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Climbing in Tokyo: A Guide

·3 mins
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Things I learned about climbing and bouldering in and around Tokyo in the winter of 2024/2025.

A work-in-progress.

Gyms in Tokyo #

Things I noticed about gyms in Tokyo (compared to gyms in Germany)

  • A lot of gyms have a “joiner fee” which is a one-off fee for first time customers which can be between 500 - 2000 yen (3 - 15 EUR)
  • Average entry fee for gyms around Tokyo were between 10-18 EUR
  • Some gyms have different pricing for female/male. Or what they call “ladies day” on a specific day of the week where there are discounts for female climbers to attract more female climbers.
  • Some gyms offer special early-bird/late-night discounts
  • A lot of gyms don’t open till after lunch which was sad since I had to start working in the afternoon.
  • Lots of spray walls
  • Some gyms have their own unique rules like “for routes with these tapes, you can use any hold for the feet” or “if there is a hold with the same color on a volume, you’re allowed to step on it” etc. I think these are mainly due to limitation in space and it’s a creative way to have more variety in the routes they have.

Climbing Grades #

For sport-climbing, Japan seems to mainly use the American grading system (e.g. 5.11c).

For bouldering, they use the “dan” (段) and “kyu” (級) grading system which comes from traditional Japanese martial arts according to unknown sources. “Kyu” represents beginner to intermediate levels, while “dan” is used for advanced practitioners. So you have this weird system where the numbers go down as the levels go up until you reach “dan” where the numbers go up again.

JapanFrenchUS6 kyu3+
4V0-
V05 kyu4+
5V0+
V14 kyu5+
6aV23 kyu6a+
6bV32 kyu6b+
6cV41 kyu6c+
7aV5
V61 dan7a+
7bV72 dan7b+
7cV8
V93 dan7c+
8aV10
V114 dan8a+
8bV12
V135 dan8b+
8cV14
V156 dan8c+ V16climbing-net.com

Where to find gear #

To buy

  • Outdoor shops (Kanda Jinbocho area has a lot of outdoor shops from mountaineering equipment, climbing to ski/snowboarding, also good second hand bookshops and food)
  • Bouldering gyms (Bpump had a large variety of shoes)
  • Online

Tips

  • I couldn’t find ropes longer than 60m in stores around Tokyo. We tried finding a 70m+ rope but we couldn’t find any in any of the shops we looked. Possibility because most of the sport climbing routes in Japan aren’t that long.
  • Most climbing shoes are imported from Europe/US so they are more expensive, less variety. Buy them back home if you’re from Europe or US. If you’re planning a climbing trip in Asia in general, bring everything with you.

To rent

  • Climbing rope: I only went rope climbing in one gym in Tokyo (B-pump Kawasaki) and they didn’t rent out ropes due to safety reasons. They had some top ropes but if you want to lead, you should bring your own rope.
  • Some climbing gyms I went to only rented out ATCs (maybe bring your own?)

Communities, finding partners #

Where to go outdoor climbing in and around Tokyo #

Resources #