Jump Ahead:
Day 1 | Train/Bus/Cable Car to Mitake, Visitor Center, Mitake Shrine, Ayashiro-no-taki, Nanayo-no-taki, Nobori Ryokan
Day 2 | Mt. Otake summit, Mt. Nabewari summit, Mt. Okunoin summit, Nagao-daira plateau
Final Day 3 | Mitake Station, Tama River, Return Home
Eager to explore some new outdoor places, Marie and I decided to make plans to check out Mt. Mitake for a short 3-day weekend. Originally, I had wanted to do Mt. Mitake and Okutama in the same trip but the more I looked into it the more rushed everything would’ve been. Mt. Mitake is still considered Tokyo but it is almost the further West you can go (Okutama is the end of the line). It takes a little while to get out there by train so it’s not as popular as Mt. Takao but for people in Tokyo it could still make a great day trip. Going there from Yokohama however, I wanted it to be more than just a day. We thought about driving which would’ve been a little faster but in the end decided I didn’t want to chance not getting a stall or leave my car in the lot for more than one night.
Some good links I found helpful:
General Info
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3036.html
Mitake Tozan Railway (and Parking)
http://mitaketozan.co.jp/eng2014/
Mt. Mitake General Area and Hiking Map
https://www.ces-net.jp/mitakevc/_src/3974/english%20map%20sannai.pdf
Day 1
Left Yokohama at 1017, transferred at Kanda Station to the special rapid service to Ome station, then finally took a third train on the Ome line to Mitake. We arrived at Mitake station around 1236, and the bus stop going to the cable car station was just to the left as you exit that train station. The bus came in about 5 minutes so our timing was perfect. The train was about ¥1250 and the bus was ¥280. IC cards were acceptable on all trains at all stations as well as the bus. After the short bus ride up to the cable car station, we walked uphill a little bit to get to the ticket office where you can either buy a ticket from the machine or use an IC card again. Looks like about 2 cable cars per hour, though they fit a good amount of people in them. Lot of dango here and grilled ayu (fish) too. We bought one way tickets (¥590/person) for the cable car since we understood the round trip tickets to be for same day use only. Since we’re staying two nights on the mountain we’d just buy another one way ticket back on the last day. Didn’t have to wait too long for the next cable car… caught it up to the top and from there we saw some gift shops and a nice relaxing little lookout point.
No more than 10 minutes of walking down the main trail and we hit the visitors center. It’s fairly entertaining for a small center and the staff spoke some English. They have maps and drinking water here if you don’t have already. We asked them about water fill places along the hike to Mt. Otake summit but they basically said there aren’t any real good places once you leave the main village area. Of course you can fill from streams along the way but I would definitely bring some kind of purifier at least.
After about 30 minutes at the visitor center, we left to find our ryokan down/up the street. This trip we stayed at Nobori (http://mitake-nobori.com/). I actually first noticed where it was because they had my name written in English (stood out from the rest of the names in Japanese) on the welcome sign, haha a nice welcoming surprise. A somewhat small ryokan but seems family owned/run… the map calls it a youth hostel. We couldn’t check-in yet until 1500 so we took out our day packs and left our bigger bags there.
From the ryokan it was a constant uphill walk to Mitake Shrine. It’s not a very large shrine so we didn’t take much time there… we did see a dog getting blessed though. Before the shrine there was also a small street with some omiyage shops/cafes as well as other ryokans.
After walking around the shrine a little bit, we decided to do a little loop hike to Ayashiro-no-taki waterfall area.
Here’s a link to the map again:
https://www.ces-net.jp/mitakevc/_src/3974/english%20map%20sannai.pdf
Started down towards the big Nagao-daira junction (first major one after shrine), took the right-most path from there and then the first left after that. This section was pretty gradual in ups and downs until the next junction at Tengu-iwa rock. From this junction it was another 0.8 km to Ayashiro-no-taki falls, passing the rock garden area as you pass there. Overall, made it to the fall in about one hour from the shrine (at Marie’s pace hehe, map says 2-1/2 hours roundtrip). Took a few pictures and didn’t stay too long (hungry)… wasn’t the greatest waterfall ever but still a decent stopping point. I think if the hike were any longer it might not have been worth going to it… since we had an extra day up here anyway, this was supposed to be more of a short/easy hike for us.
