Kumotoriyama Ascent

by Ken Kuroiwa
Beyond Okutama, there is the Ushiroyama Rindo/Sanjo-no-Yu course if you can or want to spend an nice overnighter in the mountains.

Take the Tabayama-bound bus from the store across the street from Okutama Station bound for Omatsuri. The area is fairly far out, right on the Greater Tokyo-Yamanashi border, and there are only about 3 buses a day to/from Omatsuri on weekends (but several more buses a day if you get on/off a few km. closer in, at Kamozawa-Nishi (1.0 km before Omatsuri) or Tozura (2.5 km before Omatsuri).Omatsuri is a little beyond the western end of Okutama Lake.

Wherever you get off, note the bus schedules (note weekend schedules vs. weekday schedules). Otherwise, on the return trip, you could end up waiting/hoofing it a bit longer than you had planned. Also be sure to note the LAST bus back to Okutama Station. Always allow for plenty of extra time, or be prepared to do it on foot.

Just beyond the bus stop at Omatsuri is the forestry road toward Sanjo-no-Yu and Kumotoriyama. The road follows the Ushiroyamagawa and is known as the Ushiroyama Rindo (forestry road). The distance to Sanjo-no-Yu is about 8-9 km. and is a fairly gentle uphill climb for most of the way.

If you look carefully up into the “sawa”/glens off to the side of the road, you might spot some partially hidden wasabi patches. Wasabi grows only in really pure water. Along the way, there is at least one pipe with mountain water coming out. I don’t know about you, but I always drink from it and refill my 500cc PET bottle.

The rocks in this area are geologically old, and in the fall and spring, contraction and expansion from ice and/or sun, can send a shower of rocks down on the road, so keep your ears open for anything crashing through brush overhead. I usually keep close to the hillside, figuring that momentum will carry rocks more to the far (downhill) side of the road.

You’re likely to meet some other people along the forestry road: forestry workers, construction workers, farmers, etc. Last year, there was even a small tourist bus that took a group up to the end of the road.

Spend the night surrounded by steep mountainsides at Sanjo-no-Yu yamagoya (about 6500 yen, w/ 2 meals; Tel. 0428-88-0616), enjoy the hot bath and then the sound of the tumbling stream as you go to sleep, and head for the summit of Kumotoriyama (2017 meters) in the morning. A new, very nice addition was built a few years ago. The lodge is run by the Kinoshitas, and the young master will talk to you about the area during dinner if you want to hear about it.

Omatsuri bus stop to end of road: about 7.5 km End of road to Sanjo-no-Yu: abt 1.4 km Sanjo-no-Yu to Kumotoriyama summit: about 5.0 km The Sanjo-no-Yu area and higher is mostly virgin forest (the whole area is a watershed area for Tokyo).

You’re fairly likely to see deer in the area. I was once dozing at the summit after leading our college’s hiking club there, and opened my eyes to find a deer staring at me from only a couple of meters away. Monkeys are also in the area, as are inoshishi (wild boar), itachi (weasel), and even the occasional bear.

The summit area is at the intersection of Greater Tokyo, Yamanashi, and Saitama prefectures. There’s a lodge just beyond the summit (maybe 0.6 -1.0 km), called Kumotori Sanso, and I think this is the lodge which an NHK documentary featured. Lift up one of the tatami and you’re looking at the intersection point of the three prefectures. You can refill with mountain-fresh water from the pipe or even buy soft drinks there (and stay the night: Tel. 0494-23-3338/Mr. Arai).

Mitsumine Jinja descent: The first time, at least, I’d suggest that you return to the Omatsuri bus stop by the way you came up. The next time, or if you’re more adventurous and can read Japanese maps, and have a good nose (and good endurance just in case), you might want to try going north and descending by the long route to Mitsumine Jinja (Saitama Pref.). The summit to Kumotori Sanso leg continues on up and down, and finally all the way down to Mitsumine Jinja and the pretty spectacular Mitsumine Ropeway on the upper reaches of the Arakawa outside/west of Chichibu, if you’re up for 2-3 hours more of running and clambering.

There are a couple of dilapidated yamagoya (real yamagoya in the traditional sense: dark, musty, dank, inconvenient), run by old, hermit-like characters. One is Kumotori Sanso. Another one, a few km further on, is Shiraiwa-goya. Do this if you just want to go through the deeper mountains; otherwise, there’s not much training advantage, except distance and toughening your thighs for downhill work. When I did this course in early September 1998, I saw only one other person, aside from the two lodgekeepers, between the summit of Kumotoriyama and Mitsumine Jinja, so figure that you’re totally on your own the whole way. Don’t sprain an ankle or break a leg. Distance from Kumotoriyama summit to Mitsumine Ropeway: a good 10 km, much of it rather difficult terrain in fairly deep mountains.

Sanjo-no-Yu/Ushiroyama Rindo/Omatsuri Descent: It’s a bit long, but you can return from the Kumotoriyama summit area to Omatsuri and civilization in one shot by the same path and road that you came up on. Just be sure to keep the bus schedules in mind, or be ready to run/walk a few km closer in toward Okutama Station. There are other courses back to Okutama (lake or station), but I haven’t done them. If you can read Japanese maps and have a good nose (and good endurance just in case), you might try them. Otherwise, I’m not sure I would try it. Maps and distances can sometimes be a bit inaccurate and misleading.