Hikes in Japan: The Mt. Jinba Loop Trail (陣馬山)

BASIC INFORMATION

• Name: Mt. Jinba Loop Trail (陣馬山 ハイキングコース)
• Location: Fujino, Japan
• Distance: 7.5 miles (12 km)
• Max Elevation: 2,811 feet (857 m)
• Elevation Gain: 2,398 feet (730 m)
• Time: 5-7 hours
• Difficulty: Moderate
• More Information: 30 Day Hikes Near Tokyo

Google Earth Map of the Trail

Elevation Map

Directions

Without a car getting to the trailhead for this hike can be challenging.  From Tokyo there are various ways by train and bus to reach the small village of Fujino which lies below Mt. Jinba. If arriving by train the walk from the train station to the trailhead on road 522 depicted below is about two miles making this a much longer hike.

Parking

Unlike many hikes in Japan, this one actually does have a free parking lot near the trailhead.  The parking lot is located about a quarter mile northwest of the lower Mt. Jinba Trailhead.  The catch though is that the free parking lot is small.  It can fit about six cars in it.  My son and I pulled into the parking lot at about 9:00 AM on a weekday morning and there was no other cars in the lot.  When we returned from our hike there was still no other cars.  I am sure on weekends there would be more cars that use this lot, but likely if you arrive early there will be free parking available here.

Narrative

A nice and challenging hike that I took my nine-year old son on was up the 857 meter Mt. Jinba (Jinba-san in Japanese) which is located on the border of Tokyo and Kanagawa prefectures.  The trail is located in the scenic, steep and heavily forested mountains between Tokyo and Mt. Fuji.  After driving to the free parking area, my son and I began I our hike by first walking down the sidewalk to the trailhead:

Just before reaching the trailhead we spotted a nice public restroom facility:

Just passed the public restroom we spotted this stone marker which marks the start of the trail:

From the stone marker we reached a fork in the road where there are two routes to hike up Mt. Jinba.  Taking a left here leads to the Ichino One Ridge Trail.  Taking a right leads to the Tochiya Ridge Trail. We planned to make this a loop hike and took the road to the left that led to the Ichino One Ridge Trail and planned to finish the hike by returning on the Tochiya Trail that began and ends on the right:

As we walked up the road to the left we could see the ridgeline we would hike up on the Ichino One Ridge Trail that would lead to the summit of Mt. Jinba.  Unfortunately no where on the trail could we actually see Mt. Jinba due to the trees:

About the first mile of this hike is on a narrow road that steeply gains elevation through the village:

The road eventually ends and becomes a dirt trail marked with a sign with the Kanji characters 陣馬山 which mean Mt. Jinba:

The dirt trail was in great shape and my son and I made great time as we ascended up it:

As my son and I continued up the trail we spotted the only wildlife we saw all day, which was a small lizard:

One major difference with hiking in Japan compared to the United States is how little wildlife there is to see.  As we continued up the trail it slowly became steeper as we gained more elevation:

We soon reached a picnic area that had an emergency tarp and water jugs available for anyone that needed them in an emergency.  From the picnic area we were only 2 kilometers from the summit, but we knew it was going to be a steep 2 kilometers to get there:

My son and I continued to make great time up the trail and took our first break just .7 kilometers from the summit:

There was a small bench for my son and I to rest on before we made our final push to the summit:

The final summit push up Mt. Jinba was the steepest of the whole hike which had us ascending up multiple staircases:

However, we could soon see the mountain hut cafe on the summit:

The summit actually had multiple cafes on it, but the day we hiked up there was only one that was open.  They sold the things you usually see for sale at these mountain huts such as drinks, ice cream, udon, ramen, etc.  Since we were hiking on a weekday, the cafe and summit overall were not very busy with maybe 20 people in the vicinity:

We walked past the cafe to the summit that was capped with a horse statue that pay homage to the mountain’s past use as a horse grazing area:

Next to the horse statue there is a signboard and a large rock with the kanji letters for Mt. Jinba:

