It’s happening again. The air is getting crisp. The sky is a clear blue. And trees are starting their transformation from plain green to vibrant red, orange and gold. In Japan, last year’s autumn display was gorgeous and I’m hoping for more of the same this year.
The parks in central Tokyo will soon show their fall colors, but for the more adventurous, I’d recommend taking the train to Mt. Mitake, in Chichibu-Tama-Kai National Park. It’s close enough to do as a day trip from Tokyo, or, you could stay overnight and take advantage of the many ryokan in the area.
Early last November, my family and I visited Mt. Mitake. (The pictures here are all from last year.) First, a few travel logistics: As we usually do, we took the train. We took a Chuo train to Ome. Once there, we crossed the platform and took another train to Mitake Station. From there, we crossed the street, turned left, and boarded a bus, paying with our handy Suica cards. Ten minutes later, we arrived at a cable car station. To board, we used our Suicas again. Going up the mountain, we had tremendous views.
Having saved ourselves a long trudge up — we were hiking with a 4-year-old — we then followed a wide, easy trail from Mitakesan village that would lead us to Misashi Mitake Jinja Shrine.
Rural, but not unpopulated, the trail took us past many traditional Japanese buildings, including ryokans and shops. Natural beauty is awesome, but we really enjoyed seeing this slice of rural Japanese life. It was my kind of hiking: A steep, paved path led us up to the village where we had several restaurants to pick from for our lunch. Steaming bowls of udon miso soup warmed us up and tasted great alongside our giant, shared, bottle of Asahi beer.
Not too long after, we began to enter the shrine area. Warning: The walk involves a lot of stairs. Stairs, stairs and more stairs. Fortunately, the views along the way are lovely, so it makes sense to stop a lot and take plenty of pictures.
When we arrived at the top, the shrine was beautiful and peaceful. I’m guessing all those stairs may have kept some of the crowds from reaching the top. We did not go inside, but visitors can see a treasure hall which includes displays of armor from the 12th and 13th centuries as well as Buddhist art.
We enjoyed exploring the grounds. It’s really lovely how the shrine buildings are all nestled in the woods. We only had a few hours, but there are many other paths on the mountain that we could have taken, including ones that lead to a rock garden and a waterfall.
Before it got too late, we made our way back down the mountain. While we waited for the next train, we did a little exploring. We stood on a bridge and looked out over the Tama River, which was framed beautifully by red and gold trees in its valley. I’ll definitely be heading back again this year. Did I mention how beautiful Japan is in the fall?
For more information:
https://www.gotokyo.org/en/tourists/topics_event/topics/110801/topics.html
http://www.tripadvisor.com/HotelsNear-g1060902-d1373824-Mt_Mitake-Ome_Tokyo_Prefecture_Kanto.html
http://www.mt-mitake.gr.jp/