Oyama Afuri Shrine
licensed photographDandy1022 / CC BY-SA 4.0

West Kanagawa · IseharaNo.908★★Open in map →

Oyama Afuri Shrine

— Shinto shrine on Mount Oyama

historyOff the trail — and worth it

A shrine on the side of Mount Oyama in western Kanagawa, reached by a stepped shopping lane and a six-minute cable car. The lower hall looks out over the Sagami plain, and the summit hall is a walk further up.

  1. FromIsehara Station
  2. ~50 minBus, then cable car
  3. Get off atAfuri-jinja Station (Oyama Cable Car)
  4. On foot
  5. Oyama Afuri Shrine
Directions ↗

The sweet spot

This is a well-known mountain shrine, not an undiscovered one, and autumn weekends fill the cable car. It is quiet by timing: a weekday, or the first ride of the morning, leaves the courtyard mostly to the mountain.

Where it is

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What to look for — in walking order

The terrace beside the lower hall耕太郎 / CC BY-SA 4.0
  1. Koma-sandothe stepped lane of souvenir shops, eating houses and Oyama spinning-top workshops below the cable station
  2. Oyama-dera Stationthe midway stop on the cable line, set beside the mountain temple of the same name
  3. Shimosha, the lower hallthe shrine building at the top of the cable line, up one last flight of stone steps
  4. The terrace beside the hallan open lookout over the Sagami plain, rated two stars in the Michelin Green Guide Japon
  5. The summit gatethe stone gate in the courtyard that opens onto the trail to the main hall on the peak

How to actually get there

  1. Isehara Station north exit, stand 4 → last stop 'Oyama Cable' (Kanagawa Chuo Kotsu bus, routes I-10 / I-11).
  2. Bus terminus → Oyama Cable Station (about 15 minutes up the Koma-sando steps).
  3. Oyama Cable Station → Afuri-jinja Station (cable car, 6 minutes, via Oyama-dera Station).
  4. Climb the last flight of steps to the lower hall, then take the terrace view before deciding on the summit trail.
Odakyu to Isehara, bus, then the cable car
From Isehara Station take the Kanagawa Chuo Kotsu bus from north-exit stand 4 (routes I-10 and I-11, bound for Oyama Cable) to the last stop. From there the Koma-sando lane climbs about 15 minutes of steps to Oyama Cable Station, and the cable car reaches Afuri-jinja Station in 6 minutes. Sources give the bus leg as 25 to 30 minutes.
Return down the same line
Take the cable car down to Oyama Cable Station, walk back down Koma-sando, and pick up the bus at the terminus for Isehara Station. The cable car stops running in the early evening and the buses thin out after it, so start down well before dusk rather than counting on a late service.
Directions from my location (Google Maps) ↗

About the place

Mount Oyama rises to 1,252 metres at the eastern edge of the Tanzawa range, close enough to the Kanto plain that it reads as a single pyramid from below. The shrine is built on two levels. The lower hall, the Shimosha, stands partway up the slope and is where the cable car ends; the main hall sits on the summit. Rain-making is the mountain's old association, and the shrine's name carries it — Afuri echoes the word for rainfall. The approach is a stepped lane of shops, then a short cable ride, then one more flight of stone steps.

How to enjoy it

Six minutes of cable car is all that separates the shopping lane from the mountain, so the visit divides cleanly: shops on the way up, quiet on the way in. Give the terrace time rather than treating it as a photo stop, since the plain and the bay open up differently as the haze moves. If you plan to walk to the summit hall, start early enough that the last cable car down is not a worry.

Background & history

Shrine tradition places the founding in the reign of Emperor Sujin, more than two thousand years ago, and names Oyamatsumi — the deity of mountains — as the enshrined kami. The mountain was prayed to for rain long before it became a destination. In the Edo period the climb turned into a popular outing for ordinary townspeople, who travelled in organised parties and left wooden swords as offerings; the custom is still remembered as Oyama-mairi. The lower hall and its view were later given two stars in the Michelin Green Guide Japon.

Before you go

Cash
Visiting the shrine grounds is free; the cable car and the car parks below charge separately. Fares and parking rates are posted at the stations and lots. Carry cash as well as an IC card, since the lane of shops is small and independent.
Before you go
The cable car runs from morning to early evening only, and does not operate at night. Koma-sando is a stairway rather than a slope, so it is hard going with wheeled luggage. The mountain holds snow and ice in winter, and the summit trail is a proper hike, not a stroll.
Another way
From Shinjuku, ride the Odakyu Odawara Line to Isehara and join the same bus; the Romancecar limited express covers most of the run if you would rather have a seat.
After you get off
Afuri-jinja Station opens straight onto the shrine approach. Climb the stone steps directly above the platform and the lower hall and its terrace are in front of you.