Tokyo, Mt. Takao, 30.04.24

Still in Tokyo. Crazy city. But today we escape the madhouse for a few hours and headed for Mt. Takao. It is just under an hour from central Tokyo. We took a limited express train from Shinjuku Station to Takaosanguchi Station and from the funicular to the top. We got tickets from the machine but could not go through the gates and complained to the station master. After some discussion we realized that I bought children's tickets. They cleared the mistake and we were on the way.  

Funicular Railway

Mt. Takao is within a national park and a very popular spot for people from Tokyo to go hiking on the many trails around the mountain. There are also temples on top and a viewing platform at the highest spot just about 600 metres high. 

View towards Tokyo

Christine walked with me for about half an hour up some steep steps to a temple complex with a few shops selling souvenirs, candles and incense sticks to light or burn in the temple. From there I went on my own to get to the top of the mountain. It was a rather steep climb and took a bit longer that I thought and certainly Christine was not all that pleased for waiting so long. But then, as a compensation, a procession of monks in their golden robes and playing music walked past, the abbot last under a baldachin. 

The Monks

Back to the cable car where I had rice balls for a little snack. They looked delicious being grilled on a stick and covered in soya sauce. They were rather gooey, a strange kind of texture, the balls made of rice flour, very dense and a bit tasteless. 

Riceball

Down the hill we took a chairlift which Christine did not like at all. It was a wobbly ride with no bar across the seat. At least there were nets just below the chairlift and falling off would not have been too bad. But getting off at the bottom station was a bit of a drama. Touch the ground and run! The chairlift does not slow down. 

Chairlift

Back to Shinjuku for a late afternoon stroll and a visit to the food floor of a large department store. It was a huge kind of delicatessen with everything and anything for sale. Impressive was the sweet and patisserie section. They sure know to make French patisserie and to display it all. But also the fish and meat shops were amazing. Lots of the food was already cooked to be taken home and reheated I guess. 

Patisserie 

Near the station we ventured into a little bar, a so called Izakaya Bar, which are usually found near railway stations frequented by the workers and salarymen. This one looked cute and we got two seats right at the back and ordered two beers. Very delicious. Then we ordered the food from a menu and fancied a set of sekwers. No idea what we would get. There were five skewers cooked over a small grill and it looked sort of good to eat. But my first bite was into something very chewy. Chicken cartilage! The next one was similarly chewy but I could not work out what it was. The third one was the same and when I looked closer it dawned on me that it was aorta. The fourth one was grilled tongue and the fifth I gave up on. It is a real challenge to eat food like this. 

Izikaya Restaurant

Skewers

Luckily in a little side alley we found another bar advertising tempura dishes. With some talking and gesturing we were able to order a bowl of tempura vegetables only. It was very good. Then it was back to Otsuka.