(天城山) Mt. Amagi Hike

Definitely NOT a famous mountain, even if it is in the hundred famous mountain. Coz when I went to Izu a year back, looking for a mountain, the only one that came up was Mt. Omuro, the matcha-covered looking chocolate hill.

Either way, Mt. Amagi is more of a mountain range, so when hiking, what you will see is Mt. Banzaburo (万三郎岳), which is the highest point.

Budget: JPY4,450 (~USD42) from Tokyo

• JPY2,040. Roundtrip bus, Ito Station to Amagikogen Golf Course.
• JPY2,410. One day's worth allocated with Seishun 18 ticket. (if from Tokyo)

Hike Date / Difficulty (Elevation: 1,406m / 4,613ft)

• August 15, 2020
• Difficulty: 2 out of 5
• Route below is around 8.4kilometers, with an elevation change of ▲764m/ ▽762mHere's the distance and elevation of my hike:

• Map: Traverse (8 hours, 14.7kms). This detail is from this blog.
• Map: Loop source blog (4 hours)

When to Go
Anytime during the year. However, the flowers that seem to be endemic to Izu Peninsula blooms from May to June.

Special Notes

• Weather forecast: English / Japanese.
• A nice side trip is Mt. Omuro, which is a matcha covered looking hill. It's not really a hike as you are required to take the chair lift, but it's a nice stroll around the crater. If you wish to go up, you can stop at 浅間神社 (google maps pin), which is the 9th stop for the bus in Trailhead 1 below.
• Trailheads. Two options - At Amagikogen Golf Course (Trailhead 1) OR Amagitouge Station (Trailhead 2). There are two maps linked above: 
• Traverse from Amagitouge to Amagikogen Golf Course
• Loop at Amagaikogen Golf Course (the more common route)
• Trailhead 1. Amagikogen Golf Course. This is accessible via bus from Ito Station. 
• Train, Tokyo Station to Ito Station, 149minutes, JPY2,310 one way, or JPY2,410 if you use the Seishun 18 ticket. The earliest you can get to Ito Station is 07:49am.
• Bus, Ito Station to Amagikogen Golf Course, 55 minutes, JPY1,020 one way. Technically, you would be getting off at the stop right before here though - the tozanguchi (登山口)

Bus schedule: Ito Station (伊東駅) to Amagikogen Golf Course (天城高原ゴルフ場).

First one leaves at 7:55am, and gets there at 08:50am.



Amagikogen Golf Course (天城高原ゴルフ場) to Ito Station (伊東駅).
Last one at 5:40pm.

• Trailhead 2. Amagi-touge Bus Stop. This is accessible via bus from Shuzenji Station (修繕時駅). 
• Train, Tokyo Station to Shuzenji Station, JPY2,830, 170 minutes. Earliest you can get there is 7:45am.
• Bus, Shuzenji Station to Amagi-touge (天城峠)'s bus schedule. 
• Earliest one leaves at 8:15am, and gets there at 8:58am, JPY1,110 one way.
• Last four return buses in the afternoon are at 2:54pm, 3:59pm, 5:04pm, and 5:49pm.

Itinerary

For this hike, I decided to do a loop where my start point and end point are at the Amagi-kogen Golf Course.

• 09:31am. Arrived at Atami Station, I transferred to Platform form 1 to see the train waiting. It has a restroom in it.
• 10:02am. Arrived at Ito Station. Exit, turn left, walk about 10 meters. The bus stops are easily visible - bus stop 3. (bus stop 2 from April 2022 per comment below)
• 10:40. If you stop at 浅間神社, you can go to omuro
• 11:12am. Start hike. It was a very gentle slope, with some ups and downs.
• 12:37pm. Arrived at Karasawa Junction (涸沢分岐点). About ten minutes from here, the big push up the summit starts, and it is basically stairs 'til the top.
• 01:28pm. Summit! Mt. Banzaburo has some benches in the summit, which is the only good rest point for the hike. I continued on to Mt. Banjiro. It was mainly a nice walk across the ridge.
• 01:41pm. Passed Amagi-shakugane, which has a post in English explaining how the bushes only grow in Izu, and that they bloom all over around May and June.
• 02:06pm. Passed Asebi Tunnel, which also has a post in English explaining how the bushy evergreen tree is poisonous enough to make a horse suffer and walk like its drunk - hence the name of the tree being "Drunken Horse Tree". (Side note: I'm not really the type to start munching on shrubs while hiking, but this is a pretty nice reminder not to start here. Though I never was tempted to munch on leaves until I was told not to)
• 02:30pm. Arrived at Mt. Banjiro.
• 03:00pm. Back at Yotsuji fork.
• 03:11pm. Back at bus stop! Bus was a bit late, and left around 3:16pm.
• 04:10pm. Arrived at Ito Station. Went down to go to track 2 (or 3?) for the train to Atami. It was a pretty posh viewing train, with a restroom.
• 05:05pm. Train, Atami Station to Tokyo, platform 5. I now have a 1.5 hour train back to Tokyo! Almost home!

At Ito Station, the big parking lot has the bus stops lined up. 

After I got off the bus, the trailhead was to my right. You can see the little entrance there. 

So here's the entrance. The bus stop going back is also here on this side. 

The first couple of hours was mainly a gentle ascent up. 

Most of the trail look like this, though there are some sections where I had to climb up with my hands. 

The last hour was basically stairs up and up and up.

For those who want to wild camp, there's this space right next to the summit. You can see on the left corner the marker for the summit. 

Here's the summit! With benches to nap on. 

The summit has three markers. The big board on the left, the one with the arrows on the right, and that little thing between them. 

Crossing the ridge was pretty fun as they have explanations like this. For example, this is how I know that I should have had gone around May and June to see the flowers. 

I would see some little white flowers on the ground every now and then, but generally none at this point. 

This one is pretty funny. It explains how the trees are poisonous. Which reminded me not to start munching on plants here. 

The poisonous tunnel. 

At one point there's a little outcrop where you can see the surrounding area.

Here's another flat area right in front of Mt. Banjidorake, for those considering wild camping. 

The markers. 

Mt. Banjidorake has this little area where you can see the view. As there was tree cover the entire hike, this and the one close to the summit are the only times I could see beyond the trees. 

I met a cutie! His owners took him hiking, and basically were carrying him for the big steps. 

The train. It's a special one that allows for a ocean view. And no, there's no reserved seating nor additional fees.