Mount Oyama

Oyama rises to 1,252 meters at the edge of the Tanzawa range, a pyramid-shaped peak that sailors once used as a landmark from Sagami Bay. In the Edo period it drew some 200,000 pilgrims a year, groups from Edo who came to pray for rain, good harvests and safe voyages, and the Oyama pilgrimage was listed as Japan Heritage in 2016. Today the trip starts at Isehara Station on the Odakyu Line, about an hour from Shinjuku, with a 30-minute bus to the Oyama Cable stop. Then comes the part people forget: a 15-minute climb up the Koma-sando, a stepped lane of souvenir shops and workshops making Oyama spinning tops, to reach the cable car. The ride takes about six minutes, stopping halfway at Oyama-dera, whose stone steps are covered in red maple leaves from mid to late November. The lower shrine of Oyama Afuri Jinja stands at about 700 meters with a view over the Sagami plain to Enoshima, and a tea room next door. The summit shrine is 90 to 120 minutes further up a steep trail of rocks and steps. Back at the bottom, eat tofu: the area is known for dishes made with Oyama's spring water.