On the return trip, we took a right back at Tengu-iwa junction to go down to Nanayo-no-taki waterfall. This is supposedly where some of the people from town come to do meditation under the falls. From there it is a pretty constant and steep uphill climb back to Nagao-daira junction (the map doesn’t lie). By the time we got back to the shrine area, it was about 2 hours and 20 minutes or so, so the map pace is pretty accurate for your average person I guess. The hike wasn’t too hard and the trekking poles helped a lot (I should’ve started using them sooner). Marie was trying to use my camera to do some bird watching… I think this will be an enjoyable hobby for her. There were a lot of mosquitos and bugs too eheh. Nice river walk, peaceful waterfall, nice rocks… they reference this as being comparable to Oirase Gorge in Aoyama (a much smaller version maybe in my opinion). Just have to be mindful on the steep sections.
As a side note, the signs on the trail are in English but the distances were not always accurate… for example, one sign says 0.8 km to Tengu-iwa and 0.8 km to the rock garden but it was actually about 1.6 km from the sign to the rock garden… someone made an attempt to fix some signs with a label maker but either way, just something to be mindful of if you go. We noticed on the way back to our ryokan the shops close pretty early, at least before 1700 so there was really nothing to do at night time.
Got back to our ryokan just after 1700 with dinner at 1800 so we had some time to relax/freshen up. Small operation as I said before, only saw maybe 3 staff. They had our bigger bags waiting for us in our room (the Otake room). I think we got really lucky with the room they gave us because it came with our own private toilet/sink (which wasn’t advertised and we didn’t expect)… really nice surprise. Despite it being called a youth hostel, it really didn’t feel like one. The lady made us tea as we put our things down in the room, gave us a name card to fill out (though they never took it). Still had some time so I took a shower in the shared/public bath downstairs before dinner. They announced dinner was ready over their PA speakers. Very pleased with the dinner… thought it was going to be all vegetables (which there were many) but there was a good variety of foods and everything tasted good (super hungry at this point). Still don’t care for rice only coming at the end but this is old style I guess hehe. The strawberry ice cream (homemade?) was a nice finishing touch.
Back to the room by about 2040 and our futons were made for us while we were eating. No payment yet and they didn’t collect the name card either. There was a small TV in the room but hadn’t turned it on yet. Everything so far was better than expected… building seemed newly renovated, clean, good food, good service. Now noticing that all my most memorable trips in Japan all took place in the countryside… definitely more authentic and interesting (true to Japanese feeling)… Kumano Kodo, Shimanami kaido, Shikoku, Okinawa… definitely get to see the more unique side of Japan which I really prefer over the more crowded cities. It wasn’t crowded at all in the ryokan… dinner time only had five tables set up. A group of teachers were more busy organizing a school trip with the owner of the ryokan rather than eating their food… they were doing a scouting trip prior to bringing the children along. Really have to admire teachers… it’s really not easy, especially these days, trying to cater to everyone’s needs and they definitely deserve more respect (and pay) overall. Breakfast the next day wasn’t until 0800 so we would get to sleep in a bit… just staying in tonight and relaxing (not much to do outside anyway, except maybe see flying squirrels?). Should have nice weather all weekend… little on the warmer side for me. Tomorrow’s hike is longer to Mt. Otake summit. Map says it’s about 5 hours roundtrip. Hopefully if it’s clear enough we’ll get a nice view of Mt. Fuji too. Good call spending two nights here and taking our time rather than rushing and trying to do Okutama this weekend too.
