On the island of Yakushima (Japan) in the Yakushima National Park stand many proud and ancient cedar tree of the genus Cryptomeria japonica, but none compare to Jomonsugi, the oldest of this species in the world. Dating between 2,170 and 7,200 years of age, its ancient wisdom is even reflected in the name; Jomon refers to an era of prehistory in Japan in which this tree would have started to grow.
In this article, we are going to look at Jomonsugi and the hike to get there, including what to expect, what to wear, and much more.
Jomonsugi and others: Oldest Cedar Trees in Japan
Standing in the middle of Yakushima National Park, Jomonsugi is the oldest Cryptomeria japonica in Japan. Its name even means “Cedar Tree from the Jomon period”, a period of prehistory that dates from 14,000 to 300 B.C.E when hunter-gatherers were starting to adopt early forms of agriculture.
Jomonsugi itself dates from between 2,170 and 7,200 years old. While it is definitely the oldest, it is not the only giant in this prehistoric forest. There are many (37) trees that are at least over 1,000 years old and grow at altitudes between 600 and 1,200 metres (1968 to 3937 ft), each with their own names. Examples include:
- Meotosugi – in fact two trees that have become fused together, also known as the husband and wife cedars
- Buddhasugi – has many branches coming out of the trunk, which looks like a many-armed Buddha statue
- Daiosugi – meaning “big king cedar”, it is one of the largest and oldest after Jomonsugi
While some are more conveniently located, such as Kigensugi in Yakusugiland, others need to be reached by hiking through the mountains. Jomonsugi is among the later category.
Hike to Jomonsugi
The hike to Jomonsugi takes a good deal of time, especially if it has been raining recently. There are several reasons for this:
The first is that Jomonsugi is near the centre of the island and surrounded by tall mountains, including the tallest mountain in the Kyushu region – Mt Miyanoura. Roads do not go into this area and a lot of the routes are steep, which hampers efforts to get there.
The second is that, especially if it rains or has rained recently, many of the routes have to be closed due to landslides, dangerous flooding, and other natural incidents. This usually leaves only one option available: the Arakawa Trail Start, which is farther than several of the other starting points. From this point, the hike to and from Jomonsugi takes approximately 10 hours on average (which includes time to stop, admire the scenery and eat).
An early start
Due to a freak late typhoon, a normally bright and sunny October in Yakushima was very wet and grey for the week that we were there. As a result, the only “semi-dry” day that was available to hike to Jomonsugi, only the Arakawa Trail Start was open. The Arakawa Trail starting point lies high in the mountains which can only be accessed by bus or taxi. If you want to take the bus, you need to be at the Yakusugi Museum for 5 a.m. as there are only three morning buses: 5 a.m., 5:20 a.m., and 5:40 a.m. There is one afternoon bus at 14:30.
Once the buses are full, that is it. The only other option is to take a taxi to the top as private cars are forbidden, which can be expensive depending on the distances travelled.
We chose to wake up at 3:30 and leave our accommodation by 4:15 to be at the museum a bit early to get a ticket. Arriving at about 4:45, the 5 a.m. bus was already full, so we bought the first tickets for the 5:20 a.m. bus.
The bus ride takes about 25/30 minutes and goes up steep, single-lane mountain roads. As someone who gets travel sick, it was not the best experience for me to be honest. Fortunately I presevered and made it to the top without losing my stomach; it is a good thing I don’t eat breakfast!
Hike overview
Although maps of the hike show various legs of this hike (as can be seen below), there are really two main parts to the trail: the easy part and the hard part. The easy part is very nice and gently sloping as it follows the tracks of an old mine cart. Wooden slats have been added into the middle of the track, creating a flat but slightly rough surface that is easy to walk on, even when wet, if you are wearing the right type of shoes – hiking shoes!
The easy part is the first two-thirds of the trail, although it will only take about half of the time that you spend getting to Jomonsugi. However, the second part is what makes this trail recommended for experienced hikers only.
When you reach the end of the track, you suddenly have to start climbing much steeper slopes. The ground also goes from nice, gently rising mine cart tracks to streams, uneven boulders, narrow wooden (and slippery) stairways without railings, and other, potentially dangerous obstacles. It may only be the last 2.5 km (1.55 miles) of an 11-km (6.83) one-way hike, but this will take you the most time to complete. Also remember that you need to come back the same way (if you are doing the day trip and not sleeping overnight), so for 5 km (3.10 miles) straight you will be clambering, ducking under, balancing, and using a lot of energy: stamina is key as there aren’t many places to stop on this route.
