Inunaki in Miyawaka city, Fukuoka prefecture is infamous. There are urban legends and ghost stories surrounding the old Inunaki village and the Inunaki tunnel. I set out to take a look at the old Inunaki tunnel which is supposedly one of Japan’s most haunted spots.
I parked my car at Inunaki dam early in the morning. The trailhead is a short walk from the parking area. There is also bus stop right at the dam (犬鳴口 inunakiguchi).
The trailhead has a nice big white sign – you can’t miss it. It was still pretty dark when I started so sorry for not getting a better picture.
I heard the mountain is full of deer and wild boar, which made me a little nervous, but I didn’t see any on my hike.
The trail to the top is a little steep in places. There’s some rope tied to trees to help you up. It’s pretty well marked with pink tape on trees. The trail is not spectacular. It’s mostly under tree cover with not a lot to see in the way of views. It took me just under an hour to reach the summit.
The summit is nothing to write home about either! Through the trees you can see Kasagiyama and further out Fukuchiyama.
Backtracking down the mountain a little, there is a junction. Left takes you back down to the dam and right takes you down the other side (藤七谷 Toushichi valley course).
Take this valley course down to the trailhead and make a right when you hit the road. The old Inunaki tunnel is about 5 minutes up the road. Taking a left leads you to the new Inunaki tunnel and the main road. You can follow the main road back to the dam.
If you want to see the old Inunaki tunnel, check out my video below.
The hike took me just under 3 hours. I wouldn’t recommend it unless you were interested in the tunnel. Otherwise there are better views to be had from other mountains in the area. From Inunakiyama you could traverse to Nishiyama which has a better view, then loop back to the dam.
Check the trail map here: https://yamap.com/maps/755
Check my activity data here: https://yamap.com/activities/5059929
Thanks for reading!
Kyushu Trail 