Since I was cycling I didn't have to worry about how to get to the start of the hikes so I can't provide any information about this.
Details: start/finish Yamabe distance 11km time 6-7 hours elevation gain 1437mThis walk is described as a 2 day circuit walk in the Lonely Planet, however, the weather was dismal when I did the walk so I decided to do an up and back to the summit in a day walk. The views are supposed to be spectacular from the rocky peak - I could only see about 50m.
The start of this walk is from the camping ground near Yamabe, just south of Furano, as described in Ascending the Big Snow Mountain ride in the cycling section of this website.
On the south side of the camping ground where the road from Yamabe bends to the north and passes the camping ground Shin-tozando Track leads into the forest to the west. Take a deep breath because its a constant steep uphill for about 3km to a small clearing that is the junction with the Kakutaro Track which goes north. Continue along the Shin-tozando track as it swings south-west and climbs up to Hanmen-yama (1397m). The track goes downhill briefly before climbing again to Unpo-yama. From here it is not far to the peak. A steep descent and then a similarly steep ascent brings you to a rocky ridge. Head north here along one of the many tracks making your way to the peak which is marked with a signed (in Japanese) pole. If your head isn't in the clouds you are supposed to be able to see Asahidake, Hokkaido's highest mountain, just eat of north. Return the same way to the camping ground.
Details: start/finish Asahidake Onsen distance 16km time 8-10 hours elevation gain 1442mAs well as being Hokkaido's highest mountain and an active volcano, Asahidake is also one of it's most spectacular. For this reason it can be quite busy around the mountain. A gondola takes the countless Japanese visitors up to about 1650m where most take in the views and return on the gondola. A small number actually walk from here to the summit.
The start of this walk is from Asahidake Onsen, as described in Ascending the Big Snow Mountain ride in the cycling section of this website.
From the gondola station at the end of the road you have a choice - take the gondola for 12 minutes and a couple of thousand yen or walk for two hours for free to top gondola station. I am a bit a purist so I walked. It's all uphill but no difficult walking.
From the top gondola station, in the middle of the day the area is swarming with Japanese day trippers come up for a look at the view of the peak, the small lakes, and the steaming vents. Follow the crowds for one hour up to the viewpoint and have a rest as the next section is steep.
From the viewpoint you'll spot a trail climbing up a ridge on the south side of the steam vents. The people climbing up here will give you a good idea of the scale. It straight up this steap exposed ridge for one to two hours. Near the top the track turns northish and then suddenly you'll be at the top.
A few hundred metres short of the summit, for some reason the clouds decided to blow in and cover the peak in a thick mist. Once again I was robbed of supposedly great views. The peak was freezing (one degree celsius) but fun none the less with all the Japanese hikers taking photos with the summit marker.
Most walkers return the way they came, however, there is a great loop that can be done which visits the crater of the volcano and returns to the top gondola station via a different route. A track leads north from the peak (it feels like the back of the peak) descending steeply and then ascending to the edge of the crater at Mamiya-dake (2185m).
From here tracks lead north and east. Take the north track for about 1km where another track is met coming in from the west. Take this track and head away from the crater. This track circles back to the heavily touristed area and passes through the highest natural onsen in all of Japan. At about 1800m Nakedake Onsen is simply a small rock pool in the very hot steam. It was freezing when I passed through and there was no way I was going to take off my clothes (nor were my Japanese hiking companions).
From the top gondola station it's about 1.5 hours walk back down to the road and Asahidake Onsen where you should take advantage of the bath at the Youth Hostel if you're not staying there.