Hikes in Japan: The Inariyama Trail (いなりやま コース)

BASIC INFORMATION

• Name: The Inariyama Trail (いなりやま コース)
• Location: Takao, Japan
• Distance: 6.68 miles (10.7 km)
• Max Elevation: 1,965 feet (599 m)
• Elevation Gain: 1,522 feet (464 m)
• Time: 2-3 hours
• Difficulty: Medium
• More Information: 30 Day Hikes Near Tokyo

Google Earth Map of the Trail

Directions

Getting to Mt. Takao is a fairly easy 1 to 1.5 hour drive outside of Tokyo depending on where you live.  Just get off the Ken-o Expressway at the Takaosan Interchange and follow the road signs to the base of Mt. Takao where the various parking lots are located.

There is additionally a station located at the base of the mountain that makes reaching this trail easy by train.  Below is a picture of the Mt. Takao Station:

PARKING

There are various pay parking lots located at the base of Mt. Takao.  Expect to pay $10 or more to park in any of these lots during your hike.  Additionally make sure to arrive early because the lots get full very quickly on weekends and holidays.

NARRATIVE

I have hiked many of the trails on Mt. Takao which is a very popular outdoor location on the periphery of Tokyo.  One trail I had not hiked was the Inariyama Trail.  This trail follows a ridgeline to the south of Mt. Takao that reaches a pavilion on the summit of Inariyama also known as Mt. Inari.  From there the ridgeline connects to the summit of the higher Mt. Takao.  From the parking area I walked passed the train station and through the village at the base of Mt. Takao.  It was early morning and still dark out so few people were around.  To find the trailhead for the Inariyama Trail I followed the path to the left of the inclined railway train station.  On the left side of the path there is this large sign showing the Inariyama Trail:

The trailhead is easy to find and there are directional signs all along the path in Japanese and English making it hard to get lost on the trail:

The hike up the Inariyama Trail begins with a steep ascent that begins with a staircase:

The staircase makes it easy to make some quick elevation gain to reach the ridgeline:

Towards the middle of the initial staircase section of the trail there is a small shinto shrine to check out and take a break at:

Below is a closer look at one of the guardians of the trail which is a fox known as a kitsune in Japanese.  Kitsune are known as magical creatures in Japan and often associated with the Shinto God, Inari.  Inari is the God associated with agriculture and prosperity and the kitsune is his messenger:

From the shrine there are some more stairs to ascend to get further up the ridgeline:

Next I came to a trail intersection.  Going right leads straight up to the summit Inariyama, the highpoint of the ridgeline.  I decided to go left which is a more round about way to the summit:

I was glad I went this way because there is actually a break in the trees where I was able to get a view looking out towards Tokyo and I could see the Mt. Takao village below me:

Way out in the distance I could even see the Tokyo Skytree:

After taking in the view I continued to follow the signs that led to the summit of Inariyama:

Here is the seating area located on the summit of Inariyama:

On the summit the view towards Tokyo is obscured by trees:

This made me happy I took the longer trail to the summit since it actually had a view from it.  However, the opening in the trees was large enough that I was able to fly my DJI Mini Pro 3 drone through it.  As flew out of the trees, I was able to see the Takaosan Interchange on the Ken-o Expressway below me:

In the distance to the south, I could see the pyramid shaped Mt. Oyama:

Looking in the opposite direction towards the north I could see the primary ridgeline capped with buildings that leads to the summit of Mt. Takao:

I then flew my drone away from the ridgeline in order to get a view of what the Inariyama ridgeline looks like from above as it extends towards the summit of Mt. Takao:

Further out in the distance I could even see the snowcapped Mt. Fuji from my drone:

Here is a nice panorama of Mt. Takao that I was able to take with my drone.  You can see the winding ridgeline that is the Inariyama Trail that leads up to the summit of Mt. Takao:

After spending about 20 minutes flying my drone around, I carefully flew back through the hole in the trees and landed it.  After packing up my drone I then proceeded to follow the Inariyama Trail further up the ridgeline towards the summit of Mt. Takao:

Along the way I passed the below sign identifying snakes that could be found along the trail:

In all my hikes in Japan I have seen one small snake and that is it.  To me this confirms how rare snakes are seen at least during the day in the Tokyo region.  The trail eventually converted into a boardwalk which made hiking up the trail even easier:

Without the boardwalks this section of the trail would have been a muddy mess:

Just below the summit of Mt. Takao I came upon a small rest area:

Since I hiked this trail in the late fall, the rest stop had many trees lit up in various colors:

Mt. Takao is definitely a great location to view fall foliage:

The rest stop had a map of the Inariyama Trail as well as other nearby hiking courses that link to it.  There are just so many hiking opportunities in the Mt. Takao area that make this such a fantastic place for people in the Tokyo area to get outdoors:

