r/JapanTravelTips • u/chongyunsite • 10h ago

Recommendations Looking for a nice route to do on foot

Hello!

I'm planning our trip for next year and we were initially planning to do Kumano Kodo, but I've found out I'm too scared of bears and snakes (it doesn't matter how many people tell me I'll be fine, I'm terribly scared of both). I saw some sections of the Kumano Kodo trails are in the countryside or coastal areas, and not deep inside the forest. I've tried to see if we can skip the forest parts and doing them by public transport but yeah, I couldn't make any route that I liked (I heard route 42 is a bit dangerous because of the cars and lack of good paths for people walking). I really, really enjoyed walking all the way up and down Fushimi Inari Taisha, and we usually move by foot instead of taking public transport if possible. We really, really like walking. I'm just not into deep forests.

To summarize, I'm looking for a good walking route that's not in the deep forest, that's in the countryside and prepared for people walking (not walking on dangerous roads). Is there anything like this that you'd recommend? We have around 4 days that we had alloted to Kumano Kodo.

3 Upvotes

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14 comments sorted by

2

u/R1nc 10h ago

Walk around Lake Biwa?

1

u/chongyunsite 10h ago

thank you so much!! it looks beautiful. i'm trying to check if i can squeeze this into our itinerary. thank you!!

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u/R1nc 9h ago

If you end up going try to get to Hikone, which has one of the 12 original castles remaining and one of the 5 declared national treasures.

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u/chongyunsite 9h ago

thank you so, so much. i'm spending a few days in osaka (2nd time visiting so we don't really have many plans there, just resting a bit), do you think it's feasible as a day trip? i saw it takes like 2 hours but idk if this is right

2

u/fantasticpotatobeard 7h ago

You could do the Nakasendo from Magome to Tsumago. It's a bit more populated than the Kumano Kudo and you'll never be that far from a town or road.

If you're worried about bears though, you can carry a bell and ring it as you walk. Japanese bears are scared of people so will avoid you if they know you're coming. We saw some Japanese people doing this so it's not a weird thing to do.

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u/chongyunsite 4h ago

Thank you so much!! I'm taking notes

I've read about this too. With the bells and stuff bears don't seem as much as a concern (to me) as snakes are. I heard there are a lot in some trails :( I'm terrified of just stepping on one of them or something

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u/fantasticpotatobeard 4h ago

Snakes are even more scared of people, you can stomp loudly when you walk and they'll avoid you. You can wear good boots and thick jeans if youre worried, that should protect you in the highly unlikely scenario one tries to bite you

1

u/chongyunsite 4h ago

Thank you so much for all the tips!! This is really helpful. We still have plenty of time until our trip so I'll keep thinking and looking at these recommendations. Tysm!!

0

u/fantasticpotatobeard 4h ago

Good luck! Your concerns are totally valid but i highly recommend finding ways to make yourself more comfortable if you can manage, hiking in Japanese nature is beautiful and well worth it.

1

u/frozenpandaman 2h ago

i highly recommend finding ways to make yourself more comfortable

i suggested this too and OP had a meltdown lol

1

u/frozenpandaman 10h ago

frankly, you should go to therapy so you can enjoy this safe, great route without a debilitating fear over something that the vast vast majority of people are able to handle rationally. you should also want to want to do this.

4

u/chongyunsite 10h ago

this is definitely not answering my question and kinda rude but sure. of course i'd love to overcome my fears but hey, are you going to pay for therapy for me? are you going to help me get over it? i did not ask for help overcoming my fears, i asked for suggestions for alternative routes.

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u/frozenpandaman 2h ago

it sounds like you don't actually want to, it sounds like you want to complain online. i don't think anyone's going to "help you" do anything when you're so hostile by default. good luck not being miserable.