Takao Mountain

In the middle of December I went to see Takao-san. I was lucky because the weather was really nice and still a bit autumn-ish so everything was bathed in warm colours.

You can get to Takao straight from Nakano (no transfers needed!) via Chuo train line and it takes around 40 minutes.

 

Right in front of the station you can see a detailed map of the mountain and the trails you can take. There are a few shrines, a monkey park and other along the way to the top.

 

You can take a cable car or a chair lift halfway to the top- I settled for the chair lift as it has been getting a bit late. It’s reasonably priced and the ride was very pleasant (just watch out as the chairs themselves have no safety rails)

On the way to the top you pass by several smaller shrines- all of them are lovely and nice sightseeing spot. I didn’t check out the monkey park, I wanted to save it as an excuse to visit next time!




 

At the top there is a monument with the height- Takao-san is 599,15m above the sea level!

 

The views from the top were amazing. It was a clash of green and red and the setting sun made them even more pretty.

 

Fuji-san was covered in clouds and sunrays though.

 

I definitely recommend taking a hike up the Takao mountain, it’s a really lovely place. Just pick up a day with nice weather and set up around noon- I started up quite late in the afternoon so my way down was pretty dark!

Kiwi