Daisen 大山
HIKE DATE: November 23, 2025 (Sunday)
PUBLIC TRANSPORT SUMMARY
Total time on the trail with breaks: 8 hours and 24 minutes (Note that we stayed at the summit for two hours to just chill)
(Please note that these stats were from when I hiked it. Your conditions could be a bit different.)
Hike Log Summary:
FRIDAY
7:00 PM - Took the night bus from Shinjuku Station to Yonago Station (Tottori).
SATURDAY
7:00 AM Arrived at Yonago Station.
(You can start hiking on this day, but we were tired from the long bus ride, so we decided to postpone the hike for tomorrow and went sightseeing instead.)
SUNDAY
Took the bus from Yonago Station to Daisen-ji.
8:30 AM - Started the hike
12:00 PM - Reached the summit (Misen Peak. The actual summit, Kengamine, is inaccessible.)
2:00 PM - Hiked down (Yes, we stayed at the summit for two hours 😅)
4:45 PM - Reached the bus stop.
(We originally planned to stay two nights in Tottori since Monday was a holiday, but you can definitely take another night bus from Yonago Station that will take you back to Tokyo by Monday morning.)
A SNOWY AUTUMN DAY HIKE TO MT. DAISEN
FRIDAY
Night bus from Shinjuku to Yonago. When I checked how to get to Tottori, it involved a bunch of different trains, so your entire day is basically spent commuting. This was why I decided that we should take the night bus instead. You get on the bus at night, sleep the whole way, and wake up when you arrive. Did I mention it’s so much cheaper than the Shinkansen? So, we booked the night bus from Shinjuku Station to Yonago Station.
SATURDAY
We arrived at Yonago Station in the morning, but we’re too tired to do anything, so we have decided to just chill on that day. After having some coffee and breakfast, we headed to Tottori Sand Dunes, and it was amazing.
I’ve wanted to see this natural phenomenon with my own eyes, and I am so happy I got the time to do so.
By the way, Sandshrew (yes, the Pokémon) is one of Tottori’s mascots, and I think you know why.
I also may look all happy here, but I was crying like 10 minutes ago because I FORGOT THE SD CARDS OF OUR CAMERA. Like…how…🥲 and thankfully we really have postponed the hike to Daisen. If not, we would have carried our camera through the hike without even getting to use it. At least this time, we got to buy an SD Card the day before our hike.
Yonago and Tottori Stations are far from each other, about two hours one way, I think? So we also did not get to stay long at the Sand Dunes. After about two hours, we have decided to head back and take a rest at our hotel for our hike tomorrow.
SUNDAY (Hike Day)
7:20 AM - Took the first bus from Yonago Station to Daisenji.
7:30 AM - Checked out the Visitor Center and submitted our hiking itinerary.
8:30 AM - Started the hike following the Natsuyama Trail. Daisen also has stations like Mt. Fuji. It was at the end of autumn when we hiked, so the trees were already losing their leaves.
10:30 AM - 6th Station. This is also an emergency shelter that can fit about 3 or 4 people. No toilets, though. We also put on our microspikes here as the snow has started to accumulate at this elevation.
(Side note: the trail is mostly stairs up to the summit.)
Stairs…one of many.
12:00 PM - SUMMIT! We took our time here and just stayed inside the Shelter Hut. We also had our lunch there. The temperature at the summit was 0 degrees Celsius on a sunny day. It was really cold at the top, so make sure to layer up if you’re thinking about hiking in autumn.
We spent two hours at the summit and just enjoyed the views because they were amazing!
2:00 PM - Started hiking down. As mentioned earlier, we hiked up following the Natsuyama Trail. For going down, upon reaching the 5th Station, there will be a junction to continue with the Natsuyama Trail or take the Gyoja Trail. We took the Gyoja Trail for the rest of the way. This path leads to Daisen-ji as well.
4:45 PM - Reached the bus stop. The bus won’t come until 30 minutes later, so we also stopped by the Daisen National Park Center. You should stop by, too, if you have the time. They have a lot of information about Daisen and the surrounding area. They also got stamps!
6:00 PM - Back to Yonago.
(Note that you can go back to Tokyo by taking the night bus at this time as well. We just chose to relax and take it easy, and took the train the morning after.)
