Mt. Takao is a popular sightseeing spot near downtown Tokyo. It takes less than two hours to reach the 599-meter summit from Shinjuku, one of the sub-centers of the city. In this season, visitors can admire beautiful autumn foliage—maples, beeches, ginkgo trees, and more.
But there is more to the highlights of Mt. Takao. This mountain is also known as a sacred place for Shugendō, a form of Japanese mountain asceticism. Practitioners of Shugendō belong to Yakuoin Temple, which was established in 704, and they undergo rigorous training in the mountains. It is said that Tengu, legendary long-nosed creatures, protect these practitioners on Mt. Takao.
If you would like to know what Tengu look like, please take a look at the photo below. Here they are—statues of winged, long-nosed figures standing within the Yakuoin Temple grounds. Don’t you find them a bit mysterious, perhaps even slightly creepy?
To visit Yakuoin Temple, the Takao Tozan Railway is very convenient. As I wrote before, this funicular line was constructed in 1927. Connecting Kiyotaki Station and Takaozan Station, its route length is 1,020 meters with a height difference of 271 meters. The track gauge is 1,067 millimeters, and trains operate every 15 minutes. The ride from Kiyotaki to Takaozan takes about six minutes.
Although the line is short, it is famous as the steepest railway in Japan, with a maximum gradient of 31 degrees 18 minutes. In the photo below, you can see the funicular Aoba climbing the track, backed by the early autumn colors.
I truly enjoyed both the beautiful autumn scenery and the mysterious Tengu legends on Mt. Takao.
