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Hi Cesar,

Not sure what you're looking for here: inspiration or practical advice. Here's a bit of both.

Guerriila/wild/rough (choose your word) camping seems to be fairly common and acceptable in Japan. I've discreetly set up a tent on beaches in Okinawa and Iriomote, and in closed campgrounds and emergency shelters on Hokkaido. Most recently, this spring in fact, I and a group of others tossed down our sleeping bags near the summit of a famous mountain to catch Fujisan at sunrise. Never had any run-ins with the police or anyone else. Only once did I have any trouble, sleeping on a beach in southern Okinawa, and that was with a pack of dogs not people.

Camping wild on Iriomote and Okinawa inspired two stories, both published by Travelmag:
Stalking the Iriomote Gomi Cat and

I've seen others set up tents under bridges, in parks, even in railway stations (deep in the inaka, countryside) closed for the night.

Rough camping in Japan seems to be a common and widely accepted practice.

There's a word for rough camping in Japanese, maybe someone else recalls...

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Thank you,
I'm thinking it would be great to walk East on Shijo in Kyoto into the forested hills past Maruyama Koen and crash there. If anyone can recommended the most thickly forested park in the Tokyo area I'd appreciate it.

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For some reason, I can't post a link to the other story,about Okinawa. You can find "Sleeping with Ghosts" at travelmag.co.uk.

Edited by: tokyoaaron

Edited by: tokyoaaron

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There's a word for rough camping in Japanese, maybe someone else recalls...
野宿 (nojuku)