A few weeks ago, I went back to Mount Takao, in Hachioji City, in western Tokyo. This time, the objective was to hike all the way to Mount Jinba, passing through the summits of Mount Kobotoke-Shiroyama and Mount Kagenobu along the way. Although it started to rain quite heavily at some stage, I still had a great time.
The Tokyo Port Wild Bird Park (東京港野鳥公園) is a 24ha nature preserve built on reclaimed land in Tokyo Bay, just north of Haneda Airport. It was built as a habitat for resident and migrant birds.
Last week, I went on a day trip to Hakone in Kanagawa Prefecture. The trip takes about 2h from Shinjuku Station in Tokyo using the Odakyu Line. There, I did the so-called Hakone Round Course (counter-clockwise), which involves going through the area using 5 modes of transportation (train, cablecar, ropeway, boat and bus), starting and ending at Hakone-Yumoto Station. Hakone offers great natural beauty, with mountains, a lake and the view of Mount Fuji, as well as historical sites, hot springs and museums, although I did not get to enjoy everything.
Showa Kinen Park (aka Showa Memorial Park) is a large park (163ha) in Tachikawa City, Tokyo. Until the 4th of November, it is home to the Cosmos Flower Festival. It also offers many other interesting sights and activities.
Earlier this week, I went on a hike in Ome City, in the western part of Toyko. Heading north of Ikusabata Station on the Ome line, I took a trail through the forest, passing through the summits of Mount Takamizu (高水山, 759m), Mount Iwatakeishi (岩茸石山, 793m) and Mount Sogaku (惣岳山, 756m) before going down to Mitake, where I spent some time strolling on the banks of Tama River.
Earlier this week, I went on a hike to Mount Mitake to Mount Otake and Okutama, in the mountains in the western part of Tokyo.
Last week, I went on a hike to Mount Tsukuba (筑波山), in the city of Tsukuba (Ibaraki Prefecture), north-east of Tokyo.
Last Friday, I went to the western area of Tokyo known as Hachioji and hiked up Mount Takao (599m). From the summit, I followed a trail for a bit and, at the end of the day, found myself near Lake Sagami.
I went to Nikko (Tochigi Prefecture) last Wednesday. It is a mountainous area not far from Tokyo (~2h from Asakusa station). It is especially known for its historical sites (shrines, temples) but, since I had already visited those before, I instead went hiking in the Oku-Nikko area (奥日光).
Oshima is an island lying about 100 km south of Tokyo and is the largest of the Izu Islands, a group of volcanic islands administered by the Tokyo Metropolitan government. Like the other ones, it is accessible (among other options) by a high-speed jet ferry that uses the hydrofoil technique: It makes it possible to get there from Tokyo in a mere 1h45. Oshima offers various interesting activities: Among the most popular are the beaches (made of black sand), the onsens and the volcano (Mount Mihara). There are also a zoo, a large camellia garden and a squirrel park.