Mount Mitake — Attraction in Tokyo

One of the best nature place located near to Tokyo.

We have started our journey in the morning 9:00AM and reached Mitake station around 11:00AM. Just outside the station there is nice mountain and river view point is located. The view will be best during rainy. We were here during rainy (mid July).

One we have enjoyed the beauty of the river and mountains. We went to catch the bus to reach cable car station. Bus ride will be of around 10mins from the old traditional Japanese houses. For every 30-40mins buses scheduled between cable car station and Mitake station.

Cable car is located very near to the final bus stop it will be of 3-4mins walk. Near the cable car station entrance ticket machines are available. If we buy ticket for round trip little discount can be availed. Suggested to buy the round trip ticket. We can also pay ride charges using pasmo/suica without buying ticket.

Cable car track here is one of the steepest ride in Japan. Ride will be of around 6mins. It does not have any stops in between. From the cable car station we can reach mount Mitake peak by 20-30mins walk. Chair car facility is also available to climb the mountain. Suggest to go by walk.

Once reached the shrine located on top of the mount Mitake we took rest for some time and started to visit the original beauty of the mount Mitake. We took trail routing to Rock garden.

If we walk for around 5mins, there will be a junction, where we can select the path either to visit the Ayahiro falls first or Rock garden. It is circular path which will cover both but the order changes.

We reached Ayahiro falls first and the place is awesome. We were here during peak of rainy season hence the falls is beautiful. I was eager to take bath under the falls and made preparation. But the water is so cold so that we could not keep our hands in water even for 10secs.

Once we cross the Ayahiro falls we will enter into the Rock garden. In rock garden we have to walk along with the small river. Where the Ayahiro falls water flows through the rock garden. Rock garden is located beseen two hills. Once we cross the rock garden we will reach the same junction where we started. From here we get back to the cable car station and from there to the Mitake station by bus.

From Ayahiro falls there is trails routing to another mountain but we did not have much time so we ignored it. This Ayahiro falls and rock garden trail itself will take around 2-3 hrs to complete.

Hope you all like the review and very sorry for my...

I gave this five stars because it is a mountain that everyone can hike, even beginners, though with rest stops every now and then. The entire path to the top is paved. Some parts of the path are narrow and hikers need to stand aside when an ambulance, which is narrower than standard street size, needs to pass. We did not ride the bus nor the cable car and it was a good decision! We walked along Tama River and then a bit of the main road to reach the entrance to the mountain path, which is just across the cable car station. The trees on Mount Mitake are beautiful and relaxing. You might even want to stop and hug a tree or two. There is a bench every now and then along the path where hikers can rest or eat their onigiri. As we got closer to the top, the path became steeper and just as we were longing for our lunch, we reached the town and found Mitake Visitor Center, where the staff was very helpful! From the visitor center, we walked and stopped to take pictures of the 1000-year old tree, so it took us about 40 minutes to reach Musashi Mitake Shrine. Be ready for the hundreds of steps to reach it though. There are benches to rest on along the way. If you ask the shrine staff, they will say that the whole shrine is the mountain summit, but if you are looking for the summit marker, it's 1-2 minutes walk uphill by the left path of the shrine (if you are facing it). It's tiny and we almost missed it! We wanted to climb Mt. Odake but did not have enough time to be back in Mitake before dark so we decided to save that hike for another day, when we'll take the bus and ride the cable car to save on daylight time. We walked down the mountain, stopping every now and then to appreciate the trees and...

The mountain offers many opportunities for woodland photography with beautiful, tall, ancient-looking cedar trees lining the path/road to the peak. There is a small village near the peak with some shops that haven't changed much over many years, which might make for some quaint shots that may appear to have been taken decades ago.

Musashi-Mitake-Jinja Shrine and the structures associated with the shrine include grand gates, old statues, beautiful torii gates, carved stone lanterns, stone staircases that have uniquely carved steps not often seen at a shrine, and more unique features that are specific to this shrine. There is an abundance of photo opportunities, especially for tourists. I drove to this location, and to ensure I could find a parking space, I left home at around 1:30 in the morning and arrived at the base of the mountain around 3:30 a.m. If you drive to the mountain and try to find parking before the start of the cable car around 7:30 a.m., you will likely face a backup of traffic as I saw when I came back down the mountain around 11:00 a.m.

Climbing at night requires that you have a headlight or flashlight. Even with a bright moon out, the canopy of the trees makes it impossible to safely navigate the road to the top. I used the flashlight on my iPhone, which was more than sufficient.

I was able to watch the sunrise from the peak. Check out my Pix4Japan YouTube channel for a quick guide to the beautiful shrine, shrine gates, stone lanterns, ema boards, etc.

★★ Check out the short video I made of this location at posted at the Pix4Japan...