Takatoriyama Park

Takatoriyama Park had been on my local bucket list for a while. It’s a short 30-minute drive from where we lived in Maborikaigan to the parking area. For our family of three kids (2, 4 and 7) it was the perfect distance (800 m one-way as a normal person walks, or about 1 km one-way as our kids walks) and difficulty (paved walkway to the picnic area, then well maintained trails) with good views of the area and a big stone Buddha.

Driving & Parking

The parking takes a bit of figuring. A lot of directions online will tell to how to get to this park from one of several train or bus stations. This is a great option if you want to ditch the stress of driving but it does make for a longer walk. With our situation of young kids we opted for parking close and taking the shorter walk.

The parking takes a bit of figuring. A lot of directions online will tell to how to get to this park from one of several train or bus stations. This is a great option if you want to ditch the stress of driving but it does make for a longer walk. With our situation of young kids we opted for parking close and taking the shorter walk.

If you just Google “Takatoriyama Park” you we get an accurate point in the middle of the park area, but not one that is very helpful for getting you near a trailhead. After some helpful posts in some Facebook groups we found that there is decent and free parking near the trailhead. You can try and park right near the trailhead but there are really one two spots there. About 200 m away on the other side of the tennis courts and baseball field there is a nice park that has street side spaces for a good half-dozen cars. You can Google “Takatori Yama Climbing / Parking” to get right there.

Maps

I found the official map to be confusing - it’s not oriented north and it takes a lot of studying to match the features to where you are or a map.

Official Map

Map in the picnic area

So I made my own map on Google Maps. I put the trails and sites that we walked and saw in blue. I also tried to suss out trailheads and other trials using Strava heatmaps.

Short Hike

We started from the park / tennis courts. There's a vending machine and rest room nearby and a nice big sign. This path is paved and while a climb, it was easy enough for our young kids to do.

Vending machines and signage at the start of the hike

You go by one cutoff trail that gives more direct access to the climbing area but also has some paintings that are worth stopping for.

Cool paintings along the way

The paved path goes by one set of stairs that goes up to the observation tower. We saved that for later and went to the picnic area.

Stairs up to the observation tower from the paved path

Picnic Area

The central area of the park and kinda the hub on the wheel. You can also find restrooms and a vending machine here to go with some stellar picnic table views.

Central picnic area with great views of the bay

Vending machines and bathrooms

Big Stone Buddha

From what I could tell online this stone Buddha was carved in the mid 1950s. While not as old as the Kamakura Buddha, it’s still an impressive statue in a beautiful location. From the parking, it was only about 750 m. The path to the Buddha has some great views as well.

Path from the picnic area to the Buddha

Trygve surrenders the views

Advantage of hiking in January: no hornets!

There is a path that continues on past the Buddha down to the intersection near the elementary school.

Observation Tower & Climbing Area

From the Buddha we went back to the hub / picnic area and over to the observation tower. The tower has great views of Fuji, Kannonzaki Point and the whole area.

View to the southwest - west. Fuji is behind the power poles.

View to the northeast

View to the southeast

We thought about eating at the picnic area but our kids were more interested in watching the rock climbers.

Some older locals enjoying a pitch

There are so many other places we want to check out that I don’t know that we’ll get back here, but this is definitely one we’ll recommend to folks.