Shinhotaka Ropeway in Summer: Beautiful, But We Need to Go Back

We'd been to Takayama many times.

Winter.

Summer.

Different journeys. Different seasons.

But this time, we wanted Takayama to be something slightly different.

Not simply somewhere we were visiting.

A base.

So we stayed for a week and started exploring the mountains, towns and valleys surrounding it.

One day took us to Kamikochi.

It was spectacular.

And perhaps that created our first problem.

Because the very next morning, still impressed by what we'd seen, we decided to head even deeper into the Japanese Alps.

To Shinhotaka Ropeway.

Takayama Was Our Base This Time

One of the things we love about returning to the same places in Japan is that eventually you stop feeling the need to see the obvious things again.

You've already walked the famous streets.

You've already visited the morning markets.

You've already found the places you like eating at.

And suddenly the question changes from what should we do in Takayama? to where can Takayama take us?

That's what happened on this trip.

We made the city our home for the week and started heading out from there.

Shinhotaka was one of those days.

First, Hirayu Onsen

We left Takayama early in the morning and took the bus towards Hirayu Onsen.

Hirayu is somewhere we'd happily return to and explore properly in its own right.

But not this time.

From Hirayu, another bus carried us deeper into Okuhida and eventually to Shinhotaka.

The journey is part of what makes travelling through this region enjoyable.

Takayama gradually disappears behind you.

The roads become increasingly mountainous.

The landscape closes around you.

And eventually you reach the bottom of the ropeway.

Our first impression?

Honestly, not much.

There is nothing particularly spectacular about the base station itself.

But that's not why anyone comes here.

We had some ice cream.

Looked around.

Bought our tickets.

And headed upwards.

We've Taken a Lot of Ropeways in Japan

Japan loves a ropeway.

And over the years, we've taken quite a few of them.

Mount Hiei.

Mount Shosha.

Mount Zao.

Mount Senkoji.

And plenty of others connecting temples, mountains and viewpoints across the country.

So getting into another gondola isn't normally an experience that surprises us anymore.

Shinhotaka did.

The complete journey is divided into two ropeways.

The first takes you from Shinhotaka Onsen Station to Nabedaira Kogen.

You then make your way to Shirakabadaira Station and transfer to Ropeway No. 2.

And that's where things become much more interesting.

The second ropeway uses Shinhotaka's famous double-decker gondola.

Once it starts climbing, you realise just how steep this mountain is.

The ground falls away quickly.

Forests disappear beneath you.

And every time the cable passes one of the towers, you feel the gondola shift before continuing upwards.

Even after all the ropeways we'd taken in Japan, this one felt different.

2,156 Metres Above Sea Level

Eventually, you arrive at Nishihotakaguchi Station.

Altitude: 2,156 metres.

And this is where Shinhotaka finally reveals why you've travelled all this way.

The observation deck gives you a 360-degree panorama across the Northern Japanese Alps.

Mountains seem to surround you in every direction.

Even though we were visiting in summer, snow was still visible high on some of the peaks.

Green forests filled the valleys below.

Clouds moved between the mountains.

And suddenly the fairly ordinary station we'd started from felt very far away.

We took photographs at the viewpoints.

Walked around the summit area.

And found the bright orange Yamabiko Postbox.

It sits at 2,156 metres and is the highest permanently serviced postbox in Japan.

Naturally, we took photographs there too.

Lunch Above the Alps

By then it was approaching lunchtime.

There is somewhere to eat at the summit station, so we decided to stay rather than rush back down.

For vegetarians, however, choices were limited when we visited.

We managed with things like fries, coffee and dessert.

Not exactly the culinary highlight of our week in Takayama.

But when you're eating more than 2,000 metres above sea level while looking across the Japanese Alps, you forgive the menu fairly quickly.

We sat there for a while.

Ate.

Looked out towards the mountains.

And enjoyed not having somewhere else we immediately needed to be.

Then We Found the Snow

There was one small thing at the summit that stayed with us.

Old snow.

Not the beautiful white snow you see in photographs.

It had been sitting there for some time.

Dusty.

Grey.

Piled into one corner.

By itself, it wasn't particularly impressive.

But it reminded us of something.

This was summer.

And snow was still here.

Which immediately made us wonder what this entire place must look like when winter properly arrives.

And Then We Went Back Down

The journey down was almost as enjoyable as going up.

This time we knew what to look for.

The mountains.

The snow remaining on the distant peaks.

The intensely green forests below.

The tiny buildings appearing again as we descended.

And that extraordinary feeling of height every time the gondola crossed another tower.

Eventually we reached Shinhotaka Onsen Station again.

We looked around the shops.

Waited for our bus.

And started discussing the day.

Shinhotaka had been beautiful.

The scenery was exceptional.

The ropeway itself had genuinely impressed us.

But there was a problem.

We'd Been to Kamikochi Yesterday

This was probably the biggest mistake we made.

