Hiking in Kansai: Abandoned Fukuchiyama Railway
Posted on 10. Aug, 2007 @ 11:50 pm by harvey in Osaka, Travel
Hiking in Kansai! Gotta love it. Get away from the city. Get some air. Listen to a river, look at some GREEN… Sweat a lot.
The hiking trail we went on this time was interesting in that it followed an old abandoned train route (廃線). The course was interesting, and other than the heat, not a laborious hike at all. It goes along an unused JR Train line (fukuchiyama-sen 旧福知山線) for about 5 kilometers to JR Takedao Station. The trail goes right on top of the old train tracks, through tunnels, and follows a river the entire way.
Hiking Course Starting Location：JR Namaze Station (生瀬駅)
Course Finish: JR Takedao Station (武田尾駅)
Total Distance: 5-7 km? Something like that.
JR Namaze Station is about 30 minutes by train from Osaka/Umeda going out towards Amagasaki.
There are a few hot springs in the Takedao area, a great way to end the hike!
You can see the old tracks in the picture above. In this shot the track is pretty buried in the earth, but in other areas of the path they are still sticking out in full view.
Crossing the bridge was great. You cannot walk on the tracks across the middle, but there is a foot bridge attached to the side. A little creepy, but not so bad as it wasn’t that high up.
If you look closely you can see the tracks in this picture as well. The sides of the path are totally overgrown.
Also, at the end of the trail there is a great cafe by the river called Sakuraya. They serve giant kakigouri (crushed ice with flavoring and red beans and stuff…) that really hits the spot after the sweaty trek. If you start your hike from Namaze and go all the way to the end, you simply cannot miss this cafe, it’s pretty much the first commercial building you will see after getting off the path.
Good times. Wake up early one day and give it a try! You might want to bring a flashlight for the tunnels. It’s really pitch black inside, and the trail goes through about 6 tunnels if I remember correctly. Some are quite long… We ended up tagging along with some well-prepared old lady hikers one time!
Here are are a few Japanese blogs that have reviewed the same hiking course.
There are also some Japan hiking books in English available that look like they might be the guides to have for anyone serious about hiking in Japan
Hiking in Japan: An Adventurer’s Guide to the Mountain Trails
Hiking in Japan (Lonely Planet Walking Guides)
Note, the hike that I just did here is -not- serious. More like a casual slacker hike. These books though, have entire day trips, and multi-day hikes. If you’re serious about hiking, you might want to check them out.
Good times!
- Harvey
32 Responses to “Hiking in Kansai: Abandoned Fukuchiyama Railway”
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Jasper Wiese
Aug 11th, 2007
at 00:56
Looks amazing
JJ
Aug 11th, 2007
at 14:23
Kakigouri in Malaysia is called Ais Kacang/Ang tao peng(Red bean ice), but it has lots of other stuff in it too
claytonian
Aug 12th, 2007
at 22:42
That’s awesome. I wanna find something like that.
Michael
Aug 13th, 2007
at 07:42
Clay, if you like abandoned places, you might enjoy a look at Ruin – Japan and Yuji Saiga’s photos.
Joe
Aug 15th, 2007
at 21:33
What’cha gonna do, when Haikyomania runs wild on you!?
JapanNewbie » Camera Balance...
Aug 17th, 2007
at 09:51
[...] I spotted these birdwatchers while on the Fukuchiyama railway hike. [...]
Clive
Aug 17th, 2007
at 14:28
Harvey,
I’m really surprised you didn’t go here instead.
harvey
Aug 17th, 2007
at 14:41
Clive! That’s absurd. I love it!
Dave
Sep 24th, 2007
at 02:48
Hello Harvey,
Looks really cool. I think I will give a try while I am there in a week or two.
Dave
Dave
Oct 15th, 2007
at 16:14
ugg.. my son and I just got back from this hike. Fun!
The start of the trail is on your right as you walk up 176. Bring a flashlight as those tunnels are really dark and you could trip and get hurt. A lot of fun. I saw about 30 people or so walking the trail on a Monday.
harvey
Oct 15th, 2007
at 22:20
Hey Dave! Glad you liked the course, its a ton of fun isn’t it! Right about the flashlight tip, I should have mentioned that!
