Takaosan – Nature Within Tokyo

Last summer, we opted for nature versus man made attraction within Tokyo. I had read about Takaosan, a sacred mountain within the city limits. It offered hiking trails, monkey park, temple, botanical garden, views and most importantly, a cable car (you can hike up the mountain, but who are we kidding…with two soft suburban kids in tow, adults included, cable car was the way to go.)

We decide, even thought it is already 11am, to go to Takaosan. We headed to Shinjuku and had lunch above Keio Dept at a tonkatsu place, which was just mediocre (mediocre food in Japan puts me in a foul mood because I expect everything I eat in Tokyo to be fantastic). We took the Keio line to Takaosan guchi, a 50min ride on the semi express. It wasn’t bad because it is direct and once you get to the station it is a 3min walk to the cable car. Unfortunately for us, it started to rain and we were unprepared.

Undaunted and because it took us over an hour to get there, we forge ahead. The cable car ride was steep in more than one way. It cost ¥900 per adult for a RT but the ride was fun. It is the steepest cable car in all of Japan. At the top of the mountain, the rain came down steadily so we bought some cheapo umbrellas, ate some snack and trekked ahead. We saw lots of people but it wasn’t crowded…the rain and it was later in the day. By the time we got up the mountain, it was 2pm. We stopped by the monkey park and the girls were somewhat entertained by the snow monkeys and their babies. The monkeys were not roaming freely but were behind a glass space. (I don’t know if they roam freely on nice days or not but on the website it clearly states monkeys roaming freely.) After the monkeys, the whining started. The girls were tired, were wet and did not want to walk. We were not turning back so we coaxed them up to the Jinja, the shrine.

The place is beautiful and I would love to come back on a cloudy day without rain. You feel high up with lots of trees around you. Serene. We did see some nice scenery, lanterns and shrines and then we headed back down the mountain. If you are looking for something a little different, I would recommend this outing.

http://www.takaotozan.co.jp/takaotozan_eng1/index2.htm