It cost 1900 Yen to take the Ishizuchi Tōzan Ropeway (石鎚登山ロープウェイ) cable car up the first half of the mountain (this includes taking it down as well). It actually takes you quite far up so I imagine it would take at least half a day to just walk up that portion. The last train down it at 6pm so you have to make sure you are back by then otherwise you will be walking down from 1300 to 450 meters.
Walking only 20 minutes up gets you to a small village and temple- Jōju (成就). The village has a few restaurants, hotels and a fairly large temple.
 |
| Jōju (成就) on Mount Ishizuchi, Ehime Prefecture, Japan |
 |
| Jōju (成就) on Mount Ishizuchi, Ehime Prefecture, Japan |
There was one cat that lived in the town. She was a cutie with a pink collar and was desperate for any attention. I imagine when the hiking season really kicks off in the summer (starts officially in July) she has a lovely time with tourists. For now the town was a ghost town while we played with the little fur ball.
 |
| Jōju (成就) on Mount Ishizuchi, Ehime Prefecture, Japan |
The walk up the big mountain technically starts at the town after you go through a big torii gate. It goes down into a valley first then starts getting much steeper on the way up.
 |
| Map of trails on Mount Ishizuchi, Ehime Prefecture, Japan |
 |
| Elevation Map of Mount Ishizuchi, Ehime Prefecture, Japan |
The pathway up varies from dirt paths, wooden stairs and, as you get higher, metal stairs. Three sets of chains provide detours to the main pathway.
 |
| Mount Ishizuchi, Ehime Prefecture, Japan |
 |
| Mount Ishizuchi, Ehime Prefecture, Japan |
The first set of chains takes you up to a small peak with a panoramic view all the way out to the ocean and a scenic view of all the mountains. You climb up about 35 m and then down another 19 m to get back to the trail. All other chains are just one way and you don't have to go back down after. The last set of chains is 68 m and is almost vertical. I didn't do the last set because I missed where it started. You have to go to the left behind one of the other buildings.
 |
| Mount Ishizuchi, Ehime Prefecture, Japan |
 |
| Mount Ishizuchi, Ehime Prefecture, Japan |
I was quite amazed when the railing on the metal stairs was missing on
the mountain side. I can't imagine the reasoning behind this but it was interesting... I know some people who would NEVER walk on that side because of the lack of railing but both ways were a single direction acording to random arrows painted on them.
 |
| Mount Ishizuchi, Ehime Prefecture, Japan |
The plants along the pathways are different than other plants in Japan. It didn't appear to be as alpine as some other countries, which have little to no tree cover along the hiking trails but as you got higher up it became very distinct. A lot of trees and shrubs were flowering at the time too so while hiking it smelled incredibly floral.
 |
| Violet (Viola) |
 |
| Honey Flower (Paris tetraphylla) |
 |
|
Mountain Ninebark
(Physocarpus monogynus)
|
 |
|
Japanese Snowball
(Viburnum plicatum)
|
The birding along the way was mostly quiet but there were still a lot of tits along the way. The most common were Coal Tits but Japanese Tits were also quite common.
 |
| Japanese Bush Warbler |
 |
| Coal Tit |
The views from the mountains were quite spectacular. Despite the rain you could still see all the way to the ocean and the rolling clouds made it quite picturesque over the mountain.
 |
| Mount Ishizuchi, Ehime Prefecture, Japan |
 |
| Mount Ishizuchi, Ehime Prefecture, Japan |
The mountain peak itself itself is the tallest on Shikoku and reaches a height of
1982m. The name means stone hammer and it is one of 7 holy mountains in Japan.
 |
| Misen (弥山, 1974m) on Mount Ishizuchi, Ehime Prefecture, Japan |
 |
| Misen (弥山, 1974m) on Mount Ishizuchi, Ehime Prefecture, Japan |
The area has large water reservoirs and with the foggy evening it was a very picturesque drive back to Kochi.
