Funicular "Aoba (green leaves)" of the Takao Tozan Railway
I recently visited Mt. Takao for the first time in three years. It's a popular sightseeing spot in the Tokyo metropolitan area. In the Michelin Voyager Pratique issued in 2007, Mt. Takao was granted the highest rank of three stars. Since then, not only Japanese, but also foreign hikers have been flocking to this sightseeing spot.
To climb up Mt. Takao, Takao Tozan Railway is convenient. It's a cable railway opened in 1927. Connecting Kiyotaki (201 meters above sea level) and Takao-san (472 meters above sea level) stations, its route length is 1,020 meters. The track gauge size is 1,067 millimeters. There're two tunnels on the route. The height difference between the lowest and the highest points on the route is 271 meters. The maximum inclination of the route is 31.3 degrees, which is the steepest railway in Japan. The operation interval is 15 minutes. It takes 6 minutes to go one way. A funicular can accommodate 135 passengers.
When I reached the summit (599 meters above sea level), I luckily encountered a Japanese badger walking about the bush. Japanese badger, also known as "mujina", is a canid animal inhabiting only in the Far East. Japanese people have a strong affinity for this animal, as we often see them in folk tales, in which they often shape-change as a messenger of God. In Japan, the Japanese badger is a sacred animal along with fox.
I enjoyed the precious funicular and the animal on Mt. Takao.