Dave
Oct 31st, 2008
at 14:06
Hi Harvey, do you know of any more cool places like this in JP?
Harvey
Nov 6th, 2008
at 00:49
Hey Dave, actually I don’t! There are probably tons more though I’m sure. If you’re in Japan hit up a book store and get a few magazines on hiking in Japan. I bet they list tons of fun routes. Good luck!
kikuchi
Nov 13th, 2008
at 04:10
Harvey, I found the lists of old tunnels :-D
There are so many “dead truck maniacs” = 廃線マニア。
Anyway, Hike at Fukuchiyama was unforgettable for me… maybe I’ll go again with my daughter.
http://yamaiga.com/rail/index.html
http://homepage1.nifty.com/majin/train/haisen.html
http://www5b.biglobe.ne.jp/~a-uchi/haibutu/index3.html
http://go-imai.sakura.ne.jp/haineta/hainata.htm
David
Apr 24th, 2009
at 13:10
Aww! I’ve always wanted to do this hike. My wife use to camp out here as a child. Thanks for the info!
Jamie
Apr 24th, 2009
at 18:58
For once, a semi-haikyo that isn’t in Tokyo~ Thanks man, it looks awesome. My parents are coming later this month, maybe they would like this!
Janne
Apr 24th, 2009
at 20:06
Ah, this looks like fun! And pretty close too. Maybe do it at Golden Week, so we won’t feel lonely ^_^
Deas
Apr 24th, 2009
at 20:36
Harvey – just found this post thanks to the matsuri. Looks amazing! I could totally use a slacker hike along an old railway to get started. I’m interested in haikyo, but have never done it. This seems like the most innocent (hey, old ladies are even doing it…) way to start. Ha ha. Great pictures, too.
Brendan
Apr 25th, 2009
at 03:23
Yea, I bet the hot springs feel just right after the hike.
Billy
Apr 25th, 2009
at 03:27
I too just found this post in the Matsuri. Listening to the river, looking at green and sweating a lot sounds like a perfect day to me. Hopefully no mosquitoes!
mcalpine
Apr 26th, 2009
at 20:52
The references you provided in Japanese are a good idea. Nice little outing.
roentarre
May 4th, 2009
at 05:07
Spetacular images of the nature
Good looking mocha ice desert
b0z0
May 5th, 2009
at 11:13
wow….looks like the tunnel Chihiro and her family pass threw in Spirited Away….cool
skateboard bearings guy
May 6th, 2009
at 19:51
how far off is this from the kobe/nishinomiya area? i’ve spent a couple years in kansai but never made it out of the big cities–this is way cool!
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May 31st, 2009
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[...] JapanNewbie com Japan Blogging Posted by root 7 hours ago (http://www.japannewbie.com) Hiking in kansai gotta love it get away from the city get some air listen to a river look at some green comment by skateboard bearings guy may 6 2009 powered by wordpress with pool theme design by borja fernandez Discuss | Bury | News | JapanNewbie com Japan Blogging [...]
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Jun 8th, 2009
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[...] JapanNewbie com Japan Blogging Posted by root 31 minutes ago (http://www.japannewbie.com) Hiking course starting location jr namaze station green comment by skateboard bearings guy may 6 2009 powered by wordpress with pool theme viena i really love those socks very unique i always wear those socks every i go sleep powered by wordpress with poo Discuss | Bury | News | JapanNewbie com Japan Blogging [...]
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Jun 9th, 2009
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[...] JapanNewbie com Japan Blogging Posted by root 1 day 1 hour 15 minutes ago (http://www.japannewbie.com) Sweat a lot the hiking trail we went on this time was interesting in that it followed yea i bet the hot springs feel just right after the hike look at some green comment by skateboard bearings guy may 6 2009 powered by wordpress with powered by wordpress Discuss | Bury | News | JapanNewbie com Japan Blogging [...]
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Jun 10th, 2009
at 22:57
That looks a lot like my home town in California. Only the railroad is still active. Great photos!
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[...] JapanNewbie com Japan Blogging Posted by root 4 days ago (http://www.japannewbie.com) It goes along an unused jr train line fukuchiyama sen for about 5 green comment by skateboard bearings guy may 6 2009 powered by wordpress Discuss | Bury | News | JapanNewbie com Japan Blogging [...]
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