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100 Famous Mountains of Japan Challenge

quest for hikers in Japan based on the 1964 book 100 Famous Japanese mountains by mountaineer and author Kyūya Fukada. The mountains were not only selected by height but also based on a combination of grace, history, and individuality.

Nowhere in the world do people hold mountains in so much regard as in Japan” writes Fukada in the afterword to this book. “Mountains have played a part in Japanese history since the country’s beginnings, and they manifest themselves in every form of art. For mountains have always formed the bedrock of the Japanese soul.”

The list became famous when Crown Prince Naruhito took note of it as one of his favourite books. The Crown Prince is a mountain enthusiast and it has been reported that it is a dream of his to reach the summit of every mountain on the list. In imitation of Prince Naruhito, many people have also set the goal of reaching every summit on the list.

The Challenge

To complete this travel challenge you must summit all 100 peaks:

  • Akan Volcanic Complex (阿寒岳)
  • Daisetsuzan Volcanic Group (大雪山)
  • Mount Poroshiri (幌尻岳)
  • Mount Rausu (羅臼岳)
  • Mount Rishiri (利尻岳)
  • Mount Shari (斜里岳)
  • Mount Tokachi (十勝岳)
  • Mount Tomuraushi (トムラウシ山)
  • Mount Yōtei (羊蹄山)
  • Mount Adatara (安達太良山)
  • Mount Aizu-Komagatake (会津駒ヶ岳)
  • Mount Asahi (朝日岳)
  • Mount Azuma (吾妻山)
  • Mount Bandai (磐梯山)
  • Mount Chōkai (鳥海山)
  • Mount Gassan (月山)
  • Mount Hachimantai (八幡平)
  • Hakkōda (八甲田山)
  • Mount Hayachine (早池峰山)
  • Mount Hiuchigatake (燧ヶ岳)
  • Mount Iide (飯豊山)
  • Mount Iwaki (岩木山)
  • Mount Iwate (岩手山)
  • Mount Zaō (蔵王山)
  • Mount Akagi (赤城山)
  • Mount Asama (浅間山)
  • Mount Azumaya (四阿山)
  • Mount Hiragatake (平ヶ岳)
  • Mount Hotaka (武尊山)
  • Mount Kumotori (雲取山)
  • Mount Kusatsu-Shirane (草津白根山)
  • Mount Nantai (男体山)
  • Mount Nasu (那須岳)
  • Mount Nikkō-Shirane (日光白根山)
  • Mount Ryōkami (両神山)
  • Mount Shibutsu (至仏山)
  • Mount Sukai (皇海山)
  • Mount Tanigawa (谷川岳)
  • Mount Tanzawa (丹沢山)
  • Mount Tsukuba (筑波山)
  • Mount Aino (間ノ岳)
  • Mount Akaishi (赤石岳)
  • Mount Amagi (天城山)
  • Mount Amakazari (雨飾山)
  • Mount Daibosatsu (大菩薩岳)
  • Mount Ena (恵那山)
  • Mount Fuji (富士山)
  • Mount Goryū (五竜岳)
  • Mount Haku (白山)
  • Mount Hijiri (聖岳)
  • Mount Hiuchi (火打山)
  • Mount Hōō (鳳凰山)
  • Mount Hotaka (穂高岳)
  • Mount Jōnen (常念岳)
  • Mount Kaikoma (甲斐駒ヶ岳)
  • Mount Kasa (笠ヶ岳)
  • Mount Kashima Yarigatake (鹿島槍ヶ岳)
  • Mount Kinpu (金峰山)
  • Mount Kirigamine (霧ヶ峰)
  • Mount Kisokoma (木曾0駒ヶ岳)
  • Mount Kita (北岳)
  • Mount Kobushi (甲武信ヶ岳)
  • Mount Kuro (黒岳)
  • Mount Kurobegorō (黒部五郎岳)
  • Mount Makihata (巻機山)
  • Mount Mizugaki (瑞牆山)
  • Mount Myōkō (妙高山)
  • Mount Naeba (苗場山)
  • Mount Norikura (乗鞍岳)
  • Mount Ontake (御嶽山)
  • Mount Senjō (仙丈ヶ岳)
  • Mount Shiomi (塩見岳)
  • Mount Shirouma (白馬岳)
  • Mount Takatsuma (高妻山)
  • Mount Tateshina (蓼科山)
  • Mount Tate (立山)
  • Mount Tekari (光岳)
  • Mount Tsurugi (剣岳)
  • Mount Uonuma-Komagatake (魚沼駒ヶ岳)
  • Mount Utsugi (空木岳)
  • Mount Warusawa (悪沢岳)
  • Mount Washiba (鷲羽岳)
  • Mount Yake (焼岳)
  • Mount Yakushi (薬師岳)
  • Mount Yari (槍ヶ岳)
  • Yatsugatake (八ヶ岳)
  • Utsukushigahara Highland (美ヶ原)
  • Mount Arashima (荒島岳)
  • Mount Aso (阿蘇山)
  • Daisen (大山)
  • Mount Ibuki (伊吹山)
  • Mount Ishizuchi (石鎚山)
  • Mount Kaimon (開聞岳)
  • Mount Kirishima (霧島山)
  • Mount Kujū (九重山) or Kokonoe
  • Mount Miya-no-ura (宮之浦岳)
  • Mount Ōdaigahara (大台ヶ原山)
  • Mount Ōmine (大峰山)
  • Mount Sobo (祖母山)
  • Mount Tsurugi (剣山)

If you want you can also share your stats and stories along the way of how you completed such an epic challenge.

Feel free to tag @travelmedals on Instagram or Facebook on each picture.

After completing the challenge you can reward yourself with a Travel Medal!

Click on the medal to be redirected to our store or click here.

Additional Information

There are limited resources available in english on this list of Japanese mountains. The Wikipedia page is a good starting point, Mac through his blog Halfway Anywhere has documented some of these climbs and finally Japan Hike which has a lot of useful descriptions of the mountains.

Mount Fuji: The most famous mountain in Japan.

100 Mountains of Japan

by Kyuya Fukada (Author), Martin Hood (Translator)

In One Hundred Mountains of Japan, Fukada pays tribute to his favourite mountains. Originating as a series of magazine articles about a personal selection of mountains, the work became an instant classic.

More recently, Japan’s national broadcasting company has turned the original Nihon Hyakumeizan into a memorable TV series. Consisting of one hundred short essays, each celebrating one notable mountain and its place in Japan’s traditions, the book is an elegantly written eulogy to the landscape, literature and history that define a people.

Fukada was bemused by his book’s success: “In the end, the one hundred mountains represent my personal choice and I make no claims for them beyond that.” Yet, half a century after he set down those words, his mountains have become an institution. Marked on every hiking map, his Hyakumeizan are today firmly embedded in the mountain traditions they grew out of.

Now available in English translation, One Hundred Mountains of Japan will serve as a guide for a new cohort of hikers and mountaineers. It also opens up new territories for students of Japan’s literature, folklore, religions, and mountaineering history – in short, for mountain-lovers everywhere.

While living and working in Japan during the 1990s, Martin Hood visited about a third of the country’s One Hundred Mountains. By chance, the first high mountain he climbed was Hakusan, the peak that presides over the birthplace of Fukada. Now based in Switzerland, he works for an international organization and is a member of the Academic Alpine Club of Zurich.

What an amazing travel goal to really discover Japan! Who has now added this challenge to their bucket list?

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