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This book (translation into English by Martin Hood) is what brought the hyakumeizan (Japan’s 100 mountains) to the attention of foreigners. Wes Lang, co-author of Hiking and Trekking in the Japan Alps and Mount Fuji, has this to say about the influential book:
“Some people translate hyakumeizan as the ‘100 famous mountains.’ But it’s not really a list of the best 100 mountains,” explains Lang. In 1964, writer and climber Kyuya Fukada put together a compendium of his published magazine articles and titled it “Nihon Hyakumeizan.”
“It’s basically a write-up of these 100 mountains that he had climbed during his life, that he liked according to his own criteria such as history and beauty,” says Lang, who after reading the book decided to accept the 100-mountain challenge himself. Fukada’s booK is apparently responsible for this particular group of peaks becoming the de facto bucket list for climbers in Japan.
“I decided I was going to climb this list in 2002 or 2003 but of course at that time there was no information in English,” Lang explains. So he hunted down Japanese guidebooks and researched the hikes himself. He finished the bonanza of peaks in 2008. “I just wanted to do it as part of my life,” he says, “and I feel lucky I was able to do that.”
Lang, a U.S. native, brought with him to Japan a mountaineering spirit first discovered scaling the Appalachian and Sierra Nevada ranges in his younger years. His predilection for volcanoes led him to ascend Mount Fuji’s perfect cone as soon as he moved to Japan in 2001. This trip inadvertently put into motion his quest to bag the hyakumeizan.
But he didn’t start the list in earnest until 2004, when he used most weekends and public holidays to ascend the lofty peaks. He laments that he doesn’t often see other foreigners hiking the ranges in Japan. This is surprising, since most of the hyakumeizan peaks can be hiked in a day and mountain lodges are readily available. However, because the ascents are scattered throughout Japan, from Hokkaido to Kyushu, Lang also utilized his longer holidays. In Tohoku, he tackled 10 of the elevations in 12 days.