Weekend Trip to Okutama
Can you believe this gorgeous greenery is located in Tokyo!? With crystalline clear river waters, waterfalls, hiking trails and a beautiful lake (which is responsible for 20% of Tokyo’s drinking water), Okutama is a perfect escape from the hustle and bustle of Tokyo city life. Easily accessible from Shinjuku Station, take the Chuo & Ome line to reach Okutama in about 90mins. It’s perfect for a day trip or if you wish a more relaxed exploration take a weekend. We wanted to go fairly relaxed so we actually took 3 nights to meander around the area, as we did a bit of hiking through the mountains to Lake Okutama, trying some craft beer, exploring around and making some soba from scratch for our lunch! We stayed HERE.
VERTERE BEER
Make sure to enjoy some local Okutama craft beer & some food at the Vertere Beer Cafe which is a short walk from Okutama Station. Their beer shop is pretty much opposite the station. I’m not a beer drinker but hubby is, and he was highly impressed by the taste and quality of Vertere’s craft. Be aware, that each batch of craft beer is in limited qualities, so every time you go there will be new flavours to try. I loved the fish and chips!
EXPLORING OKUTAMA
If you’re someone who loves hiking, Okutama is a perfect trip from Tokyo to indulge in your passion, there are a variety of trails available of varying difficulties which you can easily discover from the Okutama Tourist Information Centre by the Station. A lot of people also enjoy doing cycling trips from Tokyo to Okutama, for as we walked/hiked around many cyclists went by us.
OKUTAMA RIVER AREA
For those who don’t want to go on longer hikes (ie. 2hrs+) simply meander around the river area near the station and the town, you will find plenty to enjoy, from small walking trails, little wildflowers, vegetation and the beautiful scenery of the river and foliage.
WALKING TO LAKE OKUTAMA
From the main Okutama town, you can take a beautiful walk/hike through the mountains to reach Lake Okutama by using the Okutama Mukashimachi (奥多摩むかし道 - Okutama Old Road)
Roughly around 10km, this old road used to be the only road used, but as the new road was constructed, and the river damned to create the lake, this old road became disused expect for walking. It will take ~4hrs to arrive at the lake & then assuming you will take the local bus back to town.
It’s a picturesque as you trek through the mountains, cross suspension bridges and you will come across various abandoned houses/building which just add to the nostalgia, along with an abandoned rail tracks overgrown with moss & foliage (was tempted to find a way to go down & take photos, but instead walked on as we wanted to eat lunch around the lake,
LUNCH BREAK AT NONKIYA RAMEN RESTAURANT
Around the lake there’s not so many eating options ( a lot of people we saw tended to bring their own packed lunch) however we weren’t so prepared and wanted to see what was around the area. We decided upon Nonkiya a locally run ramen restaurant, with warm wooden, rustic interiors. Though it’s technically called a ramen restaurant, they also make gyoza and have delightful mountain vegetable soba teishoku sets (which I was estacstic about, as ramen is not my first choice for a meal, but soba, I love soba). It was a great choice, and always nice to support local family businesses. Hubby had the ramen and we shared the gyoza. Their website is HERE.
LAKE OKUTAMA
The manmade lake lies above Ogōchi Reservoir and is an important source of Tokyo’s drinking water.
Occupying both Tokyo (ie, Kanto) & Yamanashi prefecture, its picturesque all year, and particularly loved as a summer getaway to escape the city’s intense humid heat. It’s particularly known as a cherry blossom spot in Spring too.
The Tama River feeds the lake at the western end, whilst from the southwest the Kosuge River flows in.
MAKING OUR OWN SOBA
The area of Okutama is also well loved for soba, the quality of water is one of the most important ingredients for soba, and the better the water is, the better the area’s soba will be.
Since it was so famous, hubby wanted to do a soba making experience since he missed out when I did one in Nagano (one of Japan’s Top 3 soba is produced in the area). So we stopped by Furusato Mountain Village (also the grounds of a camping site) to learn how to make our own soba,
It was so much fun, though as we’re both type A personalities we did get a bit competitive of who’s soba was the most evenly cut! haha
Afterwards we got to enjoy the soba we made in a scrumptious teishoku lunch (the cooks in the building prepared it all).
HAVE MORE TIME
If you have some extra time on your way to or from Okutama, make sure to make a stop at Sawai Station in Ome, to enjoy some delicious local sake tasting, and eat some flavourful tofu teishoku lunch sets, in the prettiest setting by the riverside. Read about my time there, HERE.
ACCESS
BY TRAIN
SHINJUKU STATION
(CHUO LINE: RAPID OME changes toOme Line, stay on the train)
OME STATION
(Ome Line changes to Local Oku-tama line - either stay on train/transfer across platform)
OKU-TAMA STATION
take roughly just under 2hrs
