Five easy mountain trips from Tokyo station

If you can have only one-day to visit mountains, what about some mountains which are accessible from Tokyo centre?
These five mountains below are easy to access from Tokyo station and you can easily get the top within one-day trip. Though they tend to be crammed in the weekend, you can enjoy genuine mountain trekking through their trailcourse.

Mt.Kintoki-yama (2h from Tokyo)
Mt.Mitake-san (1h45m from Tokyo)
Mt.Touno-dake (2h from Tokyo)
Mt.Oh-yama (2h from Tokyo)
Mt.Takao-san (1h from Tokyo)

Mt.Kintoki-yama

Mt.Kintoki-yama is at the northern end of Hakone, which is one of the famous spa resorts in Japan. The trailcourse is well-maintained and isn't so steep that you can get the top within 2 hours from the start.
One of the charm of this mountain is the stunning view of Mt.Fuji from the summit. Nothing can obstruct your visiblity between Mt.Kintoki-yama and Mt.Fuji except for heads of other hikers!

At the start of the trailcourse, you are surrounded by dense of trees. So you need to endure no-visiblity-forest-walking for about 20 minutes. But after you arrive at "Uguisu-cyaya" (kind of teahouse), the view will become clear that you can overlook Hakone city and stunning Ashinoko-lake.

At the summit, there are two small resthouses where you can have lunch or buy some snacks. The must-eat is "Masa-curry udon", which is wheat noodle in curry-flavored soup.
You take Hakone-Tozan-bus at JR-Odawara station, then get off at "Sengoku" stop and the trailhead is just 10 minutes from there.

Mt.Mitake-san

Mt.Mitake-san is not only known as an accessible mountain from Tokyo but also a mountain for worship. There is a shrine and even a small village including guest houses for pilgrims.
A cable-car beelines the foot to Mitake-shrine, but be expected for the crowds in weekend.

To hunt the peak isn't fascinating here. You must visit the Rock Garden through the peak. There is a narrow road through a bunch of rocks along the clear stream. And at the innermost, you can encounter a small but beautiful waterfall "Ayahiro-no-taki" which is worshipped by Mitake-shrine pilgrims.
You take Nishi-Tokyo-bus at JR-Mitake station, and get off at the last stop "Cable-shita" in front of the cable-car station.

Mt.Touno-dake

Mt.Touno-dake is the most hard-core mountain in this article. A famous trailcourse from Okura-busstop basically requires three and half hours to reach the peak. Slopes are very steep, and everlasting stairs will completely burn your energy out.

But one of the charm is the outstanding openness along lidgeline. There is no shutter in your sight, so you can enjoy the grandeur "Tanzawa-massif" and even Mt.Fuji. Yabitsu-touge course must offer you the most stunning view among all (relatively minor and few buses, though).

The summit of Mt.Touno-dake is a flat space and many hikers take a rest at its expanding agora. There is a mountain lodge "Sonbutsu-sanso" where you can have lunch and even stay night.
You take Kanachu-bus at Odakyu-Shibusawa station, then get off at the last stop "Okura" and the trailhead is about 10 minutes from there.

Mt.Oh-yama

This mountain is next to Mt.Touno-dake and known as a mountain of faith. Because of its accessibility from Tokyo, you should expect for crowds in the weekend. And you can easily access to the shrine "Afuri-jinja" by cable cars, which is at the middle of the mountain.

Afuri-jinja is worshipped as a guardian of Kanto-district (the area around Tokyo), so there have been a lot of pilgrims coming from Sagami (now Kanagawa-prif.) and Edo (now Tokyo). And with one hour and half trekking from Afuri-jinja, you can get to the peak of Mt.Oh-yama!
You take Kanachu-bus at Odakyu-Isehara station, then get off at the last stop "Ohyama-cable" and the cable-car station is 15 minutes from there.

Mt.Takao-san

The name of Mt.Takao-san might be the most famous among foreign tourists except for Mt.Fuji because of acquiring the triple-star of michelin-guide in 2007. The reasons of triple-star seem to be the accessibility from Tokyo metro-area and its abundant natural species. In other words, this mountain is too touristy to enjoy authentic trekking or serene atmosphere in woods.

This mountain is relatively small (only 599 meters from sea level), so the view from the summit isn't grandeur compared to other mountains. But there are lots of entertainments around this mountain other than views or adventures. For instance, a shrine and temple at the middle, an open-air chair lift, a hotspring near train station or delicious soba cuisines (buckwheat-noodle).
The trailhead is about 5 minutes walk from Keio-Takaosan-guchi station.