During the Edo Period (1603-1868) Mount Oyama was arguably Tokyo’s most important pilgrimage. It’s said that as many as one-third of all Tokyoites took on the pilgrimage in a single year, meaning that hundreds of thousands of pilgrims took to the slopes annually. Completing it was thought to bring wealth and plentiful crops as Afuri Shrine, on the summit, is a shrine dedicated to rain. Because of all of the foot traffic on the mountain, a market town grew at the base which still exists today. It is famous for its excellent mountain water, which the locals use to make tofu and sake.

The tour will start at Isehara Station on the Odakyu Line, accessible by a direct train from Shinjuku in one hour. This is a private tour, so if this arrangement doesn’t work for you or you would prefer to be picked up, please let us know and we can customize the tour to fit your needs. From Isehara Station it is a 30-minute bus ride to the base of Oyama. From there the hike begins at the market town of Koma Sando. It’s named after the spinning tops, known in Japan as koma, which have been sold here as souvenirs for centuries. Koma are a lucky charm in Japan which are known to line your pockets with cash and make you very wealthy. After Koma Sando, you will arrive at the cable car station. You can either hike the mountain from the bottom or catch the cable car halfway up. Whichever you choose you will get to Afuri Shrine’s lower shrine at 696m. There is also a shrine on the summit which is said to have been built over 2,000 years ago.

From the lower shrine, the hike goes deep and steep through the magical forests of Oyama, with stairs as long as the eye can see, boulders and rocks jutting out on the mountain path. Eventually, the views of Mount Fuji will begin to appear as you get closer and closer to the peak. From the top, on a clear day, there are few better views than those from Mount Oyama. Mount Fuji to one side, a panorama of Tokyo on the other. What better place to take lunch? Hiking down the mountain we will loop around and come down a different way for fun and variation. From Afuri Shrine’s lower shrine, it’s either more hiking or, in the case of tired legs, a cable car ride to the bottom. That ends the trip but a bonus hot spring, or trying the local specialty of tofu are options to add on at your leisure.