"Chichibu Crazy Mountain", Mount Futago
- Marc Wilkinson
- Jun 20
- 5 min read
Also known as "Chichibu Crazy Mountain" or "The Saitama Gendarme", Mt. Futago definitely lives up to it's reputation.
Access/Course: Sakamoto Bus Stop → Col → East Peak → Col → West Peak → Yonotoge Pass → Sakamoto Bus Stop (be careful - the last bus of the day is around 4:20pm!)
In May 2024, after several months hoping to do this advanced climb with my hiking teacher, the day we had planned to go was nonstop rain, and his next available day wasn't until a few months later. So, when a sunny day finally came, I decided to do it solo. Without a car, it is very difficult to do this mountain as simply a day trip. Instead, I stayed at a cheap hostel near Chichibu station and got on the early bird bus towards Ogano Town Hall, and then transferred towards Sakamoto. Once arriving at the bus stop, there are two ways to reach the trailhead. The quickest way is to get there is by cutting through the nearby village and forest path. Along the way, I passed by one of the locals, who wished me good luck and a safe journey on my climb.
The journey starts off as fairly standard mountain trail, and moves upwards along a stream. There are lots of little red ribbons on the trees to help guide the way, although right near the end of the river, I got a little bit off the trail and had to backtrack a tiny bit. The hiking road starts to get fairly steep near the top, but is never too extreme (at least compared to the later ridge-line sections). Eventually I reached the col/valley with the trail fork between the two summits. There are a lot of danger signs here, basically stating that even though Mt Futago's altitude isn't so high, its a very steep rocky mountain with a high prominence, and many fatal accidents have occurred.
The journey to the East Peak wasn't without its peril. Probably the most technical part is a tiny chain section with very difficult footing. Just a few meters above it is a roped area with a big gap in the middle of the footpath. There is no chain on the wall here, so the best approach is to hug the rock. As I was climbing up this dangerous section, my biggest worry was... "and I'm supposed to go down this too?!" In times like this, lots of doubtful thoughts can come pouring into the mind which makes one lose focus. The best suggestion is to tell yourself "one step at a time", and try your best not to think about such things until it is upon you. From here, there is a bit more sense of altitude, but actually the trail gets much easier, and as long as you watch your feet, there isn't much trouble. I quickly reached the East Peak, took some excellent photos of the surroundings.
As I was heading back down towards the summit valley, I caught a splendid view of Mt. Futago's West Peak. From this view, it looks both awe-inspiring but also intimidating. Just as I was making my way down through that tricky chain section, I saw what looked like a man in white glide through the trees below me. I thought, "did I just hallucinate or see a ghost?" I continued downwards for another few minutes and passed by an older hiker in a blue t-shirt, and asked him if he had seen anyone in all white - but he told me I was the first hiker he had seen all day. I wished him good luck on his climb and walked back to the trail fork between the two summits. There, I had a few snacks, refill my tank so to speak, and then I was back on the road. The West Peak has an advanced and regular course, but since the rocks were a bit wet and I was alone, I thought it might be best I stick with the standard course for today. However, even the "standard course" had a few slightly technical sections, but nothing too crazy. Near the top of the summit trail, I took a quick break, and in that moment, my helmet fell off and down the hill so I had to climb halfway back down to pick it up again. When I returned to the rest area, the "ghost" man returned, who was indeed wearing all white. I managed to strike up a conversation with him, he said he was from the area and just wanted to see the view from the top of the ridge, and didn't actually go to either of the summits. He let me take a photograph, and if he wasn't a ghost, then perhaps he was a Jedi.
It was actually a fairly short path to the West peak (二子山西岳山頂), and it is here on the top of the summit trail that most people will really begin to get a sharp sense of the altitude. Along the way there was a couple semi-technical sections, but I reached the peak much quicker than I had anticipated. From the summit, I looked off in the distance and saw what kinda looked like a 3rd peak across a jagged, dangerous, thin ridge-line trail. I suddenly realized, this was the descending route I would have to take.
This final dangerous section is nicknamed "the Saitama Gendarme", named after the Hida Ridge "Gendarme" peak in the Northern Alps. I actually stood on the ridge for a good moment and seriously debated the risks of continuing along this risky path, but since I needed experience for the real Gendarme, backing out now would put me several steps behind my insane goal. After Myogi, Tsurugi, Ryogami, Chigo-Toshi, etc., I thought by now I had built up a strong stomach for heights, but I won't deny that my legs trembled a bit, especially at that first section. But I knew that if I didn't go through with this today, I would be further away from my goal of conquering the real North Alps Gendarme ridge. So, following the famous 3 point rule, and staying more on the right side (at least if I slipped there I might get snagged onto one of the trees below), I slowly made my way along the razor edge trail.
Talking things slowly, the path took about an hour to complete. There were a few sections where those not used to heights might get a bit of vertigo, and I think this is probably where most accidents happen as some people might try to rush to get off the ridge. Ultimately, the trail wasn't as physically demanding as I imagined. In general, I felt that as long as I took things one step at a time and calmly moved forward, the actual chance of falling was fairly low. The only parts that I had to put a little bit of physical strength was a rocky wall just above a danger sign, and the chain section at the very end of the ridgeline section.
After descending the last chain, I travelled down the steep forest road towards the Yonomichi Pass (魚尾道峠). After about 40 minutes, the forest trail opened up near the power lines, which gave some splendid views of the mountain and area. Another 30 minutes later, I had reached the second, unmarked roadside trailhead. I then made my way back to Sakamoto bus stop by about 4:15pm, with just enough time to wash up and catch the final bus of the day.
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