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Takao - a day with a variety of steps & spiders

Writer's picture: JWJW

After a few days in Tokyo, I wanted something different from such a big city and made a day trip to Takao with two other travelers from the hostel. Since our hostel was already a little west of the center of Tokyo, the way for us to Takao with about 30 minutes driving time was a stone's throw.


A staff member from our hostel had already sent us an overview of the hiking trails and we already had a plan of which trail we wanted to go. With our plan we went there again to the overview board to check where exactly our hiking trail starts. So if the intention was to confuse tourists, then the responsible people were very successful! Feels like every plan had the hiking routes different colors and many plans were then still completely mirrored compared to the plan before, so just chaotic and one has made it very difficult to orient themselves.


Fortunately, we still found our way up the "Inariyama course" well. The path meandered right through a forest. A funny striking feature was that there were only a few paths where you really walked normally on the ground. Often there were stairs built above the ground or even just simple wooden planks to walk on - I'm not sure why - maybe that you don't get your shoes dirty? 😊


Besides the boards in the form of steps or just simple boards above the ground, another striking feature that day was the number of spiders we saw. There was a big spider web hanging on every corner and the spiders in it had magnificent colors. I played around with my camera a bit that day and tried to get the best possible shot of the spiders. 😊


Otherwise, we have generally seen little animals on the day. Besides the spiders, we observed a beautiful large butterfly, which sat on the side of the road on a flower.


Arrived at the top of Mount Takao, we had a super view. Unfortunately, it was a bit cloudy, because theoretically you can see from there on clear days even to Fuji.


We then decided to hike a little further, to the top of the mountain Shiroyama. Our motivation then evaporated within a very short time after we realized how many stairs were coming up. What was nice, however, was the peace and quiet from that point on.


Most visitors go only to the top of the Takao and then turn back. Only a few go on like we did, so you really have the nature quasi for yourself.


After a lot of steps and spider photo stops, we arrived at the top of Shiroyama. At the top there were wooden benches to rest and also a place where you could get food and drinks. In addition to homemade food, they also sold those typical ready-made meals in the plastic bowl up there - you can't get by!


After a short break, we then went back to Mount Takao. From there we took another route back, namely the "Omotesando trail". This is for the most part a concrete path that leads down the mountain. But what is exciting is that this trail passes numerous beautiful temples. The trail is very beautiful and varied to walk.


At the last third of the way down you can decide whether you want to continue this along an asphalt path or take the cable car or a chairlift down. We chose walking - is the healthy and free option 😊 But I think that from the chairlift you have a very nice view, so this is certainly also a good option.


Attention: The chairlift there has NO safety bar. So please take only if you are super free from giddiness and are traveling without children.


The trip to Takao was really worth it. It is very close to Tokyo and yet a beautiful oasis of peace. The beautiful landscape makes the number of stairs somewhat forgotten - only take then for the 2 following days no athletic feats, because the muscle soreness comes, I guarantee you! 😊

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