We were looking for something to do in the Kosuge area and found the Forest Adventure center. It was conveniently located right next to Roadside Station Kosuge and even shared a common parking lot.

Recently, our travelling style has been very fluid, in the sense that we don’t really set a firm itinerary. We got inspiration for this weekend trip on Friday night and we set our early Saturday morning. We appreciated how we were able to book a reservation only a day in advance. Fortunately, there were openings on their online registration site. There were two main courses to choose from. The Canopy Course was meant for beginners and children, while the Adventure Course was meant for experienced guests and adults.

The course was set in a beautiful forest setting. We really liked how the different obstacles had been integrated within the trees. The immersion into nature made the whole experience more of an adventure.

Check In

Our reservation was set for 12:00 and we arrived just in time. We parked in the Roadside Station Kosuge parking lot and headed towards the signs for Forest Adventure Kosuge. The reception desk was a little hut outside where we confirmed our reservation, paid the fee, and purchased some gloves.

Note: Gloves and closed toed shoes area a requirement to participate. Gloves can be purchased for ¥300/pair and shoes can be rented.

There were no restrooms in the Forest Adventure area, so we retreated to the roadside station for a quick bathroom break. We headed back and were fitted with our climbing harnesses. Next, we listened to a safety instruction video that was available in both English and Japanese.

Forest Adventure Kosuge Courses

Afterwards, we headed to the first of five courses. The harness system consisted of a pulley that was attached along a track of coiled metal cables. Once entered through the start point, the only way to exit was to complete the course. This alone would have kept us safe, but there was a supplemental carabiner for additional safety. We guided the pulley through the entire course and occasionally clipped and unclipped the carabiner to go around obstacles.

In total the five courses took us about two hours to complete. We went at a leisure, but consistent pace. It’s nice that the course is separated into five different sections. It gives people a chance to take a little break in-between sections and let faster groups go ahead.

Along the course there were these nice name plates that described the difficulty and best way to complete the obstacle. There were also a couple of forks in the road where we had the choice between an easy or difficult course. The two paths would join up again a short while later.

We found that leaning into the harness was the best way to maintain our balance. The obstacles in general got harder and harder as we progressed through the courses. Each of the courses ended with a zipline that increased in intensity and culminated with two final ziplines at the end.

After finishing the final course we went back to the reception area, removed our harnesses, took a couple of pictures, and headed off to Roadside Station Kosuge for a late lunch.

Final Thoughts

We had a fun time at Forest Adventure Kosuge. We were fortunate that it wasn’t very busy at all. Some of the staff said that during the holidays, they usually have a full schedule of guests. The weather was perfect, it was cloudy and wasn’t too hot.

With over 40 locations located throughout Japan. Forest Adventure is a perfect outdoor activity. We like Forest Adventure, because it makes normally inaccessible activities accessible. It’s also convenient in the sense that you don’t need any previous experience and you don’t need any specialized equipment. We highly recommend and we intend to go back in the future.

Here is the link to their website.

More to Come…