short stay in Tokyo

Hi, My husband and I are stopping over in Tokyo before going on to Kamchatka. Unfortunately we seem to have made this visit just too short for the things we would like to do. We fly in on 5th June and out again on 11th. We were keen to do some walking in the Japanese Alps. My question is do we have time or would we be wasting too much time travelling. Are there good walking areas nearer to Tokyo, or areas with better transport links. We are interested in through walks with stays simple homestays, in beautiful countryside. I look forward to your advice.

The Japanese Alps are good for serious hiking in high altitude mountains. The mountain huts are fully equipped and you could do a multi-day hike carrying very little luggage (basically only cloths and food/drinks for the way between huts). Transportation from Tokyo is easy and you even have convenient overnight buses to some of the more famous hiking spots (such as Kamikochi). So yes, you'd have the time if you don't want much time in Tokyo itself.

There are mountains just outside Tokyo and in principle you could do multi-day hikes staying in small ryokan/minshuku along the way. However this would require a bit of planning and accommodation booking and would be fairly off the beaten track (for foreign tourists).

Alternatively you could do day hikes in places such as Kamakura, Nikko (staying overnight in Nikko), Hakone, Mitake, Takao, Nokogiri, Tanzawa mountains...

Have you been to Japan before? Do you have any interest in Tokyo and it's sights? 35-40 million people doesnt make for " We are interested in through walks with stays simple homestays, in beautiful countryside." but it is a very interesting region of the world.

5 days inbetween when you land and depart is enough time to head to the Japanese alps and wander around but you will need to make it a focus of your trip.

The nearest place to Tokyo would be the Southern Alps. Train to Kofu and bus to the trailhead from there. But June is offseason. I don't know how many busses there are at that time. You can stay in mountain huts, but not cheap.

BTW, June is rainy season. This does not mean tropical rains, but skies will typically be overcast and it might be raining now and then or even every day. You should be prepared for this and perhaps have a plan B.

Thank you for the information. We have decided that we will spend a couple of days in Tokyo and then head to Mount Mitake. We will stay in a Ryokan on the mountain and do some hiking from there. Thanks for the tip re weather, we will carry full waterproofs. We have a couple of nights after that before we have to head back to Narita airport. We are not really city people, and would rather be in the countryside. Do you have any sugestions, so we don't waste too much time travelling. This is a stop over on our way to Kamchatka, but it has made us realise that we will have to come back to Japan as there are so many different areas to esplore.

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