The easy part
The easy part consists of approximately 8.5 km (5.28 miles) of mine cart track. On our way up to Jomonsugi, it took us just over 2 hours to complete this section.
Starting in the dark
When start the Arakawa Trail, you are immediately put onto the mine cart tracks where the bus drops you off. This is also one of the only places you can use the toilet in Yakushima National Park, so if you did not go at the Yakusugi Museum, definitely make sure to go here as the next one will take over an hour to reach.
The mine cart tracks date back to a time when there was a settlement in the mountains, which hosted a community of woodcutters and miners who sent raw materials down from the mountains.
The tracks go over several bridges, a rock tunnel and through this primitive forest, offering some amazing views of the area. However, depending on what time of year you hike, you will not be able to see a lot of this until you are on the way back from Jomonsugi. For example, afte rtaking the 5:20 a.m. bus, we hiked for about an hour before sunlight started to reach into the mountain area. During this time, you need to use a headlight or a phone flashlight to light the way.
Sunrise
At some point, the sun will rise and you will start to see the amazing sights you were hiking next to the entire time. Fortunately for us, it was just before we came to the first bridge, allowing for some amazing views in the twilight hours that created an almost magical atmosphere. During this time, it was also raining as it had been for the past week, but it was not nearly as heavy. Fortunately just before sunrise, the rain stopped. While we had a couple more small showers (and water drops falling from trees) throughout the day, the weather was mostly good for the rest of the hike. However, the trail had a lot of standing and flowing water on it, so we were quickly soaked through.
Note: several of the smaller bridges are only the width of the track and have no railings, so please be very careful when crossing! Falling would result in severe injury or death.
Bridges and primitive forest
Sunrise for us was just before the first of several bridges for the mine cart tracks. In general, the run along the side overlooking the river from a safe height (i.e. meaning it would not be flooded by the flooding river) through the primitive forest (meaning it has grown over a long time without outside – typically human – interference).
It is often difficult to see through the trees, so the bridges offer the best opportunities to see the mountains and the river, providing stunning vistas to break up the greenery of the trail. The track was definitely built without views in mind (but rather the easy transport of raw materials down the mountains) but that does not stop the bridges having some amazing views up and down the valleys.
There are a couple of cedars at this point as well, such as Sandaisugi (“Third generation cedar – trees growing out of the trunks of previous generations) and Niousugi (“benevelent kind cedar”).
The hard part
While the easy part is the nice, gentle slopes with mine cart tracks with built-in wooden boards for easy walking, when you reach the last bridge (and a nice waterfall), you are suddenly faced with steep wooden stairs and a sign saying “Jomonsugi, 2.5 km” (1.55 miles). It does not sound like much, but whereas the wooden slates on the track were rough, making it easy to get good traction with the correct shoes, the wooden stairs are often slippery. Some of the bolts were also coming out, meaning that they moved under you. In a couple of places, the boards were also broken or coming close to breaking.
In addition to wooden stairs in many parts, there are often rocks, boulders, tall (and slippery) tree roots, and other obstacles to climb over. This will slow even the most experienced hikers down significantly. Also if you are not among the fastest hikers to begin with, this is the part where you will start encountering people on the hike back to the Arakawa Trail starting point, so you will also have to wait for people to pass (or have them wait for you), slowing you down even further.
This is also the place where you start seeing more of the ancient cedars, such as Meotosugi (“couple cedars”), Daio Sugi (“big king cedar) and of course Jomonsugi. Many of them have observation platforms, especially Daio Sugi and Jomonsugi, which make excellent points to stop (and also eat and drink something).
Note: you cannot eat on the deck at Jomonsugi. This is to keep it clear for others to enjoy the view as well. The others are fine to eat and drink on though.
There is also Wilson’s stump, the remains of a huge cedar where only the bottom of the trunk remains. It is large enough for several people to enter at once and you can look at the sky through the hole in the top.
The way back
If possible, I would definitely recommend going back a different way from the way you came to make the hike more varied. Our original plan was to hike the Arakawa trail up to Jomonsugi and then hike a different trail through the Princess Mononoke forest (more on that in the “Pop culture” section) and Shiratani valley on the way back (or vice versa). Unfortunately, due to heavy rains, all other trails were closed.
