“TOZAN.TV” is a video site what I’ve recorded in mountains of Japan. “TOZAN” means hiking (climb a mountain) in Japanese. The videos are mainly hiking(include snowy season), backcountry skiing, shower climbing and so on.
TOZAN.TV is origin of this site for Japanese. This site is for people who;
- live in Japan don’t speak Japanese
- is interested in traveling in Japan
- just has a little bit interest in Japanese mountains
Therefore posts and videos are not only translated in English but also added explanation of Japanese and terms regarding the hiking.
Contents
Features of “TOZAN.TV”
- From the trailhead to the summit
- All videos and mountain reviews are recorded by one person
Almost all videos regarding hiking are highlight video. If you wish to pick up on the atmosphere of the mountain, it might be enough. However that atmosphere relies on the editor’s intention. There are risks to hike in the mountain especially high altitude and/or snowy mountain. So I decided to show all of them in order to judge by oneself
.
There are famous review sites on the internet such as tripadvisor and yamareco and so on. You can read a lot of reviews there, it’s a great merit. However those reviews are written by other persons, therefore it must be unstable, it’s a demerit I think. All videos and mountain reviews are recorded by one person, by unified decision makeing in TOZAN.TVIt is of course that reviews would be affected by weather, my conditions/equipment etc., I keep in mind to minimize fluctuations.
Notice
You can watch videos as you like. But almost all videos are very long. Moreover, the videos are recorded while walking so camera shake are unavoidable. I’ve tried to remove these shake by device and software, but it’s so far from perfect. So, please take a enough rest while watching videos for many hours.
Glossary
“TOZAN.TV” provides a quantitative evaluation in order to compare with many other mountains
These indexes are, of course, the relative values by my personal experience. To utilize the information from them, it is recommended to search mountains which you had hiked and compare with your experience in that mountain. If you have never hiked in Japan, I recommend not hike in the mountain above 60 in Technical Score or Physical Score without enough experience of hiking.
The indexes more than 2 days hike are through the whole days. For example, if one day had a very hard trail but rest days weren’t hard wouldn’t be high score.
About Physical Score
“Physical Score” is an index which shows the mountain hiking was a tough, physically demanding as detailed below.
| 0 – 20 | very easy I can more than one return within that day. I can get rid of my tiredness within that day. |
|---|---|
| 21 – 40 | easy I can one more return within that day. I feel tired a little bit the next day. |
| 41 – 60 | general I can one more ascent within that day. I feel tired the next day. |
| 61 – 80 | hard I feel fatigue when I finished hiking. I feel tired a lot the next day. |
| 81 – 100 | very hard It’s hard to finish. I have a trouble in my daily life for a few days. |
These scores is based on a day hiking with small backpack in summer season.
So if I went hiking with big backpack and/or snowy season, the score will be lower.
About Technical Score
“Technical Score” is an index which shows the mountain hiking was a difficult, technical demanding as detailed below.
| 0 – 20 | very easy Just walk without using hands. the risk of fall or slide down is almost nothing. |
|---|---|
| 21 – 40 | easy Just use easy ladder or chain handrail. if you fall or slide down would be injured. |
| 41 – 60 | general There is a ladder or a chain handrail but full of tention either in quality or in quantity. if you fall or slide down would be seriously injured or die. |
| 61 – 80 | difficult three-point suspension is required. if you fall or slide down would be seriously injured or die with high probability. |
| 81 – 100 | very difficult Appropriate belay is required in the core area. if you fall or slide down would be seriously injured or die with high probability. |
There is a difference between snowy season and no snow season. In no snow season, required technique is mainly climbing. In snowy season, not only climbing technique but also technique which using an ice axe and crampons.
About Recommendation Score
“Recommendation Score” is an index which shows how much I felt it’s recommendable in this mountain hiking, as detailed below.
| 0 – 20 | not recommendable at all If I found the person who will go this mountain hiking, I would hold him/her up. I never go again. |
|---|---|
| 21 – 40 | not recommendable If the person strongly wish to go this mountain hiking, I wouldn’t hold him/her up. I’ll never go again without unexpected great things. |
| 41 – 60 | general If the person wish to go this mountain hiking, I think you may go. I may go again if I have a chance. |
| 61 – 80 | recommendable I think you should try this mountain hiking once. I’d like to go this mountain hiking again in other season or in good weather. |
| 81 – 100 | highly recommendable I strongly recommend to go this mountain hiking. I want to go again and again anytime. |
My personal preference as detailed below. If you don’t like dangerous area (rocky area and/or high place) please be careful. I love them.
- great view
- calmly area (= not so much people)
- a lot of variations of scenery
- where has beautiful flowers, plants, moss
- few hike on road (= not a trail)
- where I can traverse mountains or round route. I don’t like just return.
- where has a pond and/or river
- high place
- rocky area
- where I can access easily
About Course Time Ratio
“Course Time Ratio” is an index which shows how much I was faster or slower than the basic course time in Yama to Kogen map (the most famous hiking map in Japan).
Basically it will be “Actual Time / Course Time“.
Actual Time would be affected by route condition, my conditions/equipment etc., so I adjust a coefficient for example if I go with tent (= big backpack) will be multiplied by 0.8, In snowy season will be multiplied by 0.9.