train platforms and endless processions of commuters shuffling their way around a vast

concrete jungle.

There is a different side to Tokyo however just on the doorstep of the urban sprawl,

that is characterized by lush mountains and arresting natural vistas, traditional culture

and alluring spirituality.

One place that boasts all of this and more is Mount Takao, which lies less than an hour

from central Tokyo, and is an ideal location for those looking for a quick and easy escape

to nature.

This sacred mountain has been a center of mountain worship for over 1000 years, with

many visitors today coming here to worship the mountain gods, and also to enjoy hiking

around the mountain's pathways to take its various other charms.

Such an attractive destination, Mount Takao was a place I was looking to escape to myself...

I'm Sam Evans, for japan-guide.com and today I'll be doing just that.

Here's the plan:

We'll start the day at Shinjuku Station in central Tokyo, from where we will make

the train journey to Takaosanguchi Station at the foot of Mount Takao.

Before heading up the mountain, we will duck into a nearby restaurant to enjoy a traditional

lunch of soba, and then start our ascent of the mountain by chairlift.

Upon arriving at the top chairlift station, we'll start along the mountain trails, stopping

to explore a monkey park and then the ethereal Yakuoin Temple before reaching the summit,

from where we'll take in some impressive views.

From here we head back down the mountain, stopping to round off the day with a well-deserved

beer and meal at Tokyo's highest beer garden, before completing our descent and making our

way back towards central Tokyo.

So, follow along as we go on a side trip from central Tokyo to Mount Takao.

We begin our journey today at Tokyo's gargantuan Shinjuku Station, now this station staggeringly

serves over 2 million people per day, and its absolutely huge.

We're going to make our way now via Keio trains behind me to Takaosan where the adventure

will begin.

Let's go!

Upon arriving at Takaosanguchi Station we head through town to a traditional restaurant

to enjoy a lunch of Japanese soba.

We've ducked into one of the restaurants and I'm about to enjoy soba which is buckwheat noodles.

They can either be eaten hot or cold.

It's the beginning of the summer so I've opted for cold because it looks very refreshing.

And as an addition to this dish I've got some mountain vegetables.

This looks like an ideal lunch and a great way to start the Takaosan experience. Itadakimasu!

With a full stomach, it's time to continue our adventure so we head to the nearby chairlift/cablecar

station, from where we will take a chairlift up the mountain.

After alighting the chairlift it's time to start the gentle hike along the winding

trails and to explore what Mount Takao has to offer.

Our first stop is the Mount Takao Monkey Park and Wild Flower Garden and here you can come

and visit a bunch of resident Japanese macaques and one of the activities you can do is buy

some of this food and throw it in there to feed them.

So Im going to give it a whirl right now.

One of the things that truly gives Mount Takao its character are the network of trails that

go around the mountain.

At various points along the trail are shops like the one you can see behind me where they

sell drinks and food and speaking of which, I've just bought myself a gomadango and

it looks lovely.

Walking a little further along the trail, we arrive at the main precincts of Yakuoin Temple.

Here we are at Yakuoin, a temple near the summit of Mount Takaosan that is dedicated

to mountain worship.

Now mountain worship is usually associated with being far away from civilization.

So it makes it all the more interesting that you'd have a center of mountain worship

that is so close to central Tokyo.

One of the fascinating points of this temple is the relatively large presence of Tengu.

Now Tengu are mythical creatures that embody the spirit of the forest and the mountains,

and they're usually seen as a little bit evil.

And you have a lot of them here, they're characterized by either having a long nose

or a bird's beak.

So I've made it to the very summit of Takaosan at 599.15 meters, and I'm going to head

a little further and check out the viewpoint and see if we can get some amazing views,

so let's go!

This viewpoint is very popular not least because on days with clear weather

you can see Mount Fuji in the distance.

Today we're a little bit unlucky because it's a bit too cloudy to see the majestic mountain.

But on clear days it looks a little bit like this.

Our time on Mount Takao is coming to an end, but before leaving, there's time to round

off the day with a beer and some food at the mountain's very own beer garden.

What a day!

And what better way to end a day like this than with a meal at a beer garden.

Not any beer garden, this is the highest altitude beer garden in all of Tokyo and while there's

great food, some frosty beer, there are also some fantastic views of the surroundings.

Kanpai!

Replete and happy we head down the mountain by cable car and back towards central Tokyo

to conclude our escape to this beautiful part of the country.

For more information about our itinerary or to watch another video, click the links on

the screen now, or head over to Japan-Guide.com, your comprehensive up-to-date travel guide,

first hand from Japan.

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Happy travels.