Greetings
You appear to have found your way to my site.
This is a rock-climber's guide to a place called Ogawayama, which, despite increasing competition and at times unbearable overcrowding, remains the best rock-climbing area in Japan. Unless your arms are longer than your legs.
It's going to take a while for me to get everything up (over a thousand routes, y'know), but there's plenty here to be going on with. Bear with me if you bump into a bit that isn't finished yet.
Here's a little message for Japanese climbers:
And so, to business:
A word or two about the guide:
- No apologies for the colour scheme, but I do recommend that you expand your browser to full size.
- Apologies for links that go nowhere - it more than likely means I haven't done those sections yet. I'll get round to them eventually.
- If you have any suggestions for the guide, particularly on grades and routename translations, please let me know at eddie_AT_ogawayama_DOT_com.
I'd also like to get hold of some decent photos of routes, if you've got any you'd like to see up, send them along.
- If a routename is a link, click it to see a photo of the route.
- I used a 5-star system for the grading the quality of routes. Something like this:
- No stars: Really dire
- *: Pretty average
- **: Good
- ***: Very good
- ****: Excellent
- *****: Special
Bear in mind that you might not like the same stuff I do.
- I keep changing things. See Updates for details.
A word or two about the climbing:
- Mostly clip-ups, tons of slabs, a lot of cracks, a fair amount of faces and a few roofs.
- Mostly one-pitch routes, but no shortage of the other sort.
- The bouldering around the campsite is also superb.
A word or two about the rock:
- It's granite, it's good and there's a lot of it.
- There's plenty of unclimbed stuff around, but keep in mind that it's unclimbed for a reason (i.e. dead hard, crap rock, or too far). Most routes climbed since, say, 1998 near the campsite are a bit grotty.
A word or two about the grades:
- The American grading system is used throughout Japan.
- I've used a mixture of personal experience (of my own and of friends) and existing guides when grading routes. And in a couple of cases I just made it up.
- I've climbed something like 90% of routes up to and including 5.11d at least once. I've done a handful of 12s, but really, 12a and up, you're on your own. Comments on grades are welcome, and might not be ignored.
A word or two about fixed gear:
- Just because a guide, even a good one like this, says there's gear in place, doesn't mean it's still there.
- On closer acquaintance, it will become apparent that 'bolt' has several meanings in Japan, ranging the full gamut from a bolt so sexy you could hang an orgy off it to what can only be described as a rusty stain with a hole - it is up to you whether or not to trust the things you clip.
- Having said that, the Japan Free-Climbing Association, bless their five-toed socks, initiated a campaign to replace some of the more antique bolts in 2003, so you could receive a pleasant surprise on some routes.
- Don't trust fixed ropes.
- Carry some spare tat and that grotty karabiner that you'd have thrown away by now if it didn't seem such a waste - especially on the more obscure routes, you might not be happy with what's in place.
- In which case a penknife might come in handy.
A word or two about the topos:
- Drawn freehand, badly and not to scale.
- 'x' represents a bolt, a blue line represents fixed rope.
- A line of little squares represents a dike.
A word or two about streams:
- Be prepared to use some initiative when streams are mentioned in approaches or drawn on maps - they may well be dry, especially early and late in the season.
- It doesn't rain in Japan - it pisses down - and dry stream beds can turn into unfordable torrents in a very short time.
A word about the night sky:
Glorious.
The campsite is located at 1,600m altitude. It's bloody cold (at night) from November to May, though if you get lucky you can find yourself climbing in T-shirt and shorts. (Incidentally, 25cm of snow fell on the night of May 2nd, 2001 - a rarity, but it can happen. Take a look.) June is well warm enough, but late June/early July is often rained out. For most people, the season is from late July to September.
Be warned: The place heaves during the August national holiday (usually 13th-15th) and any three-day weekend (these are becoming quite common since Happy Monday Syndrome hit Japan).
You might want to check the weather before you go. Try these:
There are lots of ways to get there. This is the one I know:
- You are heading north on Route 141; you go up and up through Kiyosato and hit Nobeyama; turn right at the first junction after a fork at a traffic signal - Kawakamimura is prominently signposted.
- Follow this road for 3 or 4 km till you start going downhill and hit another prominent sign for Kawakamimura; turn right and follow this road up and down till it ends at a T-junction (at a big supermarket called Nana's - last chance for a decent stock-up - opens at 9am).
- Turn right and follow this road towards Akiyama; just before the village, as you climb an S-bend with a tractor shop, turn right up the Akiyama bypass - this is the second of two right-turns very close together. The sign is not clear, but don't worry if you miss it - you can take the old road: follow the road through Akiyama and turn right just after the village at a sign for Kawahage (there is also a convenience store - with veg and booze - on the right 100m before this turning).
