Fukushima · HinoemataNo.1004★★★Open in map →

Oze National Park

natureThe classic — done right

A high basin of peat bog and lake shared by four prefectures and crossed almost entirely on boardwalk. Miike, above the village of Hinoemata, is the Fukushima gateway: cars stop there, and the pass beyond is reached by shuttle only.

FromAizu-Tajima Station
~2 hrAizu Bus, seasonal line
Get off atOze-Miike (Aizu Bus, Hinoemata line)
From there
Oze National Park

Directions ↗

Where it is

20 more notes in Fukushima · open the map →

What to look for — in walking order

Miikethe trailhead yard at the end of the road, with a lodge, a shop and parking for about 400 cars
Numayama Passthe shuttle terminus, and boardwalk steps climbing through conifer forest to the crest
Numayama Pass lookoutthe first opening on the way down, with the basin laid out below
Oe Marsha wide meadow on the old Aizu-Numata road, thick with skunk cabbage, cotton grass and day lilies in turn
Ozenuma and its visitor centrethe lake under Mount Hiuchi, with two lodges and a staffed centre on the east shore

How to actually get there

Asakusa or Aizu-Wakamatsu → Aizu-Tajima Station (Tobu and Yagan lines, or the Aizu Railway).
Aizu-Tajima Station → Miike (Aizu Bus, Hinoemata line, about two hours).
Miike → Numayama Pass (change to the shuttle; private vehicles are barred on this stretch all year).
Numayama Pass → Oe Marsh → Ozenuma on boardwalk, then back the same way for the last shuttle.

Aizu Bus from Aizu-Tajima Station: Aizu-Tajima is reached from Asakusa in Tokyo on a single limited express over the Tobu and Yagan lines, and from the north by way of the Aizu Railway. From the station Aizu Bus runs the Hinoemata line through the village to Miike and on to the pass, which the prefecture puts at about two hours to Miike. The line runs for a season only, and the operator publishes the dates each year.
Back from the pass: Walk back over Numayama Pass, take the shuttle down to Miike, and pick up the Aizu Bus service for Aizu-Tajima. Both legs stop in the afternoon, so the last shuttle and the last bus are what decide how long you can stay by the lake. Note that these route buses no longer start from Aizu-Kogen-Ozeguchi Station, as they once did.

Directions from my location (Google Maps) ↗

About the place

Oze National Park covers 37,222 hectares across Fukushima, Gunma, Niigata and Tochigi. At its centre are two things: a raised peat bog, Ozegahara, and a lake held above it, Ozenuma. Almost all walking here is done on boardwalk, laid because boots were wearing the marsh away and maintained today by the Environment Ministry, two of the prefectures and a power company. Miike sits on the Fukushima rim of that basin, at the point where Route 352 stops being useful to a car.

How to enjoy it

The day is set by the shuttle. It begins running from Miike early in the morning and the last bus down from the pass leaves in the afternoon, so a day walk means taking one of the first departures — which is also when the lake is stillest and Mount Hiuchi sits on the water. Skunk cabbage comes with the thaw, cotton grass and day lilies through the summer, and the grasses turn colour in autumn.

Background & history

Oze sits between volcanoes, and in the last century it was nearly drowned — a hydroelectric scheme for Ozenuma was held off, Fukushima's official site credits, by the lodge keeper Hirano Chozo, the man who opened Mount Hiuchi. Protection came in stages after that. In 2007 the Oze district was cut out of Nikko National Park and designated in its own right, the twenty-ninth national park in Japan. The closure of the road between Miike and the pass to private vehicles belongs to the same effort to hold the load down.

Before you go

Cash: The shuttle between Miike and the pass is a paid ride, listed at 900 yen one way for an adult by both the prefecture and the village tourism association. Parking at Miike is charged by the day. Payment options in the mountains are limited, so carry cash.
Good to know: The road up to Miike and the parking there open for a season only, roughly spring through late autumn, and the shuttle runs on its own dates within that. Boardwalk is slippery when wet, the weather turns quickly at this height, and this is bear country — read the current notices from the park bodies before you set out.
Another way: By car from the Kanto side the usual line is the Nishinasuno-Shiobara interchange, then Routes 400, 121 and 352 up to Miike; from Aizu-Wakamatsu the roads run down through Minamiaizu. There is also a water route from Niigata, by boat across the Okutadami reservoir to the Ozeguchi landing, then a booked bus up to Miike.
After you get off: The bus sets you down at Miike, inside the parking yard itself. The stand for the Numayama Pass shuttle is in the same yard, beside the lodge and its shop.

Nearby notes

Culture · Fukushima★★