A few trains and buses away from Yokohama lies the town of Isehara, with some good restaurants and izekaya, and a famous mountain. Mt. Oyama literally translated is yama oyama… or mount big mountain. It certainly lives up to its name when you first see it looking from the train. While it isn’t exactly the biggest mountain in Japan at 1,250 meters (a bit over 4,000 ft), the climb is definitely a vigorous one. We took the “men’s route” up the mountain which primarily consists of ladder like staircases and many shrines. There is a cable car available as well if you want to skip about a third of the journey and much of the steeper terrain.

The views are amazing throughout the hike and we could even see Mt. Fuji in several places despite the thick fog! Oh, a note on that, bring a light jacket with you, you’ll want it for the top.  The full hike roundtrip runs around 4-5 hours or so at a decent pace, including a lunch break of Japanese baked goods. There are some picnic tables at the top and along the nature view trail where you can stop for lunch. We opted to join some fine folks on a log after the Fujimidai viewpoint.