UKC

Off to Tokyo in Dec and taking my climbing gear as will be going to Thailand afterwards. Anyone got any beta on where to go and how to hook up with climbers (I don't speak Japanese). Thanks,

J

In reply to Ayrton:

Only bouldered in Japan. Been to Ogawayama a few times and loved it. There's also a place called Mitake which is a bit closer to Tokyo. The language barrier might be more of an issue for finding partners for routes but the bouldering scene always seemed really friendly to me. If you turned up at Ogawayama on a weekend with a dictionary, a pair of shoes and a smile I'm sure you'd have a great time! If you're into getting up into the mountains then I really recommend the lonely planet guide to hiking in Japan.

Good article someone wrote on here below.

http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=264

In reply to siwid:
Might be worth getting in touch with these guys and see what they are up to:
http://www.tokyogaijins.com/about.html

Or Ice Solo who used to post on here quite a bit.

I wouldn't have high hopes of just hooking up with people if you don't speak Japanese. Although many locals have a smattering of English few are fluent and they are often rather reserved. Meeting people through people always seemed to work much better for me.

In reply to Ayrton: ogawayama is nice, I'll mail other places when I get a chance to flick through my old notebooks if you're interested, been a while since I was there! I met and climbed with many Japanese whilst there despite my poor Japanese, the language problem didn't get too much in the way (beer and climbing are two universal languages)learn a few basic phrases, the Japanese are incredibly hospitable and curious to meet foreigners and a few words will go a long way

In reply to Ayrton:

To meet other climbers: post on Tokyogaijins or head over to T-Wall Edogawabashi on a Thursday - usually a contingent there.

For climbing outside.

Ogawayama: 3.5hrs by car. Sport, trad and bouldering. Granite. ***
Jogasaki Kaigen: 2.5 hrs by train. Sport and a little trad. Sea cliffs. ***
Yugawara: 1.5hrs by train. Sport and a little trad. **
Mitake: 1hr or so by train. Bouldering by the river. *
Joyama: 2hr by train + little taxi ride. Multi and single pitch sport. **

In reply to Ayrton:
Og will be too cold to camp in December - great conditions for bouldering though. There's a lodge with a climbing wall nearby, open all year round (Iwane Sansou), but it ain't cheap. I live in Shizuoka - an hour on the shinkansen from Tokyo. There's a bunch of places in between suitable for climbing in winter.
Mail me if you want more info or to hook up.