Sometimes building up the motivation to hike a mountain in the Tokyo area is tough.  Not the hikes themselves, though they can be challenging, but the often extremely early wake up times necessary to catch the train to the mountain.  This had been a problem for the past couple weekends for me and my wife.  We would prepare everything the night before, set our alarms for 6:30 AM or so… and then end up hitting the snooze until well into mid-morning before we realized that the planned day-hike wasn’t going to happen, leaving us relatively inactive for the weekend.  In order to prevent this we decided on a hike a little closer to home, slightly shorter in overall distance, but with enough elevation and great views.  大楠山(Okusuyama) in 逗子 (Zushi) was our destination, and even though we didn’t leave our doorstep until almost 11:00 AM, we new this hike was doable.  We had done it before last early autumn.

Getting to this one is a little tricky… first after making your way to Yokohama, you need to take the JR Yokosuka Line to Zushi (one stop past Kamakura).  One good thing about our mid morning departure, is it got us in Zushi just in time for a good lunch before we made our climb.  Our favorite place thus far is a soba joint called りおう (Rioh) that has awesome sets, and a quiet mood.  I opted for the cold soba set that came with a variety of vegetables, tempura, and an awesome azuki bean mousse.

After indulging in that we caught a bus in front of the station (#5,6,7, and others) and took a half hour ride stopping at 前田橋 (Maedabashi) and began our walk from there.  First, the path takes you along an awesome creek bed with well maintained stepping stones and freshly mulched trails.  After about a kilometer, the ascent of 大楠山 begins and its a steady climb up a well manicured trail (3 km), until you reach the weather station at the top (where some great views can be seen of Yokosuka in the distance).  And once you reach the summit its a smooth decline down a road into a small little town where you can catch a bus back to Zushi.

The hike is made even more pleasant by the lack of foot traffic along the trail. Mt. Okusu doesn’t have the draw of Mt. Mitake or Mt. Takao, so you can really enjoy the peace of mind that affords.  Also, the bus ride to and from the trail head is filled with awesome views. You head through Hayama, which is kinda like a lesser known Kamakura, with tons of cafes and surfers. If you look across the bay you might catch a great view of snow capped Mt. Fuji when the weather is clear(especially in the morning)

All in all, a good day hike.  Most of our hikes are taken using this Japanese guide book, by the way – Tokyo Mini Hike  東京近郊　ミニハイク.

Here is an Okusuyama(or Ogusuyama depending on who you ask) hiking map.