When we travel, we like to find somewhere a little different to visit, so with this in mind I googled “unusual things to do in Tokyo”. My search found classes in calligraphy, Ikebana and Tea Ceremony, but it was “mountain temple walk” which caught my attention. Some more research revealed that the mountain was Mt Takao, the temple was Yakuo-in, and both were located in Meiji Memorial Forest Takao Quasi-National Park. With the added attractions of a cable car, a chair lift, and hiking tracks this seemed like the perfect day trip for us.
We travelled by train from Shinjuku to Takaosanguchi Station, a 50 minute journey through the suburbs past temples, shrines and cemeteries, schools and homes to the western edge of Tokyo. A shaded footpath which wound its way along the river bank led us to Kiyotaki cable car station. The six minute cable car ride was the beginning of our ascent of Mt Takao and we rose steeply through the forest to Takaosan Station.
From the station we began our uphill walk, passing food stalls and souvenir shops until we came to Tako-sugi – the Octopus Tree. The roots of this 450 year old cedar tree have wound themselves tightly around the stones at its base like the legs of an octopus. Legend tells how the tree roots which blocked the path moved themselves rather than be chopped away; today the tree is symbolic of a path leading to good fortune.
We continued upwards, the track lined on one side with red lanterns and prayer walls and an avenue of giant cedars on the other, until we came to the gate to Yakuo-in Temple.
The entrance to the temple was guarded by several tengu, long-nosed mystical beings who drive away evil and welcome the good. Beyond the gate was the temple complex with Yakuo-in, established in 744, at its centre. The area around the Buddhist temple was busy but the atmosphere was one of peace and prayer, with people making offerings at tiny fountains and buying charms at the colourful stalls. Worshippers fanned the smoke rising from the enormous incense burner towards themselves in the hope of absorbing some of its reputed healing powers.
The walking track circled behind the temple and continued uphill, mostly shaded by the forest with the occasional gap in the trees revealing tantalising glimpses of distant mountain ranges. We sat on one of the many benches along the track to eat our picnic lunch, the cool shade giving us some respite on this warm autumn day.
After a rest we ventured on, signs pointing the way up a final flight of steps, until suddenly, we stepped out of the forest into the open air at the summit of the mountain. At an elevation of 599 metres, we could see where the outer edges of Tokyo met the forest while far away in the distance the skyscrapers of the city were softened by the heat haze of midday.
A short walk to the northern side of the mountain revealed the majesty of the Tanzawa Mountain Range, and there, nestled amongst the blue-tinged line of mountains was Mt Fuji, delicately framed by a backdrop of pale cloud. Yoshi, our guide on our day trip to Mt Fuji, had said the mountain top is only free of cloud an average of two days each week and here it was; beautifully clear for the second time. Nowhere in my research had I read that Mt Fuji was visible from Mt Takao, so seeing the sacred mountain again was an unexpected surprise and the perfect reward for our uphill walk.
Reluctantly we bid farewell to Mt Fuji, retraced our steps from the summit of Mt Takao past Yakuo-in to the tree-lined path below. After hiking up the mountain we chose the easy way down, on the chair lift from Sanroku Station to Sanjo Station. It was only a 12 minute ride downhill, but it seemed much longer as we glided silently through the trees and caught our last glimpses of Tokyo stretching away into the distance.
Our day trip out of Tokyo was more than unusual. It had turned out to be the most memorable day of our holiday; a day filled with walking, temples, mountains and a breath-taking view – unexpected, unbelievable – truly a privilege!
This made me curious. I tried to see Mt. Fuji, in the one picture, but wasn’t sure what I was looking for. You are such a world traveler! The last picture is mystically magical with all the layers. What a great trip. I’m never going to complain about my nose again, BTW!
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In the panorama shot Mt Fuji is on to the right side. You can pick it out because it is symmetrical and conical in shape.
We did have a fantastic trip and I would very much like to go back and take Mr ET with me. And yes, I appreciate my dainty nose much more now.
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My nose isn’t so dainty, would that cause me a problem? hehe
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You might find yourself being revered…
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How fascinating. I love reading posts like this, where not only are there wonderful photos to illustrate the area, but also interesting and useful information. And that last blue shot is impressive.
