OKUTADAMI

Essential Gear & Rules for Your Oze Trek

Before you enter Oze, it's important to know the rules and have the right equipment. A safe and comfortable hike starts with choosing the right gear. Here's a look at the basic equipment you'll need for your trip to Oze.

Rules & Manners in Oze

1. Do Not Step Off the Boardwalks

For the protection of the marshlands, Oze has a boardwalk system that is approximately 56 km long. Do not place a tripod in the marshland to take photos, or sit on the boardwalk or at rest areas with your feet in the marshland. We ask for your cooperation with a few rules: keep to the right, give way to those going uphill, and no smoking while walking.

2. Do Not Collect Plants or Animals

Oze is home to many plants and animals of great academic value. For this reason, it has been designated as a special protected area of a national park and a special natural monument of Japan. There are regulations on human activities. Every single organism helps maintain Oze's ecosystem and natural landscape. Please do not collect anything, not even a single insect, wild vegetable, fallen leaf, or twig.

3. Take Your Trash Home

There are no trash cans in Oze, so please take all your trash home with you along with your other belongings. The "take your trash home" initiative in Oze started in 1972 and is still in effect today. We ask for your cooperation to keep Oze beautiful.

4. Do Not Bring Pets

Pets can pose a threat to the wild animals living in Oze. There is also a risk of spreading disease and contamination from waste. Please do not bring pets to avoid causing trouble for other visitors.

5. Prevent the Entry of Invasive Plants

At the trailheads, make sure to thoroughly brush off any mud from your hiking shoes. Seeds of weeds can attach to the soil on your clothes or shoes, invading and establishing themselves in the environment. If invasive plants enter the marshlands, the native plants that belong there are threatened. There are "seed-removing mats" at each trailhead. Please clean your shoes well before entering.

6.Using Public Toilets

In a mountainous area like Oze, the maintenance of septic tanks is extremely difficult. Please use the provided toilet paper and keep the toilets clean for the next person. Also, to help cover the maintenance costs, there are donation boxes at the entrance of the toilets. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated.

Items that have caused problems in public toilets in the past:

ballpoint pens, sanitary products, pedometers, towels, gloves, clothing, underwear, cameras, binoculars, plastic bags, leftover food, empty cans, empty bottles, etc. *If you accidentally drop something in the toilet, please contact the toilet manager immediately.

7. Campsites Are Designated

You can only camp in the designated campgrounds in Oze National Park: Yama-no-hana, Misegashi, and the eastern shore of Ozenuma. Camping in undesignated areas is prohibited.
No Bonfires Bonfires are prohibited. Use portable stoves and other cooking equipment in safe areas where they will not cause a nuisance to others.
 

Mountain Hut Manners

1. A Pleasant Stay at a Mountain Hut. But are you forgetting something?

There are 18 mountain huts in Oze, operating on a reservation and capacity system. Unlike other mountainous areas, Oze is in a basin with abundant water, so it's possible to bathe. The amenities and meals are also on par with a ryokan, which can make it easy to forget you're in a mountain hut. However, Oze is a special place as a national park. Here, we've summarized what you must observe at Oze's mountain huts.

2. Oze's Mountain Huts are by Reservation Only.

In the 1960s, during the tourism boom, some huts packed in as many as three people per tatami mat. As the number of hikers increased, the environmental impact of wastewater became a problem. In 1967, a rule was established to limit occupancy to one person per tatami mat. In 1992, a reservation system was introduced to further lessen the impact on nature. Always make a reservation before using a mountain hut.

3. Check-in Time

Dinner at mountain huts usually starts around 17:00. Please plan your schedule with plenty of time and aim to arrive early. Inside the hut, you may be given a tag to put on your shoes or instructed to bring them to your room to avoid mix-ups. Since you may be sharing a room with other guests, please be considerate and help ensure a pleasant stay for everyone.

4. Bathing

Being able to wash off the sweat of trekking in a bath is a great pleasure. Relaxing can also help you get the rest you need. At Oze's mountain huts, the water is treated in a septic tank before being discharged back into the river. *Please note that some huts do not allow the use of soap, shampoo, or toothpaste.

5. Dinner

Dinner typically begins around 17:30. Please try to finish all your food. After your meal, please take your dishes to the designated area. *Leftover food must be carried out of Oze as trash. We kindly ask that you do not leave any food behind.

6. Lights Out

Mountain huts have a set lights-out time (around 21:00). At huts that use a generator, the power may be cut off after this time, so please complete your preparations for the next morning in advance. It's convenient to keep a headlamp by your pillow.

7. Breakfast

If you are planning an early departure, you can request a bento box for breakfast the night before. Normal breakfast hours are from 6:00 to 6:30. The same rules as dinner apply.

8. Check-out

If you requested a packed lunch, please remember to pick it up. Once you have finished preparing to leave your room, double-check that you haven't forgotten anything. And, of course, remember to take any trash you brought with you.