Mt Oyama

In the last weekend of November Rika gave me a treat and booked us into a ryokan at Mt Oyama which Id wanted to vist for some time. Mt Oyama is a local resort about 1 hr from Tokyo near Isahara station on our local line (Odakyu line) and is known for its autumn leaves.



Our plan was to stay a night then climb Mt Oyama and have another night to recover with the help of the ryokan's onsen baths. Hannah enjoyed the baths but wasn't keen on the idea of hiking.


We took the cable-car up to the Oyama-Afuri Shrine about 600m up the mountain. Apparently Afuri refers to the high amount of rain and clouds associated with the mountain
and farmers pray at Oyama-Afuri Shrine to the rain god.

Looking down from the shrine.


The statue of 2 children is a memorial to the families who fled from Kawasaki city to Mt Oyama to escape the bombing at the end of WW2.


From Oyama-Afuri Shrine we took the hiking track up to the summit. I'd planned to carry Hannah in the Deuter but she refused loudly and eventually I had to carry her up the mountin in my arms.



After a while this got really tough. Rika also found it hard going up the steep paths.


After a couple of hours we reached the summit at 1,252 metres (4,108 ft). Just before the top we finally got Hannah into the Deuter where she fell asleep.


The view from the top was magnificent even though it was cloudy and we couldn't see Mt Fuji.



Looking north accross the Kanto plain we could see Tokyo, Yokohama and Kawasaki. Looking east we could see Sagami bay and Enoshima


Accross the Kanto plain to Yokohama. (click to enlarge)
S

A zoomed-in shot of Tokyo on the horizon. Sunshine City to the far left, Shinjuku in the middle and Ohtemachi to the right. We could clearly make out the Opera City tower near our house.


Looking south across the south part of Sagami Bay towards Atami and Mt Hakone


We decended back down by another trail and reached Oyama-Afuri Shrine just before dusk. By the end both of my knees were protesting and I was very glad to see the shrine through the trees.




We stopped below the shrine for a well-deserved beer / ice-cream.


Then we took the cable-car back down, stoping half-way at the Oyama-dera temple.





The Oyama-dera was lit-up to highlight the autumn leaves.




Then back to the ryokan down through a long strip of souvenir shops and cafes. Hannah thought she deserved another ice-cream.


The next day we took the train to Yokohama to have a meal with Yu-chan and Makoji-chan in Chinatown.　　But we were too exhausted to stay and went back to Tokyo as soon as we could. It was a good trip but probably too ambitious.