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Hiking and Trekking in the Japan Alps and Mount Fuji, (Cicerone, 2019) was published with two goals in mind: To fill in the vacuum left by two previous hiking guides that have gone out of print, and to offer a user-friendly guide.
“We wrote the book from two different angles,” explains Wes Lang, co-author with Tom Faye. “First, it’s a hiking and trekking guidebook for visitors to Japan. But, since both Tom and I live here, we wanted to write not just for tourists but also long-term residents: People who can already speak Japanese, who want really good maps and the most up-to-date transportation. So we included bilingual maps with kanji characters.”
Lang also reveals that signposts in the Japan Alps aren’t always rendered into English. But don’t worry; the descriptions in the book also include kanji.
While the book features full-color maps with contour information, Lang recommends hikers also purchase the waterproof “Yama to Kogen Chizu” (“Maps of Mountains and Plateaus”), issued by Shobunsha to use in conjunction with his guidebook. The Shobunsha map can be obtained from any Japanese bookstore or outdoors shop.