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Chichibu-Tama-Kai NP, Tokyo
Claim this place to tell your story your way.
Look for traces of the dam-building railway beside the trail: from 1952 to 1958, a dedicated line ran 7 km from Hikawa (now Okutama Station) to Mizune, carrying about 965,000 tonnes of freight for the dam.
Shirahige Shrine’s lion dance dates to 1661, when a teacher from Kashima was invited to teach it. One of its masks bears a 1720 inscription, and the dance is now a Tokyo-designated folk cultural property.
The cliff beside Shirahige Shrine is itself worshipped as the shrine’s sacred object. This Tokyo-designated natural monument is exposed limestone fault rock; its layer continues beneath the Tama River.
Wasabi once traveled east on this road alongside charcoal, white chopsticks and geta wood. Hikawa prospered with horse-handlers’ inns because the trip to Ome—about 5 ri—was too far for an easy same-day return.
The trail follows an old stretch of the Ome-Kaido. Its wider Edo-era corridor crossed Daibosatsu Pass toward Kofu and was called the Koshu Back Road—said to be about 8 km shorter than the Koshu Highway.
A local trail guide recalls that Ogouchi villagers once traded with Enzan via Daibosatsu Pass, leaving goods to exchange in an unattended hut. The account says the swaps never went wrong.
At the horse-watering place, handlers could rest at 3 named teahouses: Oshimaya, Shimizu and Goro. The local route guide even notes that a cup of sake was available—a very welcome stop on a mountain journey.
At the narrow Gando section, the old road was reportedly only wide enough for one person; horses sometimes fell into the ravine. The horse-headed Kannon memorials that accumulated there remember those dangerous journeys.
At Mimi-gami-sama, people with ear pain or discharge once offered small stones with natural holes and prayed for relief. It is a humble roadside reminder of how communities sought help when medical care was limited.
The rock has a hole large enough for an arm, and its name credits the legendary warrior Benkei with making it. The trail guide presents this as a familiar local story, not a documented event.
The Iroha maple grows from a steep cliff beside the trail and is estimated to be about 200 years old. Its autumn color was already a landmark for people traveling the old road.
