At 1,252 meters, Mount Oyama is a landmark of Isehara and lies within part of the Tanzawa-Oyama Quasi-National Park. Mountain trails, pilgrimage traditions, local crafts, and seasonal experiences give the city a range of distinctive attractions. When planning your trip, it’s worth considering not only the activities you’d like to enjoy, but also your travel arrangements and timing.
Getting There and Planning Your Trip
Isehara Station is served by Odakyu Line Romancecar limited express trains. The journey to Shinjuku takes about 50 minutes, and the journey to Odawara takes about 25 minutes. Both are approximate travel times; check the timetable for your travel date. When choosing a hotel in Isehara, you can first consider whether rail connections, mountain scenery, or cultural attractions are the main focus of your trip.
Oyama Pilgrimage and Traditional Crafts
The Oyama pilgrimage has been designated a Japan Heritage site for its cultural value. The Oyama-koma, a representative souvenir of the pilgrimage, is part of this tradition. It has been made since the Edo period by woodworkers known as kiji-shi, and the craft continues to be passed down today. This object brings together a tangible travel memento and a craft that has been carefully preserved over time.
Religious buildings and artworks offer further points of reference for the pilgrimage tradition. Oyama-dera is considered one of the three great Fudō temples in the Kantō region and is the first temple on the region’s 36-temple Fudō pilgrimage route. At Chayu-ji, the principal statue of Shaka in Nirvana is designated an Important Cultural Property of Isehara City. The main hall of Hinata Yakushi, also known as Hōjōbō, can be identified by its architecture: it has a thatched hipped roof, is 7 ken long and 5 ken wide, and stands 17.7 meters high. Among the wooden Buddha halls designated as cultural properties in the prefecture, it is the largest.
Mountain Trail and Views of Sagami Bay
The Lower Shrine of Ōyama Afuri Shrine sits at an elevation of 696 meters and offers views of Sagami Bay. From there, a mountain trail leads to the summit of Mount Oyama through native beech and fir forests; it can be hiked in any season. The viewpoint at the shrine and the route to the 1,252-meter summit offer two different perspectives on the mountain: a view toward the bay and a hike through the forest landscape. No hiking time or difficulty level is specified for the trail, so don’t base your day’s plans on the summit elevation alone.
Festivals, Harvest Season, and Tofu Along the Oyama Approach
Several experiences add their own seasonal highlights to the year. The E-tōrō Festival is held each year from mid to late August along the approach to Oyama. On Oyama Shindō, hand-painted picture lanterns made by local residents are set up to light the approach at night. The Isehara Tourism Dōkan Festival is held annually in October; exact dates and programming may change. Check the festival dates if you’d like to plan your trip around one of these events.
Fruit picking is another seasonal option: during harvest season, there are numerous direct-sales outlets along the national highways, as well as popular orchards where visitors can pick their own fruit. What’s available depends on the harvest season. Along the Oyama approach, inns and teahouses also serve tofu dishes made with spring water from Oyama. The seasonal options therefore differ clearly: the mountain trail can be hiked year-round, while fruit picking depends on the harvest and festivals take place during specific periods.
Discover more destinations: Atsugi, Iwa, Kawasaki, Fujisawa, Yokohama, Manazuru, Kamakura, Hiratsuka.
Return to the main travel overview: Kanagawa Prefecture.
