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Hachioji is a city in the western part of the Tokyo Metropolis in Japan, the most populous city in Tokyo outside the special wards and famous as the gateway to Mount Takao, the most popular hiking peak near the capital. It lies in the foothills of the Okutama Mountains, about 40 kilometres west of central Tokyo.
In the 16th century the Hojo clan ruled the area from mountain castles at Takiyama and Hachioji, and the town later grew as a post town and a centre of the silk trade. The Musashi Imperial Graveyard, where the Taisho and Showa emperors rest, lies on its western side among tall cedars.
Most visitors come for the hills. A cable car and well-kept trails lead up Mount Takao to the temple of Yakuo-in and summit views of Mount Fuji, while the longer Okutakao ridge continues to Mount Kagenobu and Mount Jinba. In August the Hachioji Festival parades ornate floats through the streets.
Mount Takao is a 599-metre mountain in Hachioji within an hour of central Tokyo, with eight hiking trails and more than 2.5 million visitors a year. Its forests are rich in plants and insects, and on clear days the summit looks out over the Kanto Plain to Mount Fuji.
Takaosan Yakuo-in is a Buddhist temple on Mount Takao in Hachioji, said to have been founded in 744 and one of the three great head temples of its Shingon school in the Kanto region. It is famous for its tengu, honoured at a shrine in the grounds, and for a fire-walking festival every March.
The Mount Takao Cable Car climbs from Kiyotaki Station at the foot of Mount Takao in Hachioji to a station halfway up the mountain. A chairlift runs alongside it, and near the top are an observation deck, a monkey park and a wild flower garden, with a beer garden in summer.
The Takao 599 Museum is a free nature museum at the foot of Mount Takao in Hachioji, named after the height of the mountain. It shows the wildlife of a peak home to about 1,600 plant species and thousands of insects, with specimens displayed like works of art and films of the seasons.
Mount Jinba is an 855-metre peak on the border of Hachioji and Sagamihara, known for its broad, grassy summit topped by a white horse statue. Tea houses stand on the top, which is listed among the best spots for views of Mount Fuji, and it marks the end of the Okutakao ridge walk from Mount Takao.
Mount Kagenobu is a 727-metre peak on the Okutakao ridge between Hachioji and Sagamihara, a popular stop on the walk from Mount Takao to Mount Jinba. Two tea houses stand at its summit, and the open top gives wide views over the plain below, making it a favourite place for lunch.
Yuyake Koyake Fureai no Sato is a countryside park in western Hachioji named after the children's song Yuyake Koyake, written by the poet Nakamura Uko, who was born nearby. It has a small farm with ponies and goats, a hall about the poet and walking paths toward Mount Jinba.
The Tama Forest Science Garden is a forestry research station in Hachioji near Mount Takao, founded in 1921. Its cherry preservation forest holds about 1,700 trees of varieties from all over Japan, flowering from February to May, and its arboretum grows about 620 kinds of tree.
Hachioji Castle is the ruin of a mountain castle in Hachioji built by Hojo Ujiteru on a peak about 460 metres high. It fell in a single day to the army of Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1590, and its restored stone walls, bridge and palace site lie in quiet forest that is a national historic site.
Takiyama Castle is the ruin of a Sengoku-period castle in Hachioji, set on hills above the meeting of the Tama and Aki rivers and held by Hojo Ujiteru. Its earthworks, dry moats and baileys survive so well that it is called a masterpiece of medieval castle building.
The Musashi Imperial Graveyard in Hachioji is the burial ground of the Taisho and Showa emperors and their empresses. A gravel path lined with about 150 tall Kitayama cedars leads some 400 metres to the mounds, creating one of the most serene places in the Tokyo area.
The Tokyo Fuji Art Museum in Hachioji opened in 1983 and holds about 30,000 works from East and West, including paintings, sculpture and prints. Around 100 masterpieces on permanent display trace 500 years of Western painting from the Renaissance onward, alongside changing themed exhibitions.
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