I went to Mt. Takao in early July, it was the most natural place I have been to (yet) in Japan. It's shrines are dedicated to the local Kami, Tengu, the savior of Hikers.
I took the cable car half way up, since the chair lifts don't open until 9am. Not knowing I'd be so close to the peak, I was disappointed on reaching in within about 15 minutes, after going through a couple of shrines, restaurant areas and souvenier shops. The peak had more restaurants and souvenier shops, a nature center, and some signs. It had views too but it was way too cloudy to see much except some smokestacks in the Tokyo direction, and the man-made lake below us, in the Fuji-san direction. We had a snack and decided to go on to the next peak. The trails were muddy -slick clay, with lots of steps, areas where we had to navigate eroded roots, and slippery clay slopes. I only fell on my butt once. There were tons of edible berries -that was great, and it made my day to chow down on as many berries as I could pick. I have no idea what they were, some were similar to wild strawberries, some were like a yellow version of raspberries, and some grew on trees and reminded me of small huckleberries. There were tons of Japanese people eating them -so I knew they were Ok to eat. At the second peak, there was another restaurant, tons of tables with bamboo benches, and more mystery views. There was a toilet with squatty potties with some kind of unique flushing system -when I hit the flush button the potty filled up with suds. I left at that point so I'm not sure what the final outcome was. After lunch, we headed back in the same direction, only took a different route, aiming for the chair lifts. We ended up on a lesser used trail, one that was awesome, natural, unspoiled, and not eroded. I felt like I finially relaxed for the first time since being in Japan.
Favourite spots:
The berry bushes along the way, everywhere. The restaurant on the second peak has very cool tables and benchs -very homemade. The windy trail called number 3 was the pretty one. The Maple trees were beautiful, along the path whcih skirted the side of the mountain. The chair lifts were so fun I wanted to keep on going up and down.
What's really great:
The chair lifts were a million times more fun than the cable car -but exposed to the weather, so I suppose wouldn't be as much fun in any kind of weather. The shrines to Tengu were very special.
Restaurants:
I love to eat at the workingmen's lunch dives, anywhere you buy a ticket from a vending machine for what you want and sit down and give it to the waiter. I've had great curry, korean food, and ramen.
Other recommendations:
My favorite place in Tokyo, so far, is the Museum of Photography.
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