The weather forecast said 2nd day would be great, sunny in the morning and turning slightly cloudy in the afternoon. But there would be no rain.
So I set off for Mount Takao.
I woke up curiously early, like 5:45am, but it was already bright outside. I wondered if I was too early, but decided to go earlier anyway.
By 7am I already boarded my train from Koenji Station bound for Takao Station. Seems 7am was still too early for most residents of Koenji.
However as the train passes Mitaka and headed towards Hachijoji, more and more commuters came up. I was being crushed literally in the train. I accepted that this was rush hour so I was expecting a big of squeezing but being literally crushed was a first for me. I was quite shocked on the train. Compounding the experience was that there were many primary and secondary students in the carriage with me. Some of the primary kids barely even reach the bellies of the grown working man standing around them and they were also crushed without exception. There was no use resisting. I had several students standing behind me and so I tried to stand firm to avoid crushing them but the weight and force of the 15-20 adult men and women pushing into the carriage was too much. Everyone in the carriage was pinned body to body. It was my first experience of the Tokyo rush hour. I saw the poor primary kids being crushed in front of me between other working adults, and them being so tiny they had to squeeze their heads upwards in order to get some fresh air. Some of the boys and girls look like they are only primary 4 or something. It was almost heartbreaking. I can now understand how chikan is such a prevalent crime in Japan.
Thankfully, most of the commuters got off at Hachikjoji. There are many schools in Hachijoji too and so many of the students got off here as well.
I actually brought my breakfast from the convenience stall just before boarding the train thinking I could eat it during the ride... they were all crushed before I could eat them when I reach Mt Takao.
Quite many hikers got off together with me at Takaosanguchi Station. Most were senior citizens, but there were a few adults like me as well. I had my crushed breakfast in front of the cable car station.
My intention of the day was to skip the cable car and ascend by the Inariyama route up to Mt Takao, and then proceed along the ridgeline towards Mt Jinba and descend from there to the bus-stop before taking a bus back to Takao Station.
One senior citizen is getting ready to climb via the Inariyama Route up Mt Takao.
Here is the route up Mt Takao along the Inariyama Trail for those interested:
Takao Tozan Dentetsu Official Site | Inariyama Trail (Panoramic Ridge Trail)
A shrine that I passed early on the way up.
The day was quite warm, like 27-28 deg and I was sweating buckets going up the mountain. The path was wide and easy to follow.
This was about halfway up the Inariyama Route.
