Japan has plenty of very good reasons to miss your train back to Tokyo. The Hitachi-no-Kuni Long Trail has just added roughly 275 kilometres more.
Winding through six municipalities in northern Ibaraki Prefecture, the developing trail will eventually stretch for 320 kilometres, linking mountains, villages, waterfalls, coastline and the sort of small-town streets where your step count suddenly stops feeling important. And that’s really the point.
This isn’t a trail built solely for people who own frighteningly expensive hiking poles. You can jump on and off wherever you like, tackling anything from a few hours to a much bigger multi-day leg.
One of the easier routes starts at Oiwa Shrine, beneath a sacred mountain believed to be home to 188 deities, before climbing towards Mt Takasuzu and views across to the Pacific.
Things get considerably spicier around Mt Namase Fuji, where a rocky ridgeline nicknamed Ibaraki’s Gendarme serves up 360-degree views before the trail drops towards Fukuroda Falls.
Still feeling cocky? The roughly six-hour Mt Chofuku to Mt Okukuji Nantai section comes with sheer cliffs, strange rock formations and chain-assisted climbing. Your quads have been warned.
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But some of the best bits happen when the trail flattens out. The route wanders through satoyama countryside, former post towns and retro shopping streets, passing old shrines, hot springs and places to stop for soba and konjac along the way. Parts follow roads once used to carry salt inland from the coast.
Best of all, this is happening about 90 minutes from Tokyo. Which means you can do Japan’s busiest city, then walk straight into a version of the country where the loudest traffic jam might involve a few hikers and 188 deities.
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