(磐梯山) Mt. Bandai Hike

An almost perfect cone ruined by an eruption back in 1888, this mountain is surrounded by onsen towns making transportation relatively easy.

Budget: JPY12,310 (~USD115)

• JPY2,410. Tokyo Station to Inawashiro Station.
• JPY4,800. Hostel at Inawashiro Station.
• JPY5,100. Ura-bandai-kogen Bus Stop to Tokyo Station.

Hike Date / Difficulty (Elevation: 1,816m / 5958ft)

• June 13, 2021. Did this trip with Mt. Adatara and Mt. Azuma-kofuji . 
• Difficulty: 3 out of 5.
• Route below is around 13.8kilometers, with an elevation elevation change of ▲1,263m/ ▽1139m
• Map link

When to Go
Winter is not advisable, given avalanche risk. That means around November to April is off limits, but check the weather. 

Special Notes

• Weather check: English / Japanese. English more detailed, Japanese more accurate. 
• Trailheads. There are various trailheads, but few that has public transportation.
• Ura-bandai-kogen Bus Stop (裏磐梯高原駅(バス停). (google maps pin).
• There is ONE direct bus from Tokyo (JPY5,100/person) that can be booked online here. If the link comes up blank, that means there are no buses for that date, so choose another. Here's the bus homepage for reference.
• 08:50am (Tokyo Station) ⇒ 01:50pm (Ura-bandai-kogen Bus Stop)
• 01:15pm (Ura-bandai-kogen Bus Stop) ⇒ 06:15pm (Tokyo Station)
• Train is also an option, as there is a bus every hour that will go to Inawashiro Station. It’s 42minutes, JPY910.
• Inawashiro Ski Resort (猪苗代スキー場). From Inawashiro Station (猪苗代駅), it’s a 4.3km walk (1 hour, 1 minute based on google maps) to the ski resort.
• Tokyo Station to Inawashiro Station (one way)
• Local train: JPY4,840, 338 minutes. Seishun 18 ticket is applicable, so it is about JPY2,410 for the day.
• Bullet train: JPY8,580, 163 minutes.
• Kawakami-tozanguchi (川上登山口). The bus that comes from Ura-bandai-kogen Bus Stop (裏磐梯高原駅(バス停) to Inawashiro Station (猪苗代)passes through here.
• Happodai (八方台登山口). Google maps pin. No public transportation, with parking lot, bring your car. This is also the shortest route. 
• Mountain huts. No mountain huts. With the map you’re gonna see 弘法清水小屋 etc, but those are stores, not mountain huts. They don’t seem to have restrooms nor have accommodations.
• No restroom throughout, and no way to go offtrail either, so expect no restroom breaks. 

Itinerary
We had a car and chose to do the shortest route - Happodai. 

• 06:00am. Drive to Happodai. (1.25 hr drive from Koriyama Station, add one hour for breakfast and traffic)
• 08:30am. Hike Mt. Bandai (<4 hours)
• 12:30pm. Back at Happodai. Drive back to Tokyo. 

Actual Log
Changed the time from 6:00am to 4:30am so we can go home earlier. 

• 04:30am. Drive to Happodai. 
• 05:40am. Arrived at Happodai Station. We got ready, and were on the trailhead in 5 minutes. It was a beautiful walk, and a gentle incline. 
• 06:07am. Arrived at Nakanoyu (中の湯), which is an old onsen place but now is nothing but a shell of those old huts. 
• 07:09am. Arrived at the shops. From here on is the steepest section of the hike. Nothing too steep though. 
• 07:35am. Arrived at the summit. The funny thing is that the summit marker is lower than the shrine up the big pile of rocks. We took plenty of pictures. 
• 08:00am. Started heading down. 
• 08:31am. Back at the shop, which has the best view in the mountain, at least in our trail. 
• 09:56am. Back at Nakanoyu (中の湯). 
• 10:00am. Back at Happodai. Time to drive back to Tokyo. 

The resting spot at the parking lot, which can be a good place to camp at. 

The trailhead right across the parking lot. 

Plenty of warnings at the start about the bears. 

Gorgeous stroll. 

Nakanoyu - 中の湯

Had to cross the planks. 

Then the ascent started. 

The marker at the shop. We continued our ascent. 

The steep section. 

Then soon, the summit!

With the shrine on top of the pile of rocks. See that little yellow sign in the middle? That's the summit marker. 

Here's the close up. 

Looking back at the shrine. 

Back at the shop, here's my favorite shot. 

The descent. 

Back at Nakanoyu 中の湯. The water was lukewarm I hear. 

We then drove to Inawashiro Lake, trying to see that iconic view of Mt. Bandai behind the lake. Unfortunately, this is all I've got.