Yes, did the sand run down the Gotemba Trail. It was very exciting to run down a mountain like that. If only going up was that easy.
There were people along the trails and mountain peaks I visited in the Japan Alps, but Fuji was the most crowded. Definitely a line waiting to get to the top for sunrise on Fuji.
Tsurigi-dake was fairly sparse as far as hikers went. People here and there, but never felt crowded. (think of the Whitney trail in early June)
Tate-yama had quite a bit of people on the peaks and trail on the north side since it's a day hike from Murodo. Still only a fraction of Fuji. (think Trail Camp in August)
Yari-dake had a good deal of people. (think Half Dome)
Because of the poor weather, Oku-hotaka-dake was pretty deserted. Just had a Korean group ahead of me and never saw anyone behind me for most of the day. I think some of the people at the mountain hut waited for better weather. (think Clouds Rest in bad weather
)
Various resources warned me not to go during the first two weeks of August (for Fuji or the Alps), since that is the big summer get-away holiday period in Japan. So I went in the second half of August
The mountain huts do make it convenient to hike up the many peaks of the Alps, but they also allow more people to do it. There were a few times I felt the solitude I get hiking in the Sierra Nevadas, but
