Stories / June 2025
Hitachinokuni scenes
The Kilian Jornet Foundation (KJF) has begun supporting the Hitachi Province Long Trail project. We spoke with Ikuo Wada, who is central to these activities.
The Hitachinokuni Long Trail is a 200-mile/320-km long trail that spans six cities and towns in northern Ibaraki Prefecture at the northern tip of the Kanto region. What kind of nature, people, and culture exists here? The Kilian Jornet Foundation and NNormal spoke with Kikuro Wada, the key person in charge of trail maintenance in “Hitachinokuni,” about the value of his activities.
Meeting Ikuo Wada
Ikuo Wada, the head of the Hitachinokuni Long Trail project, has spent a long time in the field. Growing up, family vacations meant mountain climbing and skiing with his father. As a student, he traveled abroad backpacking and learned about many different people and cultures. He has also enjoyed backcountry snowboarding, surfing, and running as a trail runner, and is the course director for the OSJ Oku Kuji Trail. So we fully agree that he is a key person in “Hitachinokuni.”
More about OSJ Oku Kuji Trail
Beginning
It was about eight years ago that Wada came up with the idea of a long trail in Ibaraki Prefecture. Regional development had long been an issue in the northern part of Ibaraki Prefecture, and camping events were often held as a measure to address this challenge at the time.
“The events were often exciting, but when they ended, the participants naturally left. There was not much left there, and I felt a bit sad. At such times, as a hiker and as a runner, I felt like I was traveling from village to village on ancient and abandoned roads - how about developing this further and including new routes to create a long trail that goes around the northern area of the prefecture that has never been done before? How about creating a “long trail” around the northern area of the prefecture that has never been done before, including a new route?”
Walking a long trail and spending a long time there, one can get in touch with the nature, people, and culture of the area. And you can take that journey again and again, anytime you want. “This is how I began to think about it, and this is how the Long Trail project was born.”
Scenery of “Hitachinokuni”
With this in mind, Wada began full-scale maintenance of the Hitachinokuni Long Trail in 2020 collaborating with Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. Runners, hikers, and community members have joined the club to regularly meet once or twice a month to carry out these activities, which have now expanded to the “Hitachinokuni Trail Club” with more than 800 registered members, As of spring 2025, about 85% of the trail (about 275 km) has been completed, and the entire trail is scheduled to open to traffic between 2025 and 2026.
It was when we passed the “C-29 Mt. Takanosu Trailhead” sign on the Hitachinokuni Long Trail and joined the “Trail Club” members on the uphill trail. Wada told us this story.
“This area is the southern limit of apple cultivation and the northern limit of tea cultivation. Because Ibaraki was close to Edo, a capital of ancient Japan in the old days, we were able to take what we could pick to Edo right away. So there was no need to brand apples and tea. That is why Ibaraki's crops are often inconspicuous, but in fact, the land is rich in vegetation, fruit trees, crops, and rice. You can sense this today just by walking around this area.”
As you enter the trail, you can also see that there are lacquer trees. They say they are famous for their very high quality lacquer. From Mt. Takanosu, one can see a river running through the area, a village, and people growing crops unique to the area. Cedar plantations can be seen on the right side of the trail, and untouched forests on the left. One can concretely experience a landscape where people and nature have coexisted in harmony, just a short distance along the trail.
The nature and history unique to the area are everywhere on the Hitachinokuni Long Trail. It is not a passing event or fad, but an activity that has always been there and will continue to be passed down as part of the culture.
Movement of the mind, attraction of long trails
The thrill and enjoyment of long distances, rugged terrain, and high elevation for extended periods of time can be found among many communities and on trails around the world. On the other hand, the trail in Hitachinokuni has a freedom that frees people from the norms of distance, elevation, and walking style. There is no clear start or dramatic finish, but that is what makes this trail so accessible to all.
It takes about 3 hours from Tokyo by public transportation to enter the central area of the Hitachinokuni Long Trail. The northeastern, southeastern, and southwestern parts of the trail can be freely accessed by train, bus, or cab. At times, you can continue your journey to the rocky ridge of Ikusefuji, a.k.a. “Gendarme of Ibaraki,” or to the OSJ Oku Kuji race course, which is a series of ups and downs. Wada continues to describe the joys of the Hitachinokuni Long Trail.
“For example, at the end of the “NE” section, the course opens up to the Pacific Ocean side and there is a section called 'Hamakkaido' (old beach road). If you walk there before dawn, it is indescribably and truly beautiful, with the sky and coast dyed bright blue before the sun rises. It is an extraordinary view unique to long trails that can only be seen by walking in Hitachinokuni and trekking at that time.”
So, what does it really mean to maintain trails that offer such a view?
“Trail maintenance is an activity to protect and preserve the natural environment, but I believe it is more than just work. By going from village to village, we can learn more about the lives of people in the past, their legends, and historical remains. We come to understand more about the people who live there now. I think the attraction of walking the Hitachi Long Trail is that it allows us to experience many small emotions, such as the movement of the heart, through trail maintenance.”
“Trail maintenance is not only about conservation, it is a means to understand the landscape and the people who inhabit it.”
Ikuo Wada
Head of the Hitachinokuni Long Trail project
Hitachinokuni and the “Restore the Trail” project
The project of the Hitachinokuni Long Trail restoration is also one of the initiatives supported by the Kilian Jornet Foundation (KJF). Launched in 2020 by Kilian Jornet, one of the world's leading mountain athletes, the foundation has been supporting activities around the world to protect mountains and the natural environment from various risks caused by the abuse of natural resources, environmental degradation, and climate change. Through the project called “Restore the Trail”, together with NNormal under the 1% For the Planet program, the Foundation has continued to address environmental issues, identifying degraded natural areas and partnering with local associations to restore and regenerate them.
In order to support trails that “live on” biologically and culturally, KJF will partner with local communities in six countries around the world to implement trail maintenance activities in 2025, and in order to spread its activities in Asia and Japan, KJF is starting to support the Hitachino kuni Long Trail as well, providing also the necessary gears for trail activity.
On the trail of the Hitachinokuni Long Trail, around 15 members including Wada initiated various activities including removing fallen trees on the trail and keeping the way beautiful by cleaning dead trees and leaves along the way. Wada concluded by saying, while keeping in mind the linkage between the Hitachinokuni Long Trail and the KJF.
“I do trail maintenance, and through it, I gain a lot of awareness. I think that's what it means to “move your mind. It's not about doing it to get a “like” from someone else's perspective, but to understand things you didn't know, to see views you couldn't see. It moves my heart and allows me to experience the world from my own perspective. I enjoy that kind of feeling, and I hope it spreads more widely.”
The Hitachinokuni Long Trail and KJF's activities have taught us the rich meaning of the trail: the physical, tangible preservation of the trail; the sure presence of the invisible, of history and culture; and the movement and inner transformation of our hearts and minds.
Now we can look forward to seeing more and more “Doers” like Wada and his team creating multi-layered value in various regions across the world.
Photography by Hiroto Miyazaki
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