The Tokai Nature Trail or Tokai Shizen Hodo is one of Japans long distance trails.After a proposal in 1969 from the Minister of Health, Labor, and Welfare to create a long distance hiking trail work begun in 1970. The trail was completed in 1974.

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Originally the trail was 1,350 kilometers (838 miles), currently it 1,697 kilometers (1054 miles).  The trail takes you through eleven prefectures, staring in Tokyo and ending in Osaka.

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Before starting my hike I searched for maps, and purchased books on the trail and went through a variety of Japanese blogs about the trail. The best of these can be found under the Other tab under "Links". What I found lacking was a complete outline of the trail. Many maps show the main route, but leave out the bypass route. I created my own outline of all the trail parts based on each of the individual locations that are listed in the guide books. The red is the main trail, and the green lines are the bypass courses. The official trail only classifies the Shizuoka as a bypass route. I think there are three bypass routes, since if you take the Ena course or the Mountain course you skip part of the main trail.

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Each prefecture website lists there own maps, some of which are online. The quality and availability of the maps depends on the prefecture. I have made outlines of each prefecture and include a link to these maps. They are not to scale, but they show a general overview of each prefecture.  

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