Kappa Bridge
A suspension bridge over the river.
663highland — CC BY 2.5 · 663highland — CC BY 2.5 · 663highland — CC BY 2.5 · Ray Swi-hymn from Sijhih-Taipei, Taiwan — CC BY-SA 2.0 · 663highland — CC BY 2.5
Kamikochi is a high mountain valley in the Hida Mountains, the Northern Alps of central Japan, in Nagano Prefecture, about 30 km west of Matsumoto and 202 km west of Tokyo in a straight line. It lies inside Chubu-Sangaku National Park and is protected as a Special Place of Scenic Beauty and a Special Natural Monument. The valley is about 18 km long, with a floor between roughly 1,400 and 1,600 metres, and the peaks around it reach 3,190 metres at Mount Hotaka. The Azusa River runs its length and fills Taisho Pond, which formed in 1915 when an eruption of Mount Yake, an active volcano, dammed the river. The British missionary Walter Weston helped make the area known to mountaineers, and a festival in his name is held every June. Clear, icy water runs over white stones beneath larches and birches, with the jagged Hotaka ridge standing above the trees. Dead tree trunks still rise from Taisho Pond, and in autumn the larches turn gold against the first snow on the peaks. Private cars are not allowed; buses and taxis run in from car parks at Sawando and Hirayu. The most popular walk is the flat riverside path from Taisho Pond past Kappa Bridge to Myojin Pond. The valley is open from late April to mid-November and closed in winter.
A suspension bridge over the river.
Formed in 1915.
End of the classic walk.
Hida Mountains, Nagano Prefecture, central Japan
No; take a bus or taxi from Sawando or Hirayu.
From late April to mid-November.