- Elevation 970m
- When to climb November - May
- Popularly done as a 5 hour, 8km station-to-station course together with Mt Gozenyama. Alternatively, there is a 4km loop course option.
Mountain stats
This hike has great public transport access via Kasei station, which is 2 hours from Tokyo.
1.5 hour drive from Tokyo, although there is no parking at the trailhead itself.
Mt Kuki (九鬼山, kuki-yama or kuki-san) is one of a series of mountains around the Otsuki area that are easily accessible via the Chuo train line. With an elevation of only 970m, it’s the perfect candidate for a hike in the colder months. It’s also one of the Hundred Famous Mountains of Yamanashi.
Your hike begins at Kasei station, where you can just see the tip of Mt Fuji peeking out from behind the train tracks.
Although I did this hike on a Friday, the local train I caught to Kasei was full of hikers. I was the only hiker that got off here, so presumably everyone was headed out towards some of the mountains in the Kawaguchiko area.
Before beginning my hike, I stopped off the onigiri store Omusubi-no-Oomiya (おむすびのおおみや) just near the station. It had really good reviews on Google and seems to be quite popular with hikers. When you order your rice balls, they make them for you on the spot!
I was planning on saving them for lunch, but they were so warm that it felt like a waste to let them cool down and I ended up eating one at the trailhead.
The trailhead is about a 10 minute walk from the station, and at first you don’t really get the feeling it’s well-travelled. I’ve found this to be pretty common with the mountains in this area. Some of the trails don’t seem super popular, but as you approach the summit you’ll eventually bump into a hiker or two who have come up via other trailheads. This trailhead in particular is not very accessible by car, so that may be another reason why it’s not so popular.
On YAMAP, you’ll see a number of people comment on how unexpectedly punishing the course is, and they’re not wrong. The trail up to Mt Kuki is a steady climb with 600m of elevation gain in one go.
As you keep climbing, you’ll pass signage pointing out the “new hiking path” on the left and the “steep hiking path” on the right. It looks like the one on the right is no longer used.
Before you reach the summit of Mt Kuki, there’s the option to take a 5 minute detour to Tengu Rock (天狗岩 tengu-iwa).
It’s well worth the detour, because the view from here is better than from the peak. You get some views of Mt Fuji and the town below.
Only a 10 minute climb from Tengu-iwa, you’ll reach the peak of Mt Kuki. It has the wooden summit marker you’ll see on any of the 100 Famous Mountans of Yamanashi as well as the rectangular sign board used by the city of Otsuki. Otsuki has its own set of “The 12 views of Fuji” Mountains and this is one of them.
Although views from the summit aren’t much, if you turn 180 degrees, you’ll be able to spot Mt Fuji in between the trees. I actually almost missed this one.
From here you’ll continue on towards Mt Gozenyama. You’ve already done all the hard work climbing so the following section of the trail is pretty pleasant, at least elevation-wise.
However there are some portions on the side of a steep slope where you really need to watch your step. Luckily there are ropes available to hold onto, but there was one rope-less section.
It’s a little bit scary - the path is quite thin, and you’re walking on pretty fine gravel/dirt, so one false step and I feel like you’d start slipping down the slope. Once I nervously made it past this portion, it’s pretty smooth sailing. The ridge line walk gives you some more opportunities to see Mt Fuji. The wind made it quite cold though!
There was one downhill section that was quite slippery with the leaf litter, so I had to watch my step here too. I kind of half crouched and almost sat down as I inched down this, just to prevent myself from slipping and falling over. (Maybe hiking poles would have been useful here!)
About 4 hours into the hike, I reached the peak of Mt Gozenyama (御前山, gozen-yama). The sign also marks it as one of Otsuki’s 12 beautiful views of Mt Fuji, but it seems like both Mt Kuki and Gozenyama are together counted as one. So unfortunately you’re not getting 2-for-1 deal on this hike!