The signboard pointed out various other mountains that can be seen from the summit:

Below is a view of the summit as seen from the signboard.  This area of the summit had another cafe that was closed and a restroom:

We also spotted another signboard that describes the popular hike between Mt. Jinba and Mt. Takao.  It is a 19.4 kilometer hike that my kids and I plan to do later in the summer:

From the summit of Mt. Jinba out in the distance to the west we could see the prominent speak we plan to hike in the future, the 1,266 meter Mt. Odake:

Our view to the north towards Tokyo we could not see much due to the trees and the haze:

Looking south we had a nice view of the steep green mountains that extend towards Mt. Fuji:

However due to the clouds and haze that had rolled in we couldn’t really see Mt. Fuji very well from the summit.  If you look closely at the below picture you can just make out a little of the snow covered slopes of Mt. Fuji:

After taking in the views my son and I walked back over to the cafe to have a snack and continue to enjoy the views:

From the start of our hike, my son and I made it to the summit 2.5 hours.  We ended spending about an hour on the summit taking in the views, eating snacks, and getting rehydrated for the walk back down the mountain.  Instead of following the Ichino One Ridge Trail to go back down the mountain, we wanted to make this a loop hike by using the Tochiya Ridge Trail instead.  On the summit there is conveniently a sign that points out in which direction all the trails go in English and Japanese:

My son and I simply followed the Tochiya Ridge trail sign.  We made sure to note the kanji lettering on the sign because the remaining signs would all be in kanji.  The descent was an easy but steep one down Mt. Jinba:

There was a few sections of the hike where the trail leveled out and it was a nice walk through the forest:

As we descended down the trail we made sure to be careful and not trip or slip on anything because the hillside was very steep and a fall could be fatal:

At 2.2 kilometers down the trail from the summit we came to a small shrine in the middle of the forest:

The small Shinto shrine had a couple of statues of the Japanese fox called a Kitsune (キツネ).  In Japanese folklore Kitsune can shapeshift into human form and are often thought of as messengers from the Gods:

Just passed the shrine the trail exited the forest and entered into a farm that was growing primarily plums and green tea:

From the farm we had a nice view of the surrounding mountains:

Along the side of the trail the farmer had a little stand built that sold plums and green tea to hikers.  The stand operated on the honor system and had a little box you put the money into.  I can’t help, but think in many areas of the U.S. the produce would be stolen, but here in Japan people are trustworthy enough to run an operation like this:

At the end of the dirt trail we approached the farmer’s house:

At the farmers house the trail becomes a paved road:

We just continued to follow the signs down the mountain using the road:

Interestingly there was a sign hanging up warning hikers about Japanese moon bears in the area:

Along the road we came to another nice public restroom facility:

The restroom had a signboard put up showing the various trails between Mt. Jinba and Mt. Takao:

As we descended we made the mistake of following this arrow sign.  This sign actually means not to go this way because the road turns into a dead end trail:

After coming to the dead end we turned around and went back to the main road and continued our descent:

Along the way we passed this beautiful flower garden:

We then passed by this small Tori gate:

The road then began to follow an adjacent river:

The water in the river was extremely clear and looked very refreshing to jump into if the road wasn’t so high up above it:

Soon my son and I found ourselves back at the trailhead.  It had taken us 2 hours to hike down and would have been about 20 minutes less if we didn’t make the wrong turn on the road.  My son and I did not like hiking on this road because of the amount of cars we had to keep getting out of the way of.  By the time we got to the trailhead we were happy to be off the road.

Conclusion

Overall my son and I really enjoyed the Mt. Jinba Loop Trail.  It had the perfect distance of 7.5 miles and over 2,300 feet of elevation gain to challenge my 9-year old son and still give me a nice work out as well.  The views from the top were pretty nice and would have been better if Mt. Fuji wasn’t obscured with clouds.  The horse statue was also a nice reward for my son to checkout and take a picture with.  We also enjoyed sitting at the cafe on the summit and eating snacks before heading back down. This is definitely a great hike for solo hikers or for families with fit children to check out.