Extra Details:
Access: For those without a car, consider using the Jododaira Sky Access service. For hikers, the 5.5 hour plan will allow you just enough time to complete the hike. Please book at least a day before your departure (either online here or in person at the Tourist Information Center just outside of the west exit Shinkansen gates of Fukushima station). You’ll either be in a shared taxi or microbus depending on how many other hikers book the service. The meeting point for the tour is in front of the Tourist Information Center on the 2nd floor of JR Fukushima station (near the west exit entrance gate of the Shinkansen). The 5.5 tour costs 8000 yen per person (4000 for children ages 7 – 12, free for kids 6 and under) and includes round trip transport to Jododaira. It really is worth it. If you took a taxi by yourself from the station to Jododaira without using this service it would easily cost you 10,000 one way.
Hike timing if using the taxi/bus service: If you are using the Jododaira Sky Access service, you MUST finish your hike and arrive back at Jododaira by 3pm. This means that you should leave the summit of Mt Higashi Azuma no later than noon if you are doing the loop via Keibadaira. If you are behind schedule, skip the loop and head back the way you came to Jododaira. Additionally, check your timing when you reach the paved road at the end of the loop. If it is after 2pm then consider walking on the road back to Jododaira as it’ll be faster (the 2.5km distance on the road should take you about 30 minutes).
The hike: The route is easy to follow but there isn’t much in the way of English signage, so make sure you follow the directions in the video above very carefully and memorize the key kanji for the hike. The most important kanji is for Higashi Azuma (東吾妻) but it might also be good to remember Kamanuma (鎌沼), Keibadaira (景馬平), Torikodaira (鳥子平), and Jōdodaira (浄土平). The trail between the summit and the skyline road via Keibadaira is not well traveled or maintained. Be sure to use a digital map app to make sure you don’t get lost.
When to go: Aim to go on a dry day and not the day after heavy rain as I did. The trail becomes a river and a muddy bog after heavy rain and it’ll be slow going. If you want to see the rhododendron, then aim to go from late May to early June. Summer is a great time to go, as the summit is usually 10 degrees cooler than Fukushima city. Weekdays will be less crowded than weekends, as Jōdodaira is a bit of a tourist trap with hordes of car tourists stopping by to climb Azuma ko-fuji. There’s a restaurant and souvenir shop and usually a food truck or two next to the restaurant. Jododaira is open from early-to-mid April to mid-November and the autumn colors usually peak between late September and mid-October.
Hiking in Japan 