Considering this was supposed to be an established climb up neighbouring Koikakushusatsunai-dake....only we didn't bring suitable footwear for crossing the river (poor research on my part) and we ended up blazing a trail up Piratokomi-yama. An absolute pig of a climb, more than half of it spent wading through deep sasa infested with ticks. There were some nice bits of easy walking through pine trees, but they were all too few. Our legs were torn to shreds by all the stumps, rocks, sticks and snags hidden by the sasa. Never been more glad to finish a hike. The 10km of stumping along the road didn't do my arthritic hip any good, either.