100 Famous Shinshu Mountains
The Shinshū 100 Famous Mountains were selected by Eiichi Shimizu as the defining peaks of Nagano Prefecture (historically known as Shinshū). The list draws heavily from the Northern Alps (Hida Mountains), the Yatsugatake, and the Central Alps — the backbone ranges of a prefecture that is, by any measure, the heart of Japanese mountain culture.
This page covers the 60 peaks on the list that can be reached without a private car. Most trailheads are served by bus from the nearest train station; for those that aren't, a shared taxi or regular taxi will get you there. Featured peaks include Kirigamine, Mt. Aka, Mt. Akaishi and Mt. Amakazari. Each guide spells out the exact route from the station to the trailhead — bus and taxi timetables, fares, and frequencies verified against official schedules. Use the map and list below to compare access ease and fitness demand, whether you're planning a day hike or a multi-day traverse with an overnight stay beforehand.
100 Famous Shinshu Mountains
Compare by the numbers
An ancient sacred mountain of the Oku-Chichibu ridge, its iconic Gojōiwa pillar towering above, with views to the southern Alps and Yatsugatake.
A mountain whose broad high alpine wetland and countless bog pools are hailed as a sky-high paradise, magical for summer flowers and autumn grass.
An accessible one of Japan's 100 Famous Mountains with sweeping Nikkō Day-lilies, Rengeツツジ, autumn grasses, and high wetland.
A mountain that dramatically shifts from mossy primeval forest and bog pools to a hard rocky ridge world at the summit.
A perfectly conical Suwa Fuji summit with a sweeping northern panorama of the Yatsugatake range and the northern Alps.
A vast lava plateau of open grassland and pastures, with a sweeping panorama of the northern Alps and Fuji from the Ōgashira summit.
A twin-peaked mountain famed for its silhouette and the golden autumn grass of Sasadaira, Echigo's flower and foliage gem.
A table-top mountain shaped like an upturned ship, dominated by the 200-meter cliff face of Tomosohiwa.
A sacred mountain steeped in Amaterasu legend at the southern tip of the Central Alps, with views north and south to distant ranges.
A solitary peak with a refuge hut near the top, commanding fine views of the northern Alps centered on Hotaka and Yarigatake.
A Gunma–Nagano border peak offering views as far as Asama and the northern Alps, alive with Rengeツツジ in early summer.
A sacred mountain lined with stone Buddhas, offering panoramic views of the northern Alps and the Zenkoji Plain.
A popular Ushiro-Tateyama peak reached by the Alpine Line, where the Hakuba trio and the treacherous Kaeri-no-Ken ridge steal the show.
The crowning peak of the Central Alps, reached by ropeway to the flower-filled Senjōshiki Kar and spectacular in all four seasons.
A multi-summit volcano with 23 peaks and seven lakes, the most accessible 3,000-meter mountain in Japan.
A ropeway viewpoint plateau with a Suzuran lily wetland and a sweeping panorama of Yatsugatake and the northern Alps.
A quiet Shinshu peak with a rocky summit overlooking Yatsugatake, also famed for its Shakunage rhododendron display.
A great isolated sacred mountain with the mystical Ni-no-ike crater lake, its sweeping summit view simply described as unrivaled.
The only active volcano in the northern Alps, with fumarolic vents reachable at the summit and a history of eruption that shaped Lake Taishō-ike.