Tokyo's best mountain hikes: Mt Mitake

Revered as a sacred mountain, Mt Mitake stands at 929 metres, and is known for an annual explosion of around 50,000 purple rengeshoma flowers. At its peak is Musashi Mitake Shrine, home to a very cool suit of scarlet samurai armor (regarded, you'll be delighted to read, as one of the 'top three suits of armour in Japan' – if it can't be listed, it's just not worth it). You'll also find a 'designated natural monument' in the form of Jindai Keyaki – an ancient zelkova tree that measures 23m in height and 8.2m in circumference – as well as a large Japanese cedar known as Tengu no Koshikake Sugi, named because it looks like the perfect spot for Tengu, a long-nosed goblin who crops up regularly in Japanese folklore, to sit.

To reach Mt Mitake, take the JR Ome line to Mitake Station. From there, it’s about an hour’s walk to the peak, although there’s also a cablecar that can be accessed by taking a Nishitokyo Bus to Cable Shita, next to Takimoto Station. It takes just six minutes to be hoisted up to Mitakesan Station at an elevation of 831 metres. From there, there’s the additional automated option of a single seat lift to the observation deck. Mitake Tozan Railway, open daily, 7.30am-6.30pm; adults, 570 yen (round-trip, 1,090 yen), kids, 290 yen (round-trip, 550 yen).