• Meet in Shinjuku at 7am
• Get on the bus
• Catch up on your sleep or chat with other members and get excited
• Short stop for breakfast on the way
• Arrive at Oze National Park (Hatomachitoge trailhead) around 10:45am
• Orientation and safety briefing
• Start the trek at 11am
• Arrive at Yamanohana Visitor Center around 12pm
• Explore and enjoy the breathtaking sceneries of Ozegahara marshland and the surrounding mountains
• Short picnic lunch at one of the rest benches along the trail
• Finish the trek back at Hatomachitoge around 4:45pm
• Get on the bus
• Short stop for some food/snacks at service area
• Arrive back in Shinjuku around 8:15pm

Price includes;

• Private bus transportation (round-trip)
• Toll fees and parking
• Fun and cute (English/Japanese speaking) trek guide ;p
• Travel insurance
• Consumption tax

• Itinerary may vary due to the weather, traffic conditions and other unavoidable circumstances on the day.
• Recommended loop is about 17kms but you can cut the trek shorter (about 12k) if you think 17k is too much. Walking about 6k (one-way) is good enough to see the Ozegahara marshlands and the spectacular view of Mt. Shibutsu.
• Besides the 45mins (or so) walk/hike up on the way back, the trek is easy and mostly flat.
• Hiking/trekking experience is not necessary but reasonable fitness is required.
• Final details will be sent to the participants by email two days before the event.

• Waterproof/windbreaker jacket/pants
• Warm clothes (fleece/thermals)
• Spare clothes
• Hiking/trekking shoes or trainers
• Soft/thick socks
• Small (waterproof) backpack
• Hat
• Sunglasses
• Sunscreen
• Picnic lunch
• Snacks
• Mineral water or sports drinks (at least 1.5L)
• Book (to read on the bus)
• Camera
• Smartphone
• Cash

• Meeting spot
• Weather forecast
• Oze National Park
• Oze Trail map
• IBS Coach Bus

Oze is a national park and excellent hiking destination in the mountains about 150 kilometers north of Tokyo. Its most well known features are the Ozegahara Marshland and the Ozenuma Pond. A number of surrounding mountains are also included within the park. Oze is extremely popular during the fall colors of early autumn. Oze has numerous trailheads through which visitors can enter the park. The trails are well maintained, and there are wide elevated boardwalks that pass over the Ozegahara Marshland and around Ozenuma Pond. Hiking from the Hatomachitoge trailhead past the marshland and pond to the Oshimizu trailhead can be done in six to eight hours by decent hikers, and there are no overly difficult inclines.

The Ozegahara Marshland, located about 1,400 meters above sea level, is the most popular area of the park. It is about six kilometers long and one kilometer wide, and has hundreds of small, distinct pools. When walking the length of the marshland, the two mountains Shibutsusan and Hiuchigatake seem to hover over hikers at either end of the paths. The Hatomachitoge trailhead is only a one hour walk from the western end of the marshlands, and therefore the most popular among the trailheads. The most famous image of Oze is of the white skunk cabbages in bloom all across Ozegahara in late May and early June.

The park’s second most famous feature is the Ozenuma Pond, which can be reached from the eastern end of the Ozegahara Marshland in about an hour and a half along a trail through the woods. There is a six kilometer path that leads around the entire pond and sometimes runs alongside the water and sometimes through the forest. Oze’s famous flowers can also be found near Ozenuma in small marshlands near the pond.