Casual Early Spring Hiking Around Mt.Mitake, in West Tokyo

It had been unusually warm winter in greater Tokyo area until last week.  The high temperature was near 68F (20C) which is a usual spring temperature in Japan. Even some of the early spring flowers such as Japanese plum flowers in the upper left hand side photo, or Wintersweet flowers (Roubai in Japanese) in the upper right hand side photo started to bloom.

These photos were taken around Mt. Mitake in Oume City, Tokyo. Although it is within Tokyo, this area is full of nature, and the upper Tamagawa River, which is one of the major rivers in Tokyo, goes through this area, this place became popular for fishing and kayaking. Also there are nice trails along the river.

Usually people in Tokyo area would say that January is the coldest month and it wouldn't be the best season for hiking. However, until the snow last week, the hiking felt as if going on a nice early spring hike. 

The upper center photo is the station building for Mitake station. It has a nice traditional structure. Actually Mt. Mitake has been known as a sacred mountain since old times and there is a famous old Japanese Shinto shrine, Musashi Mitake Shrine, on top. The station was built originally in 1929 as the closest station to visit the shrine. The building was chosen as one of the 100 best station buildings in Kanto Region (includes 7 prefectures around Tokyo) in 1999.