(大山) Daisen Hike

Daisen has a "One tree, One Stone" campaign where the locals try to rehabilitate the mountain. We hear a lot about tree planting campaigns, but not stones. So apparently, once a year around summer they have an event (festival?) where the locals/participants hike up the mountain carrying one of the stones, and return the stones to the top of the mountain. 

So should you end up hiking Daisen, take one of the stones from the foot of the mountain and bring it to the summit, will you? 

Budget: JPY1,460 (~USD14)

• JPY1,460. Roundtrip bus, Yonago Station to Daisenji. (JPY730 one way)

Hike Date / Difficulty (Elevation: 1,729m / 5,673ft)

• May 15, 2021. I did this hike with Mt. Sanbe, here's the travel log. 
• Difficulty: 3 out of 5.
• Route below is around 7.0kilometers, with an elevation change of ▲940m/ ▽940m (~5 hours in total). 
• Map Link

When to Go
Anytime during the year, as buses are running throughout. There's a ski area at the trailhead too, and I saw some pics of people snowshoeing.
Make sure you have enough gear when doing this over winter.

Special Notes

• Daisen's official peak is Mt. Misen (弥山) . The route is divided into ten stations, and here are the official pictures per station.
• Weather forecast: English / Japanese. English more detailed, Japanese more accurate. 
• Trailheads. Just one, which is the shrine: 
• Daisenji (大山寺). This is a whole, bustling town. 
• Access can be done directly from either Yonago Station (米子駅) or Daisenguchi Station (大山口駅). 
• Daisenguchi Station is a 19 minute train ride away from Yonago Station.
• Bus schedule here. 
• For the bus from Yonago, look for the link with "観光道路経由 本宮・大山線" close to the top of the page. One way bus from Yonago Station costs JPY730, while bus from Daisenguchi Station is JPY490.

• Mountain huts.
• Paid: Plenty of onsen and accommodations at trailhead.
• Free: Plenty of free huts, see map above. 
• 大山頂上避難小屋 at the summit. See the picture in the link so you can see how it looks like in winter. It has a capacity of about 20 people, unmanned. It was available for use on my visit (May 2021)
• Camping: Designated spots at trailhead.

Itinerary

• 07:20am. Bus, Yonago Station to Daisenji.
• 08:12am. ETA: Daisenji. Start hike.
• 11:30pm. ETA: Summit/lunch/rest.
• 02:00pm. ETA: Back to Daisenji. Enjoy some onsen.
• 03:20pm. Bus, Daisenji to Yonago Station.

Actual Log

• 07:20am. Bus, Yonago Station to Daisenji. 
• 08:11am. Arrived at Daisenji National Park Center. It's a big parking lot, and the park center is definitely top line. It has a shower, fast wifi, plenty of coin lockers. I  explored a bit, went to the restroom, and tried to figure out my way. 
• 08:19am. Started my hike. I decided to do the clockwise loop, where I have to cross the Daisenji Bridge (google maps pin). 
• 08:25am. Arrived at the trailhead, right next to the road. Started walking up the stairs. 
• 08:39am. Arrived at the first station. Apparently the entire trail was marked from the trailhead (first station) to the summit (tenth). It was a very much well curated set of stairs from here on. 
• 08:51am. Second station. Still stairs. 
• 09:01am. Third station. Still stairs. 
• 09:11am. Fourth station. Still stairs. There's a bit of a view. 
• 09:21am. Fifth station. Still stairs. Got into the fork - straight up to the summit, left turn for the descent trail. 
• 09:36am. Sixth station. Mountain hut! This was a nice mountain hut, protected from the winds and having a view of the imposing Daisen ridge. There's a space for portable restroom - which means nothing but a chair with a hole. Back to stairs. But this time, above tree line, so the view is amazing and it just kept getting better. 
• 09:49am. Seventh station. Stairs are not as well curated, and the view is still amazing. 
• 10:07am. Eighth station. Not as steep, there are some flat sections now, and soon I got into the planks and turned left for the summit. 
• 10:17am. Ninth station. Gently sloping planks! Soon arrived at the emergency mountain hut which has a store in it, took some pics and walked the 10 meters or so to the Misen summit marker. 
• 10:27am. Summit! Not as good as the views around eighth station, but it is likely due to the fenced off sections. Took plenty of pictures and snacked. 
• 10:34am. Started my descent. This time I took the left turn of the fork. They will all meet up either way, but the view here was great too. 
• 11:37am. Arrived back at the emergency hut in Sixth Station. I took the turn to the right for the descent. 
• 12:57pm. Arrived at the first shrine right at the exit of the trail. 
• 01:12pm. Arrived at the official Daisenji (Daisen Shrine)
• 01:19pm. Arrived at the lunch place near the bridge, had lunch. I still had plenty of time to kill after lunch, so I spent the rest of the time soaking my feet in the free foot onsen (google maps pin)
• 03:20pm. Bus, Daisenji to Yonago Station. 

Hello Yonago! That bird statue weirded me out a bit.

Waiting at the bus stop. 

Bus schedule for Daisenji (大山寺)

Hello Daisen! (in hindsight, no that is not the summit)

Bus schedule for the return trip. 

Plenty of coin lockers. Make sure you have JPY100 coins. 

Walking to the trailhead. I had to turn right after the post office box. 

Crossing the bridge. 

The trailhead right next to the road. 

Stairs!

Weirdest leaf I've seen. 

First station. 

Well manicured trail. 

Second station. 

Third station. 

Fourth station. A bit of a view across it. 

Fourth station. 

The view across it. 

Fifth station. 

Arrived at the fork, noted that the way down is to my left (下り=way down)

The signs at the fork, summit is still 1.4km away. 

Whoa, that's gorgeous. 

Continuing on. 

Sixth station. 

The entry to the hut. 

Inside the hut is a small space but good enough to sleep 2-3 people. 

Plus a loft. So another 2 people. or 3 if they squeeze in. 

The toilet. Yup, bring your own bag and bring your waste down with you. 

The view is getting better and better. 

Would love to cross that ridge. 

Seventh station. 

I kept on looking back at the ridge haha. I think that little bump in the middle is a mountain hut too. 

Eighth station. 

One of the few flat spots. 

Ninth station. Finally no more stairs!

The emergency hut near the summit. 

Pretty big. 

Plenty of room, with shelves too. There's a second floor too, and that's way more room. 

Summit marker! Behind it is likely the actual highest point that is not safe to go to. 

The view behind the marker. Doesn't seem like it's dangerous, right? haha. 

Ok, time to go back. 

Descending down the planks.

Some leftover snow. 

The view was gorgeous. 

Darn. I really wished I could go across that ridge. 

View down. 

The cart that pulls the supplies up til around 6th station. 

Taking a different way down. 

Still a lot of stairs. 

Bear warning!

Another mountain hut nestled in the forest, with a great view of Daisen ridges. 

A little bit down the road. 

Shot from my drone. 

Got into a fork, turned left to follow the trail. 

No more stairs!

Back to town. 

Looking back at the shrine. 

Continuing my descent. 

I was supposed to go straight, but followed the sign and turned left. 

Which was a good idea! I managed to see Daisenji. 

Ok going down to go back to the bus stop. 

Sigh this was a long, slightly sloping road. 

Spot for lunch, right next to the bridge. 

Lunch!

Foot onsen! Free!

Soaked here for about an hour. 

Near the foot onsen is a spot to clean shoes at. 

Ok, back to the park center (bus stop)

The center has a pretty wide shower room. 

And the bus is here!