Hanatate Sanso

Mountain hut at about 1,300m on the Okura ridge, the long spur climbing to Tonodake, main peak of the Tanzawa range, standing just below the shoulder called Hanatate. From the north exit of Shibusawa Station on the Odakyu line it is a 15-minute bus ride to the Okura terminus, then roughly three hours up the ridge (about 5.5km and 1,000m of ascent). The view opens abruptly once the rocky steps below the hut are behind you, taking in Hadano town, Sagami Bay and Mount Fuji, which makes this the natural place to stop and rest. In summer the speciality is shaved ice, cut on a hand-cranked machine from ice frozen down in Hadano — a town known for its spring water — and carried up on someone's back; in winter it is home-made shiruko simmered from whole azuki beans, and pork soup. The hut opens year-round but only on Saturdays and Sundays, and takes overnight guests as well as day walkers: two small rooms sleeping seven or eight each, plus shared rooms on the ground and upper floors, hold around 25 people. Around the wood stove, guests get the sunset behind the foot of Mount Fuji, the town lights below, and Fuji turning red at dawn.