You ought to link this to Restlessjo’s Monday Walks – she’d love to wander up this mountain with you! https://restlessjo.wordpress.com/category/jos-monday-walk/
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Thanks. That’s a much appreciated compliment. I’m glad you enjoyed coming with me. I will look up Jo’s post.
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I too love that last photo! Also going to google ‘unusual things to do’ everywhere I go now! 🙂
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You’ll be amazed at what comes up in your search. I hope you find something as wonderful as we did.
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How fabulous to have that unexpected vista over the forest and city – worth the journey and walk just for that alone. The photos give a real sense of the peace and tranquility of everything you passed on your trip.
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It was such a surprise to see Mt Fuji again and we had the perfect view. The whole day was wonderful.
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I heart this post oh so much. That big tree is gorgeous and I love that your mode of transport was so diverse, train, cable car and on foot. Ill be sure to google unusual things to do when I next head overseas, thats a brill idea.
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Thanks! You’ll be surprised at what comes up. I hope you write about it when you do!
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Lucky you, a trip to Japan! How long did you stay there?
The mount Fuji looks beautiful, and the long-nosed statue is priceless.
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I was there for eight days with my sister. We based ourselves in Tokyo. It was fantastic and I hope to go again soon with my husband.
Mt Fuji was gorgeous. I wrote about our day trip to Fuji here. https://theeternaltraveller.wordpress.com/2014/12/26/a-day-trip-to-mt-fuji/
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Man!! We wished we knew about this place when we were in Japan. This is going on our list for next time. It looks exactly like the type of thing we would do 🙂 Thanks for sharing it with us all. Have a happy Hump Day today!
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Yes you would enjoy this walk. We had a glorious day for it too which made the view even better.
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Wow! Lovely views from the top of that mountain. Have you heard of atlasobscura.com? We also like to see something a bit different when we travel, and check this site when we head to new places. It’s a guidebook of odd/weird sites… maybe you’d enjoy taking a look. 🙂
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I hadn’t heard of this site. Thank you for sharing. I will add it to my favourites for future travels. It’s always fun to do something a little out of the ordinary.
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Last time I used it, it took me to a stuffed gopher museum in Torrington, Alberta!! 😀
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I’m so pleased I have found your wonderful travel blog, this post is full of information, beautiful photos, especially the last stunning view of Mt Fuji, I am now going to Google “unusual things to do” wherever I go. I’m looking forward to dipping into your other posts.
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Welcome and thanks for visiting. Hopefully you’ll find lots of unusual things to do too. Happy reading!
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I read through blogs in the evening instead of watching TV, far more interesting… 🙂
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It was such a fun post, like traveling with you!
I love the views & that ride with the seats would be something for me! When I was a kid & travelling with my parents in Switserland in Summertime, we did use lots of those, up to a high mountain & then we would walk downwards! We loved doing that! 😉 x
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Thanks! Usually I prefer to ride up and walk down, but this time we did the opposite. Did you notice that the chair lift did not have any seat belts? Lucky the fall protection was underneath!
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Such wonderful photos – the more I read about your trip, the more I want to go to Japan. The red lanterns are lovely. I imagine that’s what a lot of city residents do, get out of Tokyo and enjoy the more natural surroundings.
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Yes, hiking in the mountains is a very popular pastime in Japan. It’s not surprising when you see amazing scenery like this. We enjoyed ourselves very much and I’m looking forward to going back again one day.
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It was a good suggestion of Jude’s 🙂 I didn’t have time to read this properly last night, having barely just returned from the Algarve, but I’m honoured to include it in my walk this week. It’s a beauty, and as I said in my post, I’m jealous 🙂 Many thanks!
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I’m glad you enjoyed my story. It was a special day and the highlight of our time in Tokyo. Such a special privilege to see this sacred mountain twice! Thank you for including me.
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You’re very welcome 🙂 Join me any time.
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Wow … how long will it take to get here from Tokyo??? Checked with Google where the Trick Museum was … it’s a bit out – I suppose this adventure happen on the same time at the “tricky”.
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Yes we did this walk and the Trick Art Museum on the same day. We had to take the subway to the end of the Shinjuku line and then get a local train. We made sure we got on an express train and even that took about 45 minutes. Well worth the effort though for something completely different.
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Wow! This sounds like a fabulous way to spend a day outside of Tokyo. I’ve now added it to my list of things to do. Thanks for sharing this, Carol. 🙂
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It’s a wonderful day trip, Cathy.
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