Kanto Fureai no Michi
関東ふれあいの道
A 1,797 km loop of 160 day walks through Tokyo and the six prefectures around it, from the hills west of the capital to the Bōsō coast and back.
At a glance
- Loop from and back to
- Umenokidaira, Hachiōji
- Length
- 1,797 km
- On foot
- ≈ 72–90 days
- Countries
Japan
About the trail
Japan's Ministry of the Environment has created a network of long-distance nature trails across the country, and the Kanto Fureai no Michi is the one that encircles the Tokyo region. It runs through Tokyo and the prefectures of Kanagawa, Saitama, Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki and Chiba, starting and ending at Umenokidaira in Hachiōji, near Takaosan on the western edge of the capital.
The loop links mountains and lowlands: Takaosan and Okutama, the Chichibu hills, Myōgisan, Taiheizan and Tsukubasan, then Lake Kasumigaura, the long beach of Kujūkurihama, the Bōsō and Miura peninsulas and the Tanzawa mountains. Between them it follows country lanes and farmland, and the ministry presents it as a way to enjoy natural scenery, rural landscapes and historic and cultural sites together.
The ministry divides the route into 160 courses of about 10 km, each meant as a day walk, for a total of about 1,797 km. Walkers can have a prefecture's section certified by photographing themselves at a marked point on every course and sending the pictures to the prefectural office, and those who finish all 160 courses can submit their certificates together.
Trails it meets
No source gives the days on foot, so they are worked out from the length at 20–25 km a day.