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Chubu-Sangaku NP, Nagano / Gifu
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At 2,367 m, Nishihotaka Sanso serves fresh, thin, curly noodles like those in Takayama ramen. Their shape helps them cook properly even where water boils at a lower temperature than it does at sea level.
The hut began in 1941, after local guide Murakami Mamoru was captivated by the jagged ridge leading from Okuhotaka to Nishihotaka. He turned that mountain view into a place where climbers could find shelter.
Founder Murakami Mamoru was still working at Nishihotaka Sanso during Golden Week in 1994—the year he died, aged 86. His grandson recalled that he kept walking the mountains and picking up litter along the way.
Nishihotaka Sanso stays open through winter, when nearby water sources can be unusable. Staff store water in tanks before the snow arrives, then sometimes melt snow for washing dishes when supplies run short.
Toho University opened a mountain clinic on the Nishihotaka ridge in 1955. Today, it operates in a separate building within the Sanso grounds, with a small operating room as well as space for medical staff to stay.
The deadly 1967 lightning strike happened at Nishihodoku, a ridge along the route above the hut—not at the Sanso itself. When the first report reached the hut, its staff, a doctor from the nearby Toho University clinic and climbers began rescue work.
When the Shinhotaka Ropeway opened in 1970, more visitors came up from the Hida side. Nishihotaka Sanso responded with a 100-tsubo annex in 1973, added to its 120-tsubo building rebuilt in 1962.
A fire in October 1990 destroyed Nishihotaka Sanso’s main lodging building; only a small generator shed and the clinic building survived. The rebuilt annex reopened in October 1991, followed by the main building in July 1992.
The Sanso’s manager earned a meteorologist qualification in 2010 and explains the next day’s forecast to guests at dinner. By 2025, the hut’s easy-to-follow mountain-weather classes had reached more than 1,800 participants.
