Kamikōchi

Kamikōchi has been revered as Japan's answer to the Yosemite or Patagonia. Even I have neither been to Sierra Nevada nor South America, I have to agree that Kamikōchi is the Holy Grail for hiking enthusiasts. 

Situated at an elevation of 1,500 metres and along the banks of the crystal-clear Azusa-gawa, Kamikōchi is also known as the "Japanese Alps", a term popularised by the English missionary and conservationist Reverend Walter Weston. The town's popularity spiked in 1927 with the release of Kappa, a novella set in Kamikōchi and written by the Japanese author Ryūnosuke Akutagawa.

My wife and I had an enjoyable four-hour walk in Kamikōchi today, eyeing the peaks of Mt Yake-dake and Mt Okuhotaka-dake. 

As your travel guide tells you, it wouldn't be Japan without the crowds. Timing is everything. To beat the crowd, we took our breakfast around 7 and caught the bus early. Many passengers got off the bus near Taishō-ike pond for leisure walk, and we decided to hike upriver to Myōjin-ike before heading back. While privacy may not be a big part of the hiking experience, perfect weather is. We counted ourselves exceptionally lucky to have Kamikōchi hiking on a day with the best sunny period within this week.