Karasawagoya

A bright, gable-roofed hut at about 2,350m on the south-facing slope of the Karasawa cirque, ringed by the 3,000m peaks of the Hotaka range — Kitahotakadake, Karasawadake, Okuhotakadake and Maehotakadake. Carved by glaciers, the cirque is one of Japan's great mountain landscapes and has long been treated as a pilgrimage site by climbers, taking in everything from trekking to climbing and ski touring. The hut stands on bedrock at the foot of the Kitaho south ridge, with a rock wall some 50m high behind it that splits the avalanche paths into Azukizawa and Kitahozawa; the site was chosen by the Kamikochi mountain guides' association in the early Showa years, and it has a spring right beside it and long hours of sun. The wide terrace, looking up at Maehotakadake and down over the cirque, is the place to sit with a draught beer or a soft-serve ice cream. There are about ten rooms sleeping around eighty, including five six-mat and one eight-mat private rooms. Opening the hut in mid-April begins with digging it out from more than ten metres of snow, and Golden Week brings spring climbers and ski tourers. The autumn colour that fills the cirque from late September into early October is a byword for mountain foliage in Japan. The season runs from 27 April to the night of 3 November.