Our hiking info for the day:
Day 2
Woke up to very nice weather and view, looking back towards the city over the mountains. Still pretty sure we got lucky with this room, having our own toilet and sink. Wondering if it’s because we’re staying a second night whereas everyone else is probably leaving to go back home (it’s a Sunday). Breakfast was really nice, good variety of food again. The ume was super super sour hehe, definitely wakes you up… my mouth always waters just thinking about it. Salmon with some kind of cheesy mayo sauce on top, yogurt, and two helpings of rice. Ate breakfast at about 0800 and were done by 0830… did our business in the room and then left the ryokan at about 0915 for our hike to Mt. Otake summit. As we were leaving, one of the owners dogs came by us as we were putting our shoes on… nice little send off.
Hot day today, supposed to be over 30 degrees already (breaking records for the month of May). Have to start the day going uphill again through the village, can’t help that but not the best warm up after breakfast hehe. Planned on taking a more direct route to the summit… couldn’t trust the distance on the signs again (after you get further away they don’t list distances anyway). Hopefully my Strava map will be more accurate after I review it later.
The first half of the hike leading to the summit was pretty mellow. Ran into a group of bird watchers which was a nice coincidence since Marie was just getting into it yesterday. Got to see some of their equipment and one older guy was nice enough to let us look through his spotting scope at a tiny bird on a log everyone was trying to see. Must’ve been at least ten people in this group… I swear I was looking with my naked eye for a good five minutes prior to this and couldn’t see any bird to save my life haha… but once I knew where it was then I could find it easily again. Really have to train your eyes for this I guess hehe. Nobody was really there to take pictures, more so just looking. They seemed to be set up in one area near the stream and just kind of relaxing in between watching… seems like a peaceful hobby anyway and first time I ran into a group like that.
From there we still had quite a bit of ways to go until the summit… lots of shade so far which was nice and the slight breeze kept us cooler. Just after passing the bird watchers (near the junction closest to Ayashiro-no-taki), the second half to the summit begins with a fairly long, moderately tough, uphill switchback section. After this section you’ll pass a couple other turn-offs leading to other nearby summits.
Continuing on to Mt. Otake summit, you’ll pass what looks like an abandoned shack and a sign that say rough terrain ahead. From there it get’s slightly more technical and uphill again. After reaching a small clearing near the first torii gate (and bathroom), we made our final push uphill to the summit. Before the summit you’ll pass a small little shrine… really seem to worship dogs on this mountain. Not sure if it’s a new or old thing here but it is a thing. Lots of bugs today… definitely a lot of mosquitos and every other insect you could think of… bees, flies, gnats, yellow flies, black flies, yellow bees, black bees, giant ants, small ants, beetles, roaches, centipedes… everything. Flies seem to be stalking us the whole time, just constantly buzzing around our faces. Kind of reminded me of my Kumano Kodo hike.
Finally made it to the summit… about 2 hours and 6 minutes after we left our ryokan. A little faster than the map which said 2-1/2 hours. Pretty good view of Mt. Fuji today, little hazy but still a sunny bright day and we could see the whole mountain. Relaxed up at the summit for a little while though it was somewhat crowded. Ate some beef jerky and seed mix… put my 10 yen coin in the bucket (I don’t know why it was there) and watched what everyone else was eating. Japanese people really like to bring a lot of food with them on hikes hehe, almost like that’s the main reason they go hiking (either that or to show off their gear). Simple day hike and they bring their jetboils, full cooking gear, curry, nabe, sake, coffee, etc…. glamour hiking haha… oh well, to each their own… I kind of bring a lot of stuff as it is ehehe.. whatever makes it more enjoyable I guess!
After about 15-20 minutes at the summit eating our own mixed seeds, beef jerky, and water, we headed back down. Stopped at the bathroom near the helicopter pad, abandoned home, and clearing with the first torii gate… good thing I brought some toilet paper because there was none in this one. As far as plants go, saw a lot of chestnuts on the ground throughout the day, no mushrooms, lots of leaves that looked like shiso but don’t think they were.