There’s also one last chance to get a glimpse of Fuji before you begin your descent. Mt Gozenyama has an elevation of 730m, over 200m lower than Mt Kuki, so the hill is a little bit more in the way.
The peak was quite sunny, and there were a number of people having a lunch break here. From Mt Gozenyama, you’ll have an hour remaining in your hike as you descend back down to Saruhashi station.
The final descent had some steep rocky bits, but before you know it you’ll be back on a forest trail, and then down to a road into town.
Saruhashi is 4 stations closer to Tokyo than Kasei station (where I started my hike), so the return trip home was a bit shorter. I managed to get on a direct train all the way back to Shinjuku. It was also quite empty so I easily managed to get a seat, which was quite nice after a tiring hike.
Hiking course options
| Date climbed | Length | Course time |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-01-31 | 8.9km | 5h30min (the expected time for an average hiker without breaks) |
The hiking course I took was a station-to-station hikefrom Kasei station to Saruhashi station, also passing by Mt Gozenyama. There is a toilet available at the train stations at either end. Some other course options include:
- The Kasei station to Tanokura station course. You’ll skip Mt Gozenyama, but this shortens the course to under 4 hours
- A 4km loop course that starts and ends near Kasei station
Public transport access
To get to Kasei station (禾生駅), you will first need to get to Otsuki station (大月駅), and then transfer onto the local Fujikyuko Line. To get to Otsuki station, you’ll have two options:
- The express Azusa train, which you can catch from Shinjuku or Hachioji station (depending on where you live). This will cost an extra 1000 yen, and you need to book your seats in advance. The merit of this is you are guaranteed a seat, and your overall trip will be about 20 minutes shorter.
- Transfer at Takao station onto a local train on the JR Chuo Line, which will take you to Otsuki station. This train route is very popular with hikers as there are a lot of hikes that begin from stations along the Chuo line. On weekends, expect to battle for a seat.
From Otsuki station, you take the local Fujikyuko line train to Kasei station.
I took the local train, and my journey took about 2 hours in total. I started my hike at around 9am. Since this is a station-to-station hike, it is pretty flexible on the timings. On the way back, since you are getting on at Saruhashi station (猿橋駅), which is past Otsuki station, you don’t have to worry about the transfer and you’l be able to get a direct train all the way back to Tokyo, which will take about 90 minutes.
Car access details
Mt Kuki is great for public transport users, and a little bit more annoying by car. If you’re coming from Tokyo, the time on the train versus the time driving is not that different, and you don’t have to worry about the traffic, so this one might be good to give driving a skip.
If you did want to come by car and do the station-to-station hike, I would recommend trying to find a carpark at Saruhashi station. Kasei station doesn’t seem to have much in terms of public parking options. Once you finish your hike at Kasei, you can get a train back to your car at Saruhashi.
If you wanted to do a loop course, you can do the 4km loop course , which starts near Kasei station. Although there is a tiny carpark near the trailhead, I think realistically your only carpark option is to park at the Michi-no-eki Tsuru.
Michi-no-ekis are roadside stations designed to be used as a break from driving. I’d feel a bit uncomfortable ethically at the idea of using it for a multi-hour hike on a weekend, but if you’re coming by on a weekday, they tend to be a lot emptier so I wouldn’t have any qualms with it.
When to hike Mt Kuki
With an elevation of under 1000m, Mt Kuki is definitely one you’ll want to hike in the colder months, as Yamanashi’s low elevation mountains can get quite hot and full of bugs in the summer. Looking at YAMAP, it seems Mt Kuki has consistent popularity from November through to May, before dropping off as the rainy season sets in.
Mt Kuki is climbable without snow nearly year-round, although you will need to double-check the conditions on YAMAP if you are hiking in February or March. As a recent example, there was no snow at the peak on February 16th of 2025, but just 6 days earlier you can see the peak and parts of the trail had some snow accumulated.
Comments
Leave a comment