(吾妻小富士) Mt. Azuma-kofuji Hike

Last year, I went the the Fuji of the South, and now it's time to visit the little Fuji in the north. 

The best viewing point seems to be Mt. Issaikyo. The picture above is the drone shot from the summit. 

Budget: JPY4,000 (~USD37)

• Not accessible by car, so setting an estimate of JPY4,000 share in car rental. 
• Car parking at Jododaira: JPY500. 

Hike Date / Difficulty (Elevation: 1,707m / 5,600ft)

• June 12, 2021. Did this trip with Mt. Adatara and Mt. Bandai. 
• Difficulty:  2 out of 5
• Route below is around 12.1kilometers, with an elevation change of ▲758m/ 755▽m (4h55m)
• Map Link 

When to Go
Anytime during the year. 

Special Notes

• Weather forecast: English / Japanese. English more detailed, Japanese more accurate. 
• This entire mountain range of Azuma's main summit is Mt. Azuma (west one), which is requires an additional day or two of hiking. 
• The road (Bandai Skyline) seems to be a famous road both for cycling and motorcycle enthusiasts. 
• The hike around the actual summit of Azuma-kofuji is closed from May 10 - latter August 2021 (source).
• Trailheads. Just one. 
• Jododaira (浄土平). Google maps pin.  No public transport. For those coming via car, here's the phone number for navigation: 0242-64-2105
• Mountain huts. 
• Paid. None that I could find. 
• Free. Sugadaira-hinangoya (酸ヶ平避難小屋). The emergency hut is beautiful, though if you sleep there you'll have to sleep on cement instead of the normal wood (picture below). The restroom is also quite decent and doesn't smell. 
• Camping. At the trailhead. 

Itinerary (from Koriyama Station)

• 06:00am. Drive to Jododaira (1.5 hr drive from Koriyama Station, add one hour for breakfast and traffic)
• 08:30am. ETA: Jododaira. Start hike. 
• 12:00pm. Back at Jododaira. Drive to Mt. Adatara Ropeway (50mins)

Actual Log

• 06:00am. Drive to Jododaira.
• 08:00am. Arrived at Jododaira. Started hiking. It was a gentle ascent until we got to the planks and it was a gorgeous walk. We had to take a turn right to go to the emergency hut.
• 08:48am. Arrived at the emergency hut. From here on we had to ascend up the summit, with gorgeous views of the lake. Once we got to the ridge, we finally were able to see the crater. 
• 09:19am. Arrived at the summit of Mt. Issaikyo. Took a lot of pictures for about 20 minutes? Then backtrailed to the mountain hut. 
• 10:16am. Back at the fork, and did a flat loop around the lake, and soon ascended to Mt. Higashi-Azuma. It was a steeper ascent, under full cover of the trees until we got to the summit that has a 360 degree view of the surrounding area. 
• 11:00am. Arrived at the summit of Mt. Higashi-Azuma. Took plenty of pictures, but the view is not as good as Mt. Issaikyo. 
• 12:20pm. Back at Jododaira. 

One of the stop points on the way to the trailhead. Bikers were stopping here taking a picture with this marker + their motorcycles. 

Waiting area at the parking lot. 

Walking to the trailhead. The trailhead is to the right of the building in the middle. 

The first section of the hike. 

Some muddy sections. 

Had to do a gentle ascent. 

The free mountain hut. 

The restroom right next to the hut. 

After ascending a bit, took a look back and saw the lake. 

Summit of Mt. Issaikyo. 

Summit marker of Issaikyo. 

View of the crater. But from my drone. 

Back at the marshland. 

Going around the lake. 

The fork to go to Mt. Higashi-Azuma. 

The final push to the summit. 

Higashi Azuma summit marker. 

Backtrailing down. 

The way back to the parking lot. 

Hey Azuma-kofuji!