From the rest area there are trails that go off in various directions.  I took the steep wooden staircase that leads directly to the summit:

At the end of the long staircase I reached the summit of Mt. Takao which is capped with this summit sign showing the elevation to be 599 meters:

The summit also had this Buddhist statue which was taking proper precautions to not catch COVID:

The lookout from the summit of Mt. Takao has a fantastic view of Mt. Fuji:

Here is a closer look at this amazing mountain:

From Mt. Takao I could also see the snow capped summits of Japan’s Southern Alps:

Here is the view looking towards the Tanzawa Range to the south:

Here is the view from Mt. Takao looking towards Mt. Oyama:

In the foreground of the below picture I could see the summits of Mt. Bukkasan and Mt. Takatori which are both great hikes easily accessible from the Tokyo area:

I spent about 20 minutes on the summit taking in the views.  After taking one last look at Mt. Fuji, I then proceeded to head back down the mountain:

To descend the mountain I headed down Trail #1 which passes through the Yakuoin Temple complex:

According to the temple’s website, Yakuoin was first built on Mt. Takao back in 744 AD.  The part of the temple complex pictured below is called the Izuna Gongen-do Hall:

Here is a picture of the main temple hall where I could see many people burning incense and taking turns praying at:

Below the main temple hall there is a shopping area where various snacks and Buddhist trinkets can be bought:

There is of course plenty of Buddhist statues that can be seen around the temple’s grounds as well:

Yakuoin Temple has a wide variety of statues of various deities that can be seen.  Many of these statues are of Tengus which are Japanese goblins.  These Tengus (天狗) are considered spirit guardians of the mountains in Japan.  They are often depicted with swords and stern faces to represent how they are defenders of the mountains:

After checking out the statues I then proceeded to exit the temple complex by walking under the Shitenno-mon Gate: 

I continued to follow Trail #1 as passed through an area with prayers on one side and huge cedar trees on the other:

I next came to a fork where I could continue taking the main trail down the mountain or go up a small hill side to see a Buddhist stupa:

The stupa is really nice and worth the short diversion to see:

Further down Trail #1 there is another diversion to see a firefighter memorial:

In front of the firefighter memorial there is a large open field.  This proved to be a great location to deploy my drone from.  With my drone now up in the air I had a great view of the fall foliage and the Buddhist stupa I had passed by earlier:

Here is a closer look at the Buddhist stupa:

Below is a view of Yakuo-in Temple from above.  I could not get my drone completely over the temple due to the heavy tree cover effecting my signal:

Here is the view looking back towards the summit of Mt. Takao with Mt. Fuji seen in the distance:

As I continued to fly my drone around I could see the Hachioji Interchange between the Ken-o and Chuo Expressways:

I next was able to spot the upper cablecar station, monkey park, and various shops & restaurants located on the ridgeline to Mt. Takao:

Here is another look at this small village that many people take the cablecar train to, in order to access the great views located there:

Here is another panorama picture I was able to take from my drone of Mt. Takao:

After I finished flying my drone I continued to walk down the trail towards the upper cable car station. Just before the station there is a nice lookout that was packed with people taking in the views:

From this lookout it was possible to see much of the Kanto Plain region all the way to the Pacific Ocean in the distance:

At this lookout there is also a trail intersection.  Instead of following Trail #1 back to the trailhead, I decided to take Trail #2 down to the Biwa Waterfall in the valley below me:

Trail #2 makes a steep descent down the valley:

After about 20 minutes I could see the small Buddhist temple below me at the floor of the valley:

The temple is built near a small waterfall where Buddhist priests are known to sit under the waterfall early in the morning to meditate:

From the small temple I followed Trail #6 down the valley back towards the lower cablecar station.  Along the way I passed by these small caves on the other side of the creek that had Buddhist statues in them:

I also passed by many more Buddhist statues adorned with their trademark red hats and bibs:

From the small temple it took me less than 30 minutes to reach the lower cablecar station which was now buzzing with activity and a long line to board the cablecar train:

From here it was a short walk back through the Mt. Takao village to the parking lot to conclude my hike that covered just over 6.5 miles.  By this time the parking lot was actually completely full with cars with pedestrians walking all over the place on this busy weekend morning.  I was glad I showed up early to avoid the crowds and was heading home now.

Conclusion

The Inariyama Trail is the longest and most difficult trail to reach the summit of Mt. Takao.  Even if it is the most difficult trail, it is still not hard to complete since it is just over 6.5 miles long with over 1,500 feet in elevation gain.  The trail is in great shape, but there are not many views to be found along this trail until reaching the summit of Mt. Takao, which has one of the best views of Mt. Fuji in the Tokyo area.  If visiting Tokyo, hiking on any of the trails on Mt. Takao makes for great outdoor experience in Japan.