Hiking27 September 2026

Mt Daibosatsu: an easy Top 100 mountain from Shinjuku, with Takeda Shingen's country at your feet

Mountain

Mt Daibosatsu (大菩薩嶺)

Elevation

2,057 m

Area

Chichibu-Tama, Yamanashi

Main trailheads

Daibosatsu-toge Tozanguchi (bus from Enzan station) · Kamihikawa Pass (seasonal bus from Kai-Yamato station)

Japan's 100 Famous Mountains

No. 50

Most of Japan’s 100 Famous Mountains ask for an early start, a long day and proper boots. Mt Daibosatsu doesn’t. The trails are well made and never very steep, and yet the ridge near the top opens onto one of the widest views in the Tokyo area — the photo above, taken from the ridge in autumn: the lake of Kamihikawa Dam below, the whole Kofu basin beyond it, and the Southern Alps along the horizon.

It’s a good first Top 100 mountain, and an easy way to spend a Saturday.

The walk

The classic loop from Kamihikawa Pass:

1. Up past the Fukuchan-so hut and the Karamatsu ridge to Kaminari-iwa (Thunder Rock).
2. A short detour into the trees to the summit of Mt Daibosatsu (2,057 m). The summit itself is wooded — don’t be disappointed; the view is behind you.
3. Back to Kaminari-iwa and along the open ridge south to Daibosatsu Pass, then down past Kaizan-so to Fukuchan-so and the bus.

It’s about 3½–4 hours with stops. The stretch between Kaminari-iwa and the pass is the reason to come: grass, rocks, sky, and the valley falling away on your right the whole time.

What you’re looking at

The flat land below is the Kofu basin — the old province of Kai, the home of Takeda Shingen, one of the most famous warlords of the Sengoku period. From the ridge you can pick out the places his story happened:

• Tsutsujigasaki-yakata, his residence and seat of government for three generations of the Takeda. Today it’s Takeda Shrine, on the northern edge of Kofu.
• The ridge of Yogaisan, the mountain castle just behind it, where Shingen is said to have been born.

For anyone interested in the Sengoku period, it’s a rare thing: a Top 100 mountain where the view is also a map of a warlord’s country.

Coming down: keep going to Kofu

Enzan is on the way to Kofu, so there’s no need to head straight back to Tokyo. Stay on the Chuo line for another 20 minutes and you can walk the ground you just looked down on — Takeda Shrine, the moats of Tsutsujigasaki, the castle ruins at Kofu station. Or stop at Daibosatsu-no-yu, the hot spring on the Enzan bus route, and soak your legs first.

If you go

• Light gear is fine: trail shoes, a rain shell, a warm layer for the ridge (it’s 2,000 m — noticeably colder than Tokyo).
• Check the last bus before you set off. Outside the season, only the Enzan bus runs.
• Cash for the huts and the bus.

It’s the kind of mountain that works best when you’re not on a tight schedule — pick the clear weekend when it comes. From Okushibu Residence it’s a short hop to Shinjuku and the Chuo line; if you’d rather travel light, we can lend you a pack — see what we keep for you.