Deciding what to wear when hiking is a challenging (but very important) task. In Japan the weather can change at any moment and if you pack the wrong clothing you might end up uncomfortable (or worse). In this article we offer some useful tips but also share an example list of what to wear for day and overnight hikes in Japan.
With many hikes rising above 1400m you can feel the effects of cold even in peak summer. You need to be extra careful when hiking at altitude. It’s important to not that that this is not a winter hiking guide.
Top tips for packing your hike clothes
“Layering” is probably the most important thing to know when preparing clothing for any hike. Layering let’s you regulate your temperature and comfort levels depending on the conditions and stay safe. This guide to layering is really good and you should read it (now, really).
Should I wear cotton?
“Cotton Kills” is a common expression in the outdoors. Here’s why. When you sweat, cotton absorbs the moisture and keeps it. When wet, cotton stops warming you up. Avoid cotton and go for synthetic fibres (which take the water away from your body) as your base layer with wool/down layers to keep you warm.
So what should I wear?
Here is an example pack list for a range of different hikes. The list will keep you safe on your next hike but use some common sense when deciding what to take.
Warm Weather Clothing Pack List
- Use a 3-layer system
- Base Layer: Long sleeve Synthetic sports shirt (or Cool-tech)
- Mid-layer: Light weight fleece or sports jacket or or down coat/vest if it’s cooler
- Outer-Layer: Soft shell/light compact raincoat/ or Hard-shell raincoat/pants in rainy season or if high chance of rain.
- Pants – Long, breathable, flexible pants are ideal. Shorts can be good if it’s really hot but leave your legs exposed to scratches and snakes. I have found gaitors are less common in Japan than places like Australia. Again, rain pants.
- Pair of socks – plus a spare (incase of rain). Thick, hiking specific socks are ideal. TIP: Wear two pairs of thinner socks to reduce blisters, or put strapping tape on hotspots on your foot.
- Hat – wide-brimmed hats are best. Even on cloudy days there is still UV radiation.
- Hiking shoes – Comfortable shoes that are ideally waterproof
If you’re looking for cheap pants, clothes and hats suitable for hiking hardware megastores like DCM are great in Japan as they’re used by the farmers. Montbell is also good but is more expensive (and hiking specific). I also can highly recomment the second hand stores like 2nd STREET or Hard-Off for great used hiking gear.
Cold-weather Clothing Pack List
- Use a 4 layer system
- Base Layer: Long sleeve heat-tech (thermal/Merino wool)
- Mid-layer: Light weight fleece (thin is okay, because you’ll have more layers)
- Warmth Layer: Light-weight down jacket (sweater) with hood like the type from Montbell. Should fit under your raincoat.
- Outer-Layer: Hard-shell raincoat if snow is expected, soft shell/light compact if very low chance of rain/snow. Goretex is ideal.
- Pants – Long, breathable, flexible pants are ideal with Heat-tech leggings
- Pair of socks – thicker the better and not too short.
- Hat – wide-brimmed hats are best. Even on cloudy days there is still UV radiation.
- Beanie and/or neckwarmer
- Gloves – waterproof if snow is expected
- Waterproof shoes – If you’re walking near rivers or in snow you want your feet to stay warm
For Multi-day hikes pack what you see above PLUS
- Spare socks/underwear for each day you’re on hike – You can wear the same clothes for multiple days but having clean socks will make you feel a lot better at the start of the day
- Microfiber towel – Lightweight and good if you get wet or decide to swim “Emergency clothes” (one set) in a water-proof bag in case your clothes/pack is wet
- Even in summer, you may like to bring a thin beanie or gloves for overnight as peaks above 1400m can be cold.