On the way back down the trail, we took a turn-off on the left to take us to Mt. Nabewari and Mt. Okunoin summits so we could hit two more for the day. There are signs with English but again I wouldn’t trust the distances on them… at this point they weren’t always listing distances on the signs anyway. This route going back was more on the technical side, with short steep sections and rocky areas. Doesn’t show very clearly on the map but you can also skip the two summits if you want as there are short little thru-trails before each one. Since we were already there we just decided to go to each summit… each one had short steep climbs but none were very long. No views at these summits which was a little anti-climatic but whatever, we made it hehe. Stopped here and there along the way to try some bird watching but was really just difficult… probably why the other group just sat in one place waiting for the birds to come to them. Still getting harassed by flies all the way back. Took turns with Marie using my trekking poles… I think they really helped a lot… just making our way back leisurely.
Once we got back to the Nagao-daira junction, we went out to the plateau area since it wasn’t far at all. Nice place to go just for a picnic if you’re not the hiking type I guess… I would say it’s not a bad view but almost the same view from our hotel room.
Finally made our way back through town, Marie got her little soda drink/cider… no dango in the village area so we ended up walking further again all the way back to the cable car station. Got two types of dango, one soy sauce and one miso walnut (better one)… and since we were there we also got two little ice cream sandwiches to enjoy at the lookout area. My watch said we burned over 3000 calories so I figured we could indulge a little haha.
After a long day, we made our way back to the ryokan where I noticed my name was on the board again, though today instead of Brian it said Abe-sama (ohhh thank you). Mine was the only name on the board so maybe we’d have the whole ryokan to ourselves tonight? The room was made up and we had fresh towels again… they also left us some manju with the tea set. Unloaded our things in the room and took a picture of all the garbage I picked up along the trail today… took a shower and now it’s 1700, just relaxing until dinner again at 1800.
Had the whole dining room to ourselves for dinner. Some of the foods we had tonight weren’t my favorite but they still managed to taste good. Soooo peaceful just the two of us eating to the sounds of the birds outside. Almost didn’t want to continue eating because just the sound of chewing would disturb that peace. Overall, a very satisfying meal again… just wished we could’ve gotten more ice cream again to finish instead of watermelon hehe.
Here’s our hiking info for the day:
Final Day 3
Monday, our last morning in Mitake. Had a nice breakfast by ourselves again in the ryokan. Packed up a little and then checked-out around 0930 (finally paid for our stay on the way out – I was told this is old fashioned way too).
Headed back to the cable car, took it down the mountain (actually pretty steep), and then waited to catch the bus back to Mitake station. None of the dango shops near the cable car buildings were open and nothing really unique for omiyage here so we didn’t spend too much time looking.
At Mitake station, we decided to hang out a little instead of rushing to catch the express train. Stopped into a little used mountain gear shop, very tiny and still kind of expensive so nothing for me there… mostly used clothes and bags. After that, went down to Tama river (couple stairways leading down to it near the station) to relax a little bit. Saw some SUP, rafts and kayaks go by (very popular thing to do here or the Ome area in general). Soaked our bare feet in the super fresh cold water which was instantly refreshing… feet felt like new. We spent about 15-20 minutes down there just hanging out by the river… I think it’s more interesting and I like the environment more than the beach actually.
Ended up catching the 1114 train from Mitake station, having to transfer at Ome, Tachikawa, and Kawasaki stations before finally arriving back home in Yokohama at about 1322. Stopped at the nearby grocery store for some lunch/dinner things, got a nice refreshing (favorite but only seasonal) affogato drink from Starbucks, and back home by 1400. Super hot for the month of May and feels like summer already.
Good trip overall and definitely would like to go back, especially to the river again and also to explore a little further up in Okutama area. Highly recommended for anyone looking to escape the busy city and rejuvenate themselves up in the mountains!