Hey guys, I'm new here.

I just did a google search for some information on camping in Japan, and I stumbled on your page. I've been looking for weeks now, and I have found it very hard to gather good information on camping. I was wondering if you guys (and ladies!)could point me in the right direction.

Many sites require reservations, but no two places have what we're really looking for in a campsite. First of all, we're going to stay in Kyoto for a few days at the Gojo Guest House and do some site seeing, but after that we were thinking of camping for 2 nights before we get to Mt. Fuji. Do you know of any places between Kyoto and Fuji were camping is pretty nice? Even camping IN both of those areas would be awesome. Maybe even a good Hostel near Mt. Fuji where a hiking day trip wouldn't be out of the question, perhaps with traditional bedding? Then after a hike, and a stay in Fuji, we're going to camp 2 more nights on our way back to Tokyo. For a while I considered something in Nikko, at lake Chuzenji, but it's been hard to find offices and numbers.

Basically, we're looking for places that offer amazing hiking, swimming is permitted, tent camping, and possibly scuba diving. The coastal, or lake areas are also possibilities.

I'm pulling my hair out here in Florida, and any help would be wonderful.

Thanks everyone!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: AkaiOokami,

welcome to the forums. planning a camping trip in Japan while staying in another country is no easy task (it's hard enough to plan even for people living here), so I'll try to help you as much as I can.

My first question is: How are you planning to get around Japan? by train? bus? car? That will factor in heavily as to your available places to camp. the other factor is the type of tent you have. Is it a backcountry tent, or of the car camping type?

I've done a lot of camping in Japan, but the majority of it has been in the mountains, and not in designated car campgrounds. Car campgrounds in Japan are very different from the ones in the U.S. First of all, they are pretty expensive. Even if you don't have a car, they'll still charge you around $30 just to 'rent' a place to pitch your tent. The sites in the alpine areas will charge you between $5 and $10.

Also, a lot of the campgrounds I've seen are built to cater to large groups of primary and secondary school students. I don't want to put you off camping, but just wanted to give you a heads up to the reality. Also, I've never made a reservation at any campsite in Japan - they always seem to have room no matter where you are.

Are you planning on climbing Mt. Fuji, or just getting a good view of it? The views from the Hakone region are very nice.

quote:

Originally posted by wes:
welcome to the forums. planning a camping trip in Japan while staying in another country is no easy task (it's hard enough to plan even for people living here), so I'll try to help you as much as I can.

My first question is: How are you planning to get around Japan? by train? bus? car? That will factor in heavily as to your available places to camp. the other factor is the type of tent you have. Is it a backcountry tent, or of the car camping type?

I've done a lot of camping in Japan, but the majority of it has been in the mountains, and not in designated car campgrounds. Car campgrounds in Japan are very different from the ones in the U.S. First of all, they are pretty expensive. Even if you don't have a car, they'll still charge you around $30 just to 'rent' a place to pitch your tent. The sites in the alpine areas will charge you between $5 and $10.

Also, a lot of the campgrounds I've seen are built to cater to large groups of primary and secondary school students. I don't want to put you off camping, but just wanted to give you a heads up to the reality. Also, I've never made a reservation at any campsite in Japan - they always seem to have room no matter where you are.

Are you planning on climbing Mt. Fuji, or just getting a good view of it? The views from the Hakone region are very nice.

Nice to meet you Wes, and thanks for replying! I thought my thread was going to go by the wayside, lol.

We were thinking of renting a car, but we decided that maybe buying a JR pass would be more inexpensive (We haven't bough the pass yet, so it's up in the air). We set aside $450 each, to buy the JR pass off of IACE-usa.com's website, so if it would be better to buy a car, and we could afford to do so with that amount we would consider it. On the issue of the tent, I mean, it seems like a tent that one would set up in the woods. I'm not sure of the name brand right of the top of my head, but I know it's a popular, but it's real nice. Should we think of buying hammock tents because of the rain in July?

I wouldn't mind camping in the mountains, woods, or back country, but I didn't know if it was "legal" or anything, and didn't want to cause any trouble for my first visit. In fact, lol, we had hoped to camp off the beaten path, but thought maybe some of the parks (like around Fuji, and Nikko) had a lot to offer, so thought the only way to camp in these protected areas would be to do it legally. Could we just find a wooded area, and set up there?

This list of camp grounds has some affordable places in the Fuji, Kyoto, and Lake Chuzenji area, but I don't know if it really be "getting back to nature" like we had intended, if what you said was true: http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/location/rtg/pdf/pg-804.pdf

In terms of Mt. Fuji, we would definitely like to climb/hike up it.

Thanks for all your help! Hope to hear back from you!

-Phil

the JR rail pass is a really good investment, especially if you're going to travel around by train. one round trip ride from Osaka to Tokyo just about pays for the pass.

which part of July are you going to come? the rainy season usually lasts from mid-June to mid-July, but sometimes longer. The last 3 years it has rained heavily on the national holiday of July 21st....you've also got to watch out for mosquitos. if you have a hammock tent you'll get eaten alive unless it has a mosquito net. I haven't done any camping in Kyoto, Fuji or Chuzenji. Last autumn I'd planned to camp at the Yumoto Hot Spring campground near lake Chuzenji but I gave up because of the heavy rain and strong winds.

another option would be to stay in mountain huts (if you don't mind paying). some of the huts can get quite expensive, but it's cheaper if you don't order meals (just bring some food and a camp stove). There are also some emergency huts on most mountains, which are completely free to stay in and very basic. just bring sleeping gear and food. Mt. Fuji doesn't have any emergency huts, though, and you've got to pay to stay in very tiny and cramped huts.

i've done lots of illegal camping and have never had a problem. usually I just set up camp at night and break down early in the morning. remember that there's no daylight savings time in Japan, and the sun rises around 4am in the summer time.