Not visiting Shinhotaka.

Visiting Shinhotaka immediately after Kamikochi.

The previous day, we'd walked through one of the most beautiful Alpine landscapes we'd experienced in Japan.

Kamikochi doesn't show you the Japanese Alps from an observation deck.

It puts you inside them.

You walk beside the Azusa River.

The mountains rise around you.

The landscape keeps changing as you move through it.

It's immersive in a way a viewpoint simply can't be.

So when we reached Shinhotaka the next morning, our benchmark was unfairly high.

If we'd visited Shinhotaka first, we suspect the experience would have built beautifully.

First, see the Japanese Alps from above.

Then, the following day, walk into them at Kamikochi.

Instead, we did the opposite.

And if we were planning those two days again, we'd reverse them.

Shinhotaka or Kamikochi in Summer?

If you have enough time, this isn't necessarily a choice.

They are fundamentally different experiences.

Shinhotaka gives you altitude.

A dramatic ropeway.

A huge Alpine panorama.

And access to views that require almost no physical effort.

Kamikochi gives you trails, rivers, forests and hours inside the landscape itself.

But travellers often don't have unlimited time.

So if we had one summer day in this part of the Japanese Alps and had to choose?

We'd choose Kamikochi.

Quite comfortably.

That's why Kamikochi is currently the Alpine experience we've chosen for our Timeless Japan journey.

That doesn't make Shinhotaka disappointing.

It simply means that in summer, for us, Kamikochi offers the more complete experience.

Would We Visit Shinhotaka in Summer?

Yes.

Especially if you're already spending several days around Takayama and Okuhida.

The ropeway itself is unusual enough to be worth experiencing.

The summit views are spectacular when the weather cooperates.

And unlike a mountain hike, reaching 2,156 metres requires very little physical effort.

That makes Shinhotaka particularly useful for families, older travellers or anyone who wants huge mountain scenery without spending hours hiking.

But we probably wouldn't put Shinhotaka and Kamikochi on consecutive days again.

And if we did?

Shinhotaka first. Kamikochi second.

Let the landscape build.

But We Haven't Made Up Our Minds Yet

This is where our opinion of Shinhotaka becomes slightly unusual.

We've visited it.

We enjoyed it.

We know what we'd recommend in summer.

But we don't think we've seen enough to give Shinhotaka a final verdict.

Because we've seen what winter can do to mountains in Japan.

We've travelled up Mount Zao when the landscape had been transformed by snow.

Places we'd already found beautiful became almost unrecognisable.

And standing at Shinhotaka in summer, looking at those last remnants of snow, we kept thinking about Zao.

What happens here when the forests turn white?

What does that steep double-decker gondola feel like when you're travelling through snow?

What does the Northern Alps panorama look like in the middle of winter?

We don't know yet.

And we'd rather admit that than pretend one visit has given us the answer.

Who Will Love Shinhotaka?

Travellers who love mountain scenery.

Families travelling with children.

Older travellers who want to experience the Japanese Alps without a demanding hike.

Anyone who enjoys ropeways.

Photographers.

And travellers already spending several days around Takayama, Hirayu or Okuhida.

It also works particularly well for people who simply want to stand high above the Japanese Alps and take everything in.

Who Might Not?

If you only have one spare summer day around Takayama and you're physically comfortable walking, we'd probably send you to Kamikochi instead.

If the weather is poor, we'd also think carefully before committing the time.

Shinhotaka's great reward is the view.

Without that view, you're inevitably losing a major part of the experience.

And if you've just spent the previous day in Kamikochi?

Maybe give yourself a different kind of Japan for a day.

Our Summer Verdict

Shinhotaka Ropeway is beautiful.

The journey to 2,156 metres is genuinely exciting.

The double-decker gondola is unusual.

And on a clear day, the Northern Alps stretching around you are spectacular.

We're glad we went.

But in summer, if you ask us to choose between Shinhotaka and Kamikochi, Kamikochi wins.

That's the judgement we can make today.

What we can't tell you yet is whether summer is the season in which Shinhotaka should be judged at all.

Because that little pile of old snow at the summit left us with another question.

What does this place become in winter?

Why It Matters to Beyond Tokyo

There is another reason we're happy not to have a final answer yet.

This is how many places eventually find their way into our journeys.

We visit.

Sometimes we love them immediately.

Sometimes we don't.

Sometimes we realise we visited in the wrong season.

And sometimes we simply need to go back.

We don't think somewhere belongs on a journey simply because it's famous or photographs beautifully.

Our travellers have limited days in Japan.

If we're asking them to spend one of those days somewhere, it needs to earn that time.

For summer, we've already made that decision.

Kamikochi is part of our Timeless Japan journey in summers.

Shinhotaka isn't.

At least not yet.

Because before we make up our minds about Shinhotaka, there's one more version of it we want to see.

Winter.

So this isn't our final verdict on Shinhotaka.

It's our reason to go back.