Most notably the bike path to Sounkyo from Asahikawa or Takikawa. It's not even uphill! (Detailed explanation of that coming soon).

But i realize that is not for everyone so i've included detailed information about trains and buses. Many books and web sites recommend renting a car to explore Daisetsuzan. With all the options for public transportation and the high price of rental cars in Japan i don't recommend it. But my friend Mark is going to add driving directions.

Trains: Train will get you close to Daisetsuzan, but if you are relying solely on public transport you will need to get on a bus. Check train times and prices.

I recommend local trains if you have the time, open windows and 1/2 the price.

Buses:

Buses to Daisetsuzan (more exact times and prices coming soon)
departs from	arrives at	How Much	How long	Schedule & more
Asahikawa	Asahi Dake onsen	1000Y	1-2 hours
	Eastern Daisetsuzan
	Tenninkyo	1000Y
	Sounkyo	1900Y	1:50
Kami-Furano	Tokachi Dake onsen	500Y
	Fukiage onsen
Kamikawa	Sounkyo	770Y	30 min
Shintoku	Tomuraushi Onsen
Sounkyo	Ginsendai	800Y	1 hour
Biei	Shirogane onsen

The most popular way is the bus from the front of the Asahikawa Station to the Asahi dake ropeway. It costs 1000Y, the best time to catch it is 9:10am. Unfortunately the local train arrives too late, but you can take the local to Fukagawa and change to the express there.

3) Where to go?
Daisetsuzan has many trails. I've spend over 2 months in Daisetsuzan and I haven't hiked all the tails yet. Some good places to start are…
The Traverse; if you have the time I highly recommend it. It takes about 5-7 days. There are many options. You can start at Furano Dake, Kuro Dake or Asahi Dake. There are many huts along the way, but camping at least once is necessary. Daisetsuzan Photos
Shorter options;

1-2 days - Furano Dake to Tokachi Dake to Biei Dake and loop back to where you stated. There are 3 huts you can stay in for free. Tokachi/Biei Dake Photos Furano Dake Photos

3-4 days Asahi Dake or Kuro Dake to Tenninkyo . There are 2 free huts and 2 pay huts on this loop. Asahi dake photos Tenninkyo photo

More details and more hikes to come…

4) Where to stay.
While hiking.
Yama-goya - There are 8 huts (yamagoya) in Daisetsuzan. (Photos coming soon) Only 2 cost money; Kuro Dake Ishi-muro 1500Y and Hakkun Goya 1000Y. In the peak season (mid July to late August) most of the huts fill up quick.

The Kuro Dake hut has food, drinks and blankets for rent. All expensive but it is a good option if you don't have any gear and want to do more than a day hike.
Tent sites. There are many tent sites in Daisetsuzan. They are clearly marked on Maps, but there are also a few not marked. Most notably “sansendai” a good place to camp if you are doing the traverse.
While starting or ending a hike. There are pay campgrounds near the base of Asahi Dake and Tokachi Dake. Both about 500Y, at Asahi dake you can also rent a large tent for the night for 1000Y extra.

5) When to go?
From early May to late October it is possible to hike without special gear, in most places.
Spring has the most wildflowers but also high chances of cloudy/rainy weather.
Summer has generally better weather, but less flowers and more people.
Fall has brilliant colored forest and the peaks look beautiful with the first snow on them.
Winter (6 months of the year) has amazing winter wonderland scenery but is not easy to get to most places. The pay huts are free in late fall till early spring. But be prepared to dig you way in through the snow. Photo coming soon.

6) What to bring?
This depends a lot on what you plan to do.
If you are staying over night you will need a way to boil or filter water (expect at Kuro Dake where bottled water is for sale, 500Y!)
I have never used a bear bell and I don't think it is necessary in Daisetsuzan.
Food ideas... coming soon.

More advice to come…

7) Safety…
Echinococcus - In Hokkaido, river and lake water may contain a very dangerous, sometimes fatal, parasite called Echinococcus. Be sure to boil or filter your drinking water while hiking in Hokkaido.
Bears - You are very very unlikely to be attacked. Just use common sense. I spent 2 months in Daisetsuzan before I saw a bear. When I finally saw some it was because I went looking for them.
Getting lost – Some of the tails in the less visited parts of the park have grown totally over and are not marked. Not much to worry about if you stick to main trails and have a map, but sometimes people do go missing and are never found. I've gotten lost myself before.

Guides - You don't need a guide for most places in Daisetsuzan (everywhere described in this guide is reasonably safe).

If you 1) want someone to go with you to teach you about the area and for extra safety or 2) you want to go into the remote back country. (There are several amazing places in Daisetsuzan where a guide is a very good idea for even experienced hikers)

i can offer a guide service or recommend someone else who is qualified if i'm busy.

Please contact me if you are interested.

8) Notes about hiking in Japan.
You may be surprised that most of the hikers are in there 50’s or older. The youngest (except for a few collage students) tend to be about 35 or 40 and the oldest almost 80!
Westerners tend to think of hiking as a time for solitude, but for most Japanese it is a very social activity, going in medium to large groups, lots of conversations, greeting everyone, ect.
Trail conditions are probably not as good as you are used to, depending on where you have done most of your hiking. Lots of erosion, loose rocks and overgrown tails, but don't let that keep you from hiking.

Ropeways: There are 2 ropeways in Daisetsuzan, Asahi dake and Kuro dake. They are quite expensive and there are decent trails that parrell both of them, so i don't use them unless really pressed for time. Both trails can be done in an hour, (at a fast pace) or 2 hours if you have lots of gear or are out of shape.

A good option (for multi day trips) is to ask a nice person to bring you gear on the ropeway and leave it at the top. Hokkaido is very safe and i've never had any problems.

This is still a work in progress. If you have any Questions or Suggestions,

please contact me. Also if you have something to add to this guide please contact me.