We had a few hikes planned for this summer trip, the reason for coming back to Japan in summer again, including two two-day hikes so we felt like we needed a warm-up hike. We wanted to go back to Gunma and I had learned of the hyakumeizan (one hundred famous mountains of Japan) and I wanted to try to climb all 100, so Tanigawadake was chosen. After watching some YouTube videos and checking out the trail on AllTrails and Yamap it seemed easy enough for a one-day hike, especially as it starts with a rope-way journey.

Our first surprise of the hike was how much cooler it was, even at the bottom of the ropeway. Compared to the 40°C we experienced in Kawagoe yesterday, the 25°C at the station was bliss. It got even cooler as we approached the hike start point after the short journey. After some bear warnings (and strict instructions not to shout at any bears) we headed up the (what we thought) gentle trail.

The start of the trail was quite pleasant with boardwalks and stair sections, we were under the shade of the trees, so the temperature remained cool. Quite quickly though the incline kicked up a notch and we were suddenly in direct sunlight and the day was becoming hot. We got to the first rest spot, an emergency hut with nothing inside, but somewhere to get out of the weather. Nature decided a rest wasn’t on the cards for us, or for the groups of other people there, the first part was finding shed snakeskin, and then a suzumebatchi (murder hornet) came out of the bushes and started chasing people. It landed on the back of a hiker and chaos ensued with people running and squealing, and we all had to leave the rest spot and continue up before we were ready.

After that surprise there were more surprises on the trail: chain sections. In all my online research I hadn’t found mention of chain sections on the trial however, there were several sharp rocky inclines with chains to help you up. Some people were getting up and down like mountain goats, hands-free jumping from rock to rock, but many (like us) were going up much more slowly and carefully using chains and poles.

At this point it had gotten quite hot under the direct sun, we got on we got snatches of a view of the summit, but quick-moving clouds made it brief. Our constant companion on the trail were the dragonflies, never in my life have I seen so many – you literally couldn’t look anywhere without seeing one, and it you stood still for more than a second or two then you’d find at least one landing on you. Tanigawadake has one mountain hut near the summit Kata-no-koya, which has only been open as a working hut, rather than an emergency shelter, since around 2003. We popped in to get some drinks and a pin for Tanigawadake for our (small) collection of hyakameizan badges. This is also where the only toilet on the mountain is, and as usual on the mountains they were bio-toilets at there is no plumbing. They were the most stinky toilets we had experienced so far on any mountain, not surprising in the hot and humid weather.

With the heat, sun, and steepness of the trail our “warm-up hike” felt harder than anticipated, harder than climbing Mount Fuji the year before. We pushed on and eventually made it to the first of the two “ears” which are named Okinomimi and Tomanomimi (front ear and rear ear), The first summit we reached was completely in the clouds, the 360-degree view was lost but we were pleased to have made it. We didn’t feel like we had achieved this hyakumeizan without visiting both official summits, and so we headed off the second, which got us some snatches of views between the clouds.

The ascent had taken longer than we had planned, but we sailed down the mountain with only one big slip on a chain section. We visited the cute visitor’s shops at the lower rope-way station, got back in our car and headed back to our shipping container room for a huge meal to make up for all the energy spent on the trail.

It wasn’t until the next day that a friend living in Japan messaged me to congratulate me on surviving Tanigawadake, and I found out about the dark history of this peak that has claimed over 800 lives of those trying to climb it!