Hey everyone it’s Joe again,
This weekend I went with my girlfriend Yuri to a mountain near Tokyo called Takao-san. Takao-san is a popular spot for tourists as it’s not too difficult to climb and has great views of Mt Fuji and central Tokyo. To get to the base of the mountain takes just 50 minutes from Shinjuku station and only costs ¥370 so it’s a great choice for a cheap but memorable day trip.
There are eight different trails up the mountain of varying difficulty and for those who are feeling lazy you can even take a cable car gets you within about 30 minutes walk of the summit.
We took route number 6 which was a lovely walk through the forests and took about 2 hours to get to the top at a leisurely pace.
It was a hot day and jeans definitely weren’t a good idea!
Here is a small waterfall we came across on the way, there was a small temple here and the sound of the water was very relaxing.
As you can see the woods are quite dense but on a hot day having some nice shade can be really refreshing!
Once we were through the woods the views were much clearer and you could see lots of beautiful foliage.
Throughout the year there are different plants and animals living on the mountain and there is a page on the website where you can find information about what you will find on the mountain here. There were lots of these little flowers in bloom and they were very pretty.
We arrived at the top of the mountain at around 6 o’clock and this was the view of Mt. Fuji that we saw. With a good zoom I’m sure you can get some lovely photos but with my little camera this was the best I could do! There are some benches and vending machines at the top of the mountain so you can have a sit and relax after you reach the top.
But…… don’t wait for too long unless you have a torch as it gets dark very quickly and we found ourselves trying to find our way along the 30 minute walk to the cable car using just the light from my mobile phone.
Not a good situation to be in!!!
There were still lots of people around though as it seems that people come to the mountain in the night-time to observe the wildlife and so there were groups of people with nets catching insects and torches watching the trees for animals. The last cable car down from the mountain is at 9pm and we arrived at 8:30, I don’t know what we would have done if we had missed the last cable car!!!
Well anyway, the climb is highly recommended and if you do some planning in advance its a great way to get out of the hustle and bustle of Tokyo and see some nice countryside.
Joe