- Turn right at the top of the bypass to rejoin the old road. Follow this road for about 3km (across a bridge and up a hill through Kawahage village) till you start going downhill and round an S-bend; as you start to come out of the bend, the road forks - take the righthand, uphill fork (i.e. don't go under the elaborate gate).
- Stay on this road till it disappears into woods and forks again - take the righthand, uphill fork again; follow this to the barrier that marks the beginning of the campsite.
- If you want to punch a phone number into your funky satellite navigation system, the number of the phone in the lodge is 0267-99-2428.
- Google map says it's here.
Jonas Wiklund kindly let me have a copy of the sketch map he did for his excellent article introducing bouldering at Ogawayama. Click here for the map.
Incidentally, the local council seems to have realised it's got a nice little earner on its hands and has started improving access. Expect roadworks and new bypasses.
Amazingly, some people don't have their own wheels. This is for you. Hitching is extremely rare in Japan, so while there's a bit of novelty attached and it can be done, it is a very unreliable way of getting from A to B.
Public transport will take you as far as Kawahage. To get there, wherever you're coming from, you first need to get to Shinano-Kawakami station on the Koumi line (it's JR). From there take a 30-minute bus ride to Kawahage terminus (about one every two hours between 7am and 7pm). From Kawahage, you can look forward to a gently rising 40-minute walk to the campsite (possible to hitch once you get up onto the "main" road).
The campsite is known as Mawarime Daira, which means something like Panorama Plain. It's just about as big as you want it to be - most people seem abnormally attracted to the bogs, so they don't spread out much. The main part of the campsite centres on Kimpu Sansou - the relatively huge and luxurious mountain lodge. Unfortunately, the campsite is also popular with hikers, families and other non-climbers, so expect a crowd - Japanese style - most summer weekends.
There is a climber-centric Japanese homepage for the campsite here.
This includes an excellent English language map of the crags around the campsite.
Some things you should know:
- 300 yen for a day trip if you manage to get in and out between 4am and 7pm. Any earlier/later and you're charged for the night.
- Camping is 700 yen per person per night. You can also rentatent, rentashed or stay in the lodge itself. The tents and the wooden platforms on which they are pitched were replaced in July 2002. They cost 2,000 yen a night and are intended to sleep 4 in comfort. (You will be asked to pay the 2,000 even if you pitch your own tent on the platforms.) The sheds also sleep 4 but are overpriced at 6,000 yen.
- Facilities are include toilets, washing areas, a shower block and all the firewood you can eat.
- The lodge sells things such as climbing guides, gas canisters, wine and souvenir tat. Expect a 20% markup.
- There is one public phone inside the lodge and one outside.
- There is a bathhouse in the lodge - 400 yen a pop, but well worth it (bring your own towel, soap, etc).
- There is a shower shack in front of the lodge - 100 yen a pop, and not bad according to the last person I know who used it.
- There is a shelter across the road from the lodge with various drink (including beer) and snack machines.
- Take your rubbish home with you. The lodge will only accept rubbish if it is sorted and bagged in designated bags (which you must buy at the lodge).
- Generally, the rules of the campsite fall within the bounds of common sense and the staff at the lodge are friendly and helpful. The most banged on about rule is: Keep the noise down after 9pm.
Note:
The lodge is closed from mid-November to mid-April. During this period, the barrier across the entrance is left open and you can camp for free, but note that all of the electricity and water outlets are turned off and the toilets are locked.
Unfortunately, there aren't enough climbers in Japan to justify publishing guidebooks to individual areas.
The best guide to the area (apart from this one of course) is volume 3 of Makoto Kitayama's series of guides to climbing areas in Japan - Nihon Hyaku Iwaba 3: Izu/Koushin (ISBN 4635180832). This also includes the nearby Kasamerisawa, Fudousawa and Mizugakiyama areas, as well as Jouyama and the Jougasaki sea-cliffs in Shizuoka prefecture. Current edition 2009 (with the blue dust jacket - green is the old (2001) version).
Kitayama also produced a "Selected Climbing Areas in Japan" (ISBN 4635180026) which contains Ogawayama, as well as Hourai and Futagoyama, which are the two biggest and best pure sport climbing venues in Japan. This is more of a keep-at-home guide, being B5-size and full of glossy pics. Current edition 1995.
Kantou Shuuhen no Iwaba by Toshiyuki Kikuchi (ISBN 4894750228) covers almost every crag in the Kantou area and includes some parts of Og that the Kitayama guides leave out, but the detail suffers a little as a result. Current edition 1999.
Standard Disclaimer:
Climbing's a dangerous game. Be careful. If you get killed, it's not my fault.
Non-Standard Disclaimer:
There's bears in them hills. Be careful. If you get eaten, it's not my fault.
Substandard Disclaimer:
Climbing dangerous careful killed fault.
Anti-spam thing.