If you want to hve a multi-day trip, including camping in the forest, to be able to climb Mt Miyanoura, you can also combine it with your ascent to Jomonsugi. From Mt Miyanoura, you can take one of the other routes down, including ones that head south or west from the mountains (Jomonsugi and the Arakawa entrance is to the east).
If you do decide to hike back, you will see the forest, bridges, mountains and river in better lighting than when you hiked up as the sun has had a lot more time to rise. For example, the lighter photos in this post are from the way back whereas the darker ones were taken on the way up.
General information and tips
If you decide to (or have to) take the Arakawa trail, you will need to get the bus at 5 a.m., 5:20 a.m. or 5:40 a.m. to be able to hike up and back in one day. A return ticket (you can’t buy a one-way ticket) costs ¥1,500, which includes a ¥500-yen donation to conservation efforts on the island. The buses back are more frequent, starting at 3 p.m. and going until 17:30 with buses leaving approximately every half an hour.
Buses depart from and return to the Yakusugi Museum. You can buy tickets in advance at the Tourist Information Centres in Ambo, Miyanoura and the airport (cash only) or on the day at the Yakusugi Museum stop (cash or credit card).
Getting to Yakusugi Museum
The easiest way is a rental car. You can park your car here for free if you are doing any of the hikes in Yakushima National Park.
If you do not have a rental car, public buses start running early in the morning to get here from the major population centres (e.g. Ambo and Miyanoura). Please enquire at one of the tourist information centres for the most up-to-date schedule as it varies based on the time of year. When we were at the bus stop, we saw several public buses arriving for the 5:20 a.m. bus up the mountain.
Seats for the way up and way back are assigned in order, so you will be given a space on the next free, available shuttle bus.
If you decide to take a taxi, note that you will have to call the taxi to pick you up from the trail starting point; taxis do not generally wait around here as very few people take taxis up. Also note that reception is poor or non-existent, so it may be better to have a reservation for the taxi to meet you at a certain time (if they agree to this).
What to wear
Even on dry days, this area of the island is usually very wet. There are several waterfalls and streams that cross the trail. It is important to wear waterproof hiking gear, including at least a raincoat and hiking boots. I would also recommend wearing waterproof trousers.
All of these items along with hiking poles and other aids, can be rented or purchased at several shops on Yakushima. I had my own hiking shoes, but I chose to rent a waterproof jacket and trousers from Nakagawa Sports in Miyanoura. A two-day, three-night rental was ¥2,000. You can also rent hiking shoes for the same length of time for ¥2,500 – and they include a good pair of thick socks as well.
In terms of food and drink, you should have a couple of litres of water or sports drink with you along with enough food for a meal (it is a long hike) and snacks that will give you energy, such as fruit, nuts, trail mix, crackers, jerky, protein bars, or other foods that are rich in nutrients, easy to carry, and easy to eat. Nakagawa Sports also has hiking foods available for sale where you add water to make full meals. These are good especially for overnight trips.
Fortunately, there are no predators (such as bears) on Yakushima, so you do not need to worry about not taking specific foods or taking any special protective measures (e.g. bear repellent, tying up food in high places, etc). The animals you are most likely to encounter are Yakushima deer and Yakushima macaques. They will stay away from you (although are used to humans being in proximity).
Do not feed the animals!
Pop culture
Due to the wild nature, the ancient cedars and general atmosphere, Yakushima has featured heavily in pop culture, especially in films and games. Perhaps the most famous is Ghibli Studio’s 1997 film Princess Mononoke (Mononoke Hime, もののけ姫), for which many of the forest settings (a large part of the film) were inspired by Yakushima.
For fans of the Godzilla franchise, Yakushima is where Mothra goes in the 1996 film Rebirth of Mothra to change its new version, using the energy of the eternal forest to power this transformation.
Several games have also been inspired by Yakushima, particularly its nature, including Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Persona 3 and the Tekken series.
Netflix’s Oni: Thunder God’s Tale, which premiered in 2022 and tells a story based on Japanese mythology, is also set in Yakushima.
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One response to “Jomonsugi: Ancient Cedar Trees and Hiking Yakushima National Park”
Sounds like a very challenging hike, but we’ll worth the views and experience.
… Someone ya no