Camping grounds accessible by public transport in Japanese Northern Alps

Question

On 17 August I will be leaving for a trip to Japan. After spending a week in Tokyo, I want to go to the Japanese Alps to escape the heat.

My initial plan was to go on a hike for one and a half weeks, but since I broke my collarbone two weeks ago, carrying a heavy backpack for hours is out of the picture. My idea is to go to one or another campground and make day trips from there.

Are there any places with camping grounds you can recommend? It seems like one of the easier places to reach is Tateyama, but I'm having a hard time figuring out if there are any camping grounds nearby.

Answer 1

Tateyama is probably the easiest mountain to reach in the Japan Northern Alps by public transportation thanks to Tateyama-Kurobe Alpine Route which connects the east and west bases of the mountain (in Nagano Prefecture and Toyama Prefecture) by a series of public transportation lines, so that would be my recommendation.

As for a campground, there is one called Raicho-zawa Campground located near one of the highest stops on the Alpine Route on the Toyama Prefecture side, which sounds like it is what you are looking for. Though information appears to be available only in Japanese, I will translate the main points of the above link:

• Located near Murodo (室堂), a bus stop on the Alpine Route that can be accessed by public transportation from either Toyama Station (coming from Kyoto, Osaka) or Shinano-Omachi Station in Nagano (coming from Matsumoto, Tokyo).
• The campground is about a 30 minute walk from where the bus drops you off.
• For one night it costs ¥500 per person, for staying two or more nights (no matter the number) it is ¥1000 per person.
• The pictures of the campground shown on the webpage linked above were taken in August and September, other than the very bottom picture (with lots of snow) which was taken in November. August should be a very pleasant time of year to stay there.
• There is running water and toilets.
• There is an onsen lodge about halfway between the campsite and Murodo Station. You can use the bath there for ¥700 even if you are not staying at the lodge.
• Many mountain hikers and climbers use this campground as a base of operation for exploring the Tateyama area, as well as those venturing further up/down the Northern Japanese Alps.

The Tateyama-Kurobe Alpine Route generally only runs between 9am and 4pm, so make sure the day that you make the journey up to Murodo you allow plenty of time, particularly if coming from Matsumoto Station (the Nagano side, which is closer to Tokyo). I would say leave Matsumoto around 8am.

The Alpine Route itself is pretty interesting, here is some further information about it in English.

Note: I have not been to the campground myself, but have taken the Alpine Route and soaked in the onsen up there, and can say it would be good area this time of year for hiking.

Answer 2

I did some more searching myself. The campground near Murodo seems like a excellent spot for someone like me to make day trips from, thanks for the info Manmaru!

I've also found some regular campgrounds a bit more to the east around lake Aokiko and Nakatsunako, a few are visible on google maps around the two lakes here: https://www.google.nl/maps/place/Kizakikouminokuchi+Camping+Ground/@36.582418,137.8432767,13z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x5ff7d8b69c69940f:0x6473db0d5ed844f5

I will use the uud5 maps for my Garmin handheld gps, and if I look up the same place on those maps, I see many more campgrounds

There's a station nearby (Yanabasuki-Joumae) and it seems like you can get there with a direct connection from Matsumoto. Might be a nice spot to stay some days and maybe afterwards move into the direction of Murodo

Answer 3

It's been a while, but I thought it might be nice to update this question. Last summer I've visited japan and found a camping ground at lake Aokiko. I've stayed at the Aokiko camping ground (http://www.aokiko.com/), also home of the "Evergreen outdoor center".

Despite the english name, the staff doesn't speak a word English, I was happy with my pre-translated paper so that I was able to point out that I wanted to stay there for a week.

The camping is very quiet, except for the times when groups of school children visit overnight. Apart from the camping ground, there are also cabins for rent.

The facilities are pretty basic, but ok. You'll have to pay to use the showers. There's a small shop where you can buy some basic stuff (not much food). There's also a device to charge your phone in, but it's all in Japanese, so I couldn't work it out.

The nearest station is the Station of Yanaba. There's also a station closer by called "Yanaba Ski Jomae Station", but as you can guess by the name, it's only in use during winter time. Yanaba doesn't have any shops, the nearest place I found to get groceries is Kitaomachi.

If you're ever in the area and have some time to spare, I would recommend going to Hakuba and taking the rope way up the mountain.