Mt. Arashima (荒島岳）
Last updated: Feb. 3, 2025
Mt. Arashima is a beautiful peak towering over Ono city in Fukui Prefecture. The summit yields glorious panoramic views of Hakusan, the Japan Alps, and the peaks of the northern Kansai region.
The hike: Exit the train station and turn left on the road just in front of you. Walk for about 20 minutes until reaching the parking lot of Kadohara Ski Resort (勝原スキー場). There’s no water on this hike, so make sure you fill up before setting off. The trail runs straight through the ski fields and then curves to the right just past the top of the first lift. After about 40 minutes or so, you’ll reach the top of the ski resort, and the trail will enter the forest. The forest is beautiful, covered with virgin Beech trees which turn yellow in the autumn. The path is well marked but is anything but flat. It’ll take around an hour & a half of relentless climbing to reach Shakunage-daira (シャクナゲ平), which is known in English as “rhododendron plateau”. Have some fun teaching the Japanese hikers how to pronounce the English for this plant during your ascent. Anyway, the trail splits in 3 different directions. If you take the trail to the right, you can climb to the top of Mt. Ko-Arashima (小荒島岳), which has breathtaking views out to the real Mt. Arashima. If you’re short of time or just can’t be bothered, then ignore this trail and hang a left toward the towering peak. It should take around an hour or so to reach the flat summit and if the weather is good then you’ll be rewarded with spectacular views of Hakusan. After taking a well-deserved break, head back the way you came and consider hitchhiking back to Fukui or just wait for the infrequent train to come.
When to go: This hike can be done year round if you’ve got the proper equipment (and experience) for winter hiking. Otherwise, aim to go between April and November. Click here for a recent winter mountaineering report. It’s a tough winter hike and experience is required.
Access: From Osaka or Kyoto stations, take a JR Limited Express “Thunderbird” train bound for Tsuruga and change for the Hokuriku Shinkansen to Fukui station. From there, change to the JR Etsumihoku Line (越美北線) and get off at Kadohara station (勝原駅). The train takes about an hour and is very infrequent. Aim to board an early morning train so you won’t run out of daylight on the hike.
Digital Map (Avenza App): Click here
Level of difficulty: 4 out of 5 (elevation change 1263m)
Explore posts in the same categories: Hokuriku hikes (北陸地方)Tags: Fukui, hiking, Hokuriku hikes (北陸地方), Hyakumeizan (百名山), japan, Mt. Arashima
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Hiking in Japan 
November 6, 2013 at 12:12 am
Did this one last week. Definitely doable as a day trip from Osaka, but a lot of time spent on the trains. I started from Shimoyuino station at about 10:30am, a more gradual ascent. Beautiful mountain. Reached Kadohara station around 5pm just as it was getting dark. Waited ages for a train!
September 6, 2017 at 1:15 pm
I climbed Arashima on Monday September 4th. I went by car to avoid the inconvenient train. I took the Nakade course 中出 which crosses the entire length of the mountain. It starts slightly higher up and is slightly shorter. It goes over Ko-Arashima and meets up with the other trail at Shakunage-daira.
There is a free parking area that can fit about 40 cars. There is a bathroom and a basin / sink outside with running water – a good place to wash your face after a long sweaty hike!
December 10, 2017 at 6:26 pm
For those of you worried about the tight commute, Kadohara has a free, seldom-used campground by the river.
March 4, 2022 at 9:59 pm
I’m looking at doing this hike sometime this month. Would it be possible to do it on a one day trip from Osaka?
Or with the snow I wouldn’t be able to get down the mountain before dark
March 5, 2022 at 5:34 pm
If you had your own transport and drove to the trailhead then it’s perfectly possible to do as a day trip with an early start.
June 11, 2025 at 4:12 pm
There is space for perhaps dozen small tents up at the top. I didn’t get yelled at for staying the night.
August 30, 2025 at 7:56 pm
The infrequent train schedule really hurts so I highly recommend renting a car or camping the night before.
If these options are not open to you, then please do not underestimate this mountain especially in summer. The problem is that you only start climbing at 11 thanks to the late first train and the summer heat is brutal for the very exposed first part of the climb. Bring enough water. I saw a lot of dehydrated looking folks.
The route itself is just a constant ascent, and this is definitely one of those mountains where having a good fitness level will make your life a lot easier. It’s about 6.30-7 hours recommended time on the trail head sign board. It’s relatively accurate and maybe fit people can shave off an hour.
Either way you’re aiming to come down in time for the 6.47pm train back to Fukui. Don’t forget it takes 20 mins to walk to the station.
August 31, 2025 at 8:05 am
Many thanks for the useful tips. Good advice for people coming by public transport. I really wish there were more trains but it’s seems to be going in the opposite direction, with fewer trains every year.
August 31, 2025 at 2:22 pm
I always forget to bring my international driving license and end up regretting it!
By the way thanks so much for this website Wes, I’ve come back to here for information even though there are other websites where the information is sorted in a much clearer way (like time to climb, train schedule, etc). It’s a big of internet nostalgia reading someone’s blog and your digest their story and experience and then infer the important travel information from there.
I’ve climbed 5 hyakumeizan in this year alone and I always start my research from your site.