頂上小屋

A hut at about 3,000m directly below Kengamine (3,026m), the main peak of Norikuradake at the southern end of the Northern Alps. Because a bus climbs higher here than anywhere else in Japan, the summit is within reach in about 1 hour 30 minutes from the terminal at Tatamidaira (2,702m) by way of Kata-no-koya — roughly three hours there and back. The hut was put up on this spot some ninety-odd years ago, a plain structure built in the stone-weighted roof style of the dedzukuri-goya, the summer work huts of the Norikura highland. It no longer takes overnight guests: today it sells original souvenirs planned and designed by the hut keeper, and runs a small nature gallery of photographs of alpine plants, rock ptarmigan and sunrises. On the summit above stand the inner shrine of Norikura Hongu and the Asahi Gongen shrine, together with a first-order triangulation point, and the view opens in every direction.