Hikes in Japan: The Mt. Kagenobu Trail

BASIC INFORMATION

• Name: Mt. Kagenobu Trail
• Location: Hachioji, Japan
• Distance: 3.6 miles (5.8 km)
• Max Elevation: 2,385 feet (727 m)
• Elevation Gain: 1,321 feet (403 meters)
• Time: 2-3 hours
• Difficulty: Medium
• More Information: 30 Day Hikes Near Tokyo

Google Earth Map of the Trail

Elevation Map of the Trail

Directions

The trailhead for this hike is located on a narrow road just below the Chou Expressway.  There are buses that run from Takao Station up this road to a northern trailhead for Mt. Takao.  From there people who planned to hike Mt. Kagenobu would just walk up the road to its trailhead.  I drove to the trailhead with no issues finding it.  Just be warned the road is pretty narrow and it can be tricky letting cars and especially buses to get by.

Parking

Parking for this hike is pretty limited. Near the Mt. Kangenobu Trailhead along the side of the road there is enough space to fit about 3 cars.  At the end of the road there is a small parking lot that can fit about 10-12 cars.  I arrived at the trailhead at about 10:00 AM and was able to find a parking space.

Narrative

My kids and I decided to hike up another mountain near Tokyo, this one is the lesser known Mt. Kagenobu.  This mountain is not overly big at 2,385 feet (727 m) so I figured it would be a perfect hike for my 9 and 12 year old kids.  We planned to make this a loop hike by hiking up to the summit and then returning via Kobotoke Pass.  After parking our car we walked over to the trailhead which is marked with a trail sign that points to a staircase:

The staircase leads up and over the Chou Expressway that enters into a tunnel next to the trailhead.  Once above the tunnel the route turned into a normal dirt trail for the rest of the hike:

We found the trail to be in good shape for the whole hike and is well signed in Japanese and English, so there is no reason anyone should get lost when hiking this trail:

The trail is heavily forested so unfortunately we had no views along this trail until we reached the summit:

Once we reached the ridgeline we saw a sign directing us to go left to reach the summit of Mt. Kagenobu:

To reach the summit we had to hike up one last long stretch of wooden stairs:

Just below the summit of Mt. Kagenobu we reached the restroom area.  We actually smelled the restroom shortly before we saw it because it was stinking pretty badly in the summer heat:

Just above the restroom we came to a trail intersection where left went towards Mt. Takao and right led to the summit of Mt. Kagenobu:

We took the right and walked up to the summit.  On top of the mountain there is a very large seating area that was fairly busy the day we visited.  A tea house on the summit provided food and drinks to people on the summit:

From the summit view point we saw a trail sign pointing the direction towards Mt. Jimba which is 5.8 kilometers away:

My son and I had previously hiked up Mt. Jimba and would love to do the thru hike from Mt. Jimba all the way to Mt. Takao one day.  From the viewpoint we had a fantastic view of most of the Kanto Plain region:

We could even see downtown Tokyo and its ubiquitous Skytree Tower out in the distance:

Here is a panorama of the view:

After taking in the views we then walked over to the teahouse and ordered some udon noodle soup with mushrooms:

While waiting for the proprietor to cook up our noodles we looked around the teahouse which had signs up promoting how Mt. Kagenobu is the location of the home for one of the characters in the popular anime Demon Slayer:

The teahouse of course had little Demon Slayer collectibles that could be bought:

It appears that this teahouse has been on Mt. Kagenobu for many decades judging by the historic pictures they had on display:

After a few minutes of waiting we got our udon noodle soup.  The mushrooms supposedly come from the mountain and we found them to be quite tasty.  I highly recommend trying the mushroom udon from this teahouse:

After eating we walked over to the other side of the summit to find the trail to Kobotoke Pass to complete our loop hike on.  We spotted a viewpoint of Mt. Fuji which was not visible due to cloud cover.  However, there was a sign that showed what the Mt. Fuji view would look like if not for the cloud cover:

However, we did have a good view of Mt. Takao which my kids and I had previously hiked up:

Here is a closer look at the 1,965 feet (599 meters) Mt. Takao which is one of the most popular hikes for people in the Tokyo region:

From Mt. Kagenobu the sign said we had to descend 1 kilometer down to Kobotoke Pass:

The route was mostly all down hill:

The fact that the trail was often muddy made going down hill slippery and my son fell on his butt twice and I nearly fell one time but caught myself:

At Kobotoke Pass we found a flat area with a signboard and a picnic table to sit at:

Someone even brought some tanuki statues and set them up at the pass:

There was also a small Buddhist shrine at the pass as well:

To get back to the trailhead from Kobotoke Pass we followed a trail sign that said Kobotoke Bus Stop:

It was mostly all down hill hiking through a beautiful forest:

The trail then flattened out as it followed a small creek towards the trailhead:

In a short while we spotted the parking lot ahead of us:

From the parking lot we walked down the paved road to the trailhead where we parked our car adjacent to:

In total it took us an hour to hike up to the summit and we then spend about an hour on the summit eating and taking in the views.  From the summit it took us less than an hour to descend via Kobotoke Pass.

Conclusion

My kids and I really enjoyed the hike up Mt. Kagenobu.  First of all the hike was a very manageable 3.6 miles for kids and the elevation gain of just over 1,300 feet was challenging enough for them.  Additionally the views from the summit were much better than we expected, the crowds on the trail are not that bad, and the teahouse was a nice reward for completing the hike up the mountain.  You know it is a good hike when my kids asked me afterwards if we can hike back up the mountain sometime again.  I gave them a definitive yes answer!