"Jappalachia": Connections Between the Appalachian Trail and Japan’s Shinetsu Trail
The Appalachian Trail Connection
The Appalachian Trail is a 2,193-mile-long trail that extends from Springer Mountain in northern Georgia to Mt. Katahdin in Maine. Although the AT (est. 1925) and the Shinetsu Trail (est. 2008) were founded in different time periods, both trails served to counter pressures that urbanization placed on people’s lifestyles. “The ability to cope with nature directly—unshielded by the weakening wall of civilization—is one of the admitted needs of modern times,” stated Benton MacKaye (1879–1975), landscape architect and founder of the AT.
This map detail of the Appalachian Trail shows names of hiking clubs responsible for managing sections of the trail.
Click here for a closer view of the entire trail map.
Detail of the Map of the Appalachian Trail: national scenic trail, Maine to Georgia / National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, 2002.
Larry Anderson. Benton MacKaye: Conservationist, Planner, and Creator of the Appalachian Trail.
Noriyoshi Katō. Mein no mori o mezashite: Aparachian toreiru 3500 kiro o aruku [Toward the Maine Woods: Walking the Appalachian Trail’s 3,500 Miles]. Image used with permission from 平凡社 (Heibonsha).
Like the rural revitalization focus of the Shinetsu Trail, the AT was framed by MacKaye as a regional development project. At the turn of the twentieth century, much of the U.S. was experiencing rural flight and its economic consequences. MacKaye had three tenets—recreation, recuperation, and revitalization—in his vision for the AT that he sought to bring to regions along the eastern seaboard of the U.S.
In contrast to other long-distance trails in the U.S. that pass through canyons and snow-covered peaks, the Shinetsu Trail and AT are similarly characterized by gentle peaks and dense woods. The lower elevation of both trails contributed to the passing of more people along the trail and the accumulation of histories and cultures associated with the region’s environment that the Shinetsu Trail engages in its experience.
Unlike John Muir, who was a more traditional wilderness preservationist, MacKaye was interested in progressive conservation of the environment that involved labor, natural resources, and recreation. MacKaye stated that spending time on the trail would “emphasize the distinction between it and the industrial life.”
Following the Shinetsu Trail Club’s visit to Georgia in 2003, Katō returned to the U.S. in 2005 to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail and stayed at my family’s house again in preparation for his trip. His account of his thru-hike became a national bestseller and introduced many people in Japan to backpacking. The experiences Katō had on his thru-hike continually influenced the creation of the Shinetsu Trail.