This hallway of trees leads visitors to a shrine situated at the base of Mount Togakushi in Nagano, Japan. The mountain is very steep and it looks like a landslide or avalanche will take out the shrine at any moment.

This location is photographed by many, but the true prize (IMO) is the full trek. The tree'd hallway and 2000 year old shrine is only the start of an exhausting and technically-slow 10km journey.

For a hike, the ascent is extremely steep. For much of it there are ladders and chains with the occasional cave naturally dug into the side of the mountain housing a rough nights accommodation. It tops out at a singletrack width trail that traverses the ridge-top for a few kilometers while looming over nine moss and bush coated gulleys.

Togakushi means 9-Dragons and each glorious looking gulley (or couloir) represents one of the dragons (some are skiable-if you’re into that sort of thing).

Ninja's have visited this mountain for ages as a training ground to refine their raw ability. The endurance, suffering and technical terrain are obvious character builders. A section known as 'Arino-towatari” meaning the 'Ant-Walk' is a knife-edge ridge that most hikers end up crawling across due to the danger and commitment required to cross it. It’s mostly just a mind-game but it does have real consequences.

The first time I came to Arino-towatari, was when we had crested a series of steep chain-assisted rock faces. My hiking partner and fellow photographer Taq Inoue mentioned the name of the section. Just as soon as he had finished describing why it was called the Ant-Walk, we both set sight on something we could not quiet process.

Slightly backlit was a silhouette of what looked to be the physique of man - but accented in the cut of a girls dress, blouse and hair style. As we got closer - and inappropriately tried to focus our eyes - we realized we were watching a grown man in a Japanese school girls uniform, gingerly dance across the Ant-Walk in school slippers.

It was too quick to snap an image and when he passed he spoke a confident "Konnichiwa-ah" before quickly engaging the technical descent to the valley.

After confirming and then appreciating what we had just witnessed, we crawled across the Ant-Walk and carried on with our day.

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Togakushi-jinja Shrine is located in Nagano Prefecture, the hike is challenging - so if you choose to do it - prepare accordingly. If you want to photograph the pictured section, it’s best to start in the dark as its see's a lot of morning and day traffic. The actual hike see’s very little. While it would seem a skirt and slippers are acceptable attire, I would suggest proper technical hiking gear. If you need a partner, I am only an hour away.

ian@shimodadesigns.com