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Chichibu-Tama-Kai NP, Tokyo
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Local accounts say 90% of Hinohara households once made white charcoal each winter: men worked the kilns; women led horse-loads toward Musashi-Itsukaichi. The park still teaches the craft at its traditional kiln.
The Forest Hall restaurant serves Hinohara's specialty maitake, including a maitake tempura rice bowl. This local mushroom makes its way from village food culture to the heart of the mountain park.
Tokyo's only beech primeval forest is within this park, says the Tokyo Biodiversity Center. The Mt Mitou beech woods also have unusually little bamboo beneath the trees—a feature that has drawn scientific attention.
Tokyo's first certified forest-therapy path was recognized here in March 2007: the 1-km Ohtaki trail ends at a 35-m waterfall. In cold winters, its water can freeze into an icefall, viewed from the bridge.
From late April to September, listen for the tiny komadori: its ringing “hin-kara-kara” song resembles a horse's whinny. That sound inspired its Japanese name—koma means horse.
Before the trees leaf out, sunlight reaches the forest floor and spring ephemerals begin to bloom. The park has recorded flowers such as anemones and violets; these early blooms disappear as summer arrives.
The mountain above the park, Mt Mitou, has 3 distinct summit peaks: west, central and east. A Tokyo trekking route crosses all three before descending to Hinohara Citizens' Forest.
