Route Planning & Real-time Pathfinding with YAMAP

If you're planning to climb mountains in Japan and need a reliable GPS hiking app, I highly recommend YAMAP. It's the go-to app for hikers in Japan, offering recent activity logs and detailed routes even for the lesser-known local mountains.

While YAMAP might be a bit challenging to navigate if you're not fluent in Japanese—it only has partial English translations—once you familiarize yourself with the interface, it becomes much easier to use. Although there isn’t a full English version, you can change the interface settings to English, and you might find some journals written in English, though they are few.

YAMAP is incredibly popular in Japan because of its comprehensive features, such as real-time GPS tracking, even without mobile signal, and the ability to browse others' past hikes to plan your own. It provides essential details like elevation, parking, and trailhead locations. With YAMAP, you can plan your hikes in advance, access all the trail information you need while on the go, and share your experiences with the community to help others on their adventures.

How to use YAMAP for the first time: https://www.emgoto.com/yamap-guide/