AT A GLANCE
Why go?
Mitakeyama is one of the low forested peaks of the Inasa mountain range on the western edge of Hamamatsu, in Shizuoka. Though it rises only a few hundred metres, the ridgeline it belongs to delivers one of the region's most generous payoffs for a short walk: on a clear day the summit outlook takes in Lake Hamana, the sprawl of Hamamatsu with its Act Tower landmark, the Tenryū River and the blue line of the Enshū coast on the Pacific.
What draws visitors here is how much variety fits into a compact outing. The same ridge links the gentle summit of Mitakeyama with the bare, jigsaw-rock crags of Tatsu no Mine and the open Takizawa viewpoint, while the higher summit of Mount Mitake (三岳山, 467 m) just along the crest is topped by the nationally designated ruins of Mitake Castle. It is an easy place to assemble a one-to-three-hour hike with big views and a real sense of history.
Everything is reached from the free Mitake Shrine car park on a paved forest road, with no public transport to the trailhead, so this is very much a drive-and-walk destination — which keeps it local, uncrowded and peaceful compared with the famous peaks of the region.
A view-seekers' ridge west of Hamamatsu
The Inasa hills are the green wall behind Lake Hamana, and Mitakeyama is part of that ridge. The reason hikers climb is the panorama from the top. From the clearing on the summit you look east over the Hamamatsu cityscape, where the slender spire of Act Tower stands out, then on past the river mouth to the open water of the Enshū Sea. Turning the other way you drop your eyes across the orchard-clad valleys of Inasa to the broad sweep of Lake Hamana and the bridges that cross it. On clear mornings and evenings the light over the lake and the distant Pacific is the highlight many people come back for.
