It’s off to Okutama as we flee the heat wave and downtown Tokyo.

In most years, the weather pattern in Japan goes like this: the temperature gets progressively warmer through the spring, plateaus for a bit with a spike in humidity for the mid-June rainy period, and then thigs get really scorching in July. This year, though, it feels like the rainy season got mostly skipped, with just a few days of showers before a fierce heat wave that kicked in last week.

The sudden shift had our Japanese-language reporter Seiji Nakazawa desperate for relief, but he had a feeling this heat was going to be too hot to beat. So instead of fighting it, he decided to run away from it.

After Googling “coldest place in Tokyo,” Seiji found out about Nippara Shonyudo Cave, also known as Nippara Limestone Cave. Located in Tokyo’s northwestern Okutama area, the cavern is far from the city center and high up in the mountains, and Seiji had his fingers crossed that it would be an oasis of coolness as he hopped on a Chuo Line train departing from Shinjuku Station in downtown Tokyo.

16 limited-express stops later, Seiji arrived at Ome Station, which is already rural enough to almost make you forget you’re still in Tokyo.

He was still very far from the cave, though, and next he needed to transfer to the Ome Line, which takes you further into the countryside.

14 stops later, and roughly two hours after getting on the first train at Shinjuku, Seiji reached the end of the line, Oku-Tama Station.

▼ Yes, this is still Tokyo.

Oku-Tama Station serves as a gateway to outdoor activity areas of Okutama, so in addition to some shops and restaurants, there’s also a bus stop.

The closest bus stop to Nippara Limestone Cave is Nippara Shonyudo, which is only serviced on weekdays, and even then, buses are few and far between. Looking at the timetable, Seiji counted just five departing from Oku-Tama Station at 8:10 and 10:15 in the morning, and 12:30, 2, and 3:30 in the afternoon. If you’re planning to visit the cave on the weekend, you’ll instead need to get off at Higashi Nippara bus stop, which is quite a bit farther from the cave entrance than Nippara Shonyudo (25 minutes vs. 10 minutes of walking after you get off the bus).

▼ Oku-Tama Station bus departure schedule for weekday (平日) and weekend/holiday (土曜・休日) buses going to Higashi Nippara (東日原) and Nippara Shonyudo (鍾乳洞)

The bus pulled away from the station, and soon after started gaining elevation as it wound its way up the inclining roads. Along the way it passes through the town of Nippara, which is a very small community, but Seiji was still amazed that anyone lived this deep in the mountains.

Around 40 minutes later, the bus reached the Nippara Shonyudo bus stop, but like we mentioned, it doesn’t drop you at the mouth of the cave. You’ve still got a 10-minute walk to go, most of it uphill.

▼ The walk from the bus stop to the cave

However, Seiji was already enjoying the cooler temperatures up here in the mountains, compared to the downtown Tokyo heat he’d had to endure earlier that morning. He was also enjoying the gorgeous greenery that covers the mountains at this time of year.

The forests are so dense that it started to feel like he’d left human society behind, but then he spotted the rest stop/snack shop for visitors to the cave…

…and then, finally, the cave entrance itself.

The cave can be visited between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., with adult admission 900 yen (US$6.20) and payable in cash only.

Living in the big city doesn’t give Seiji too many opportunities to go spelunking, and he felt a little tense as he approached the mouth of the cave.

He even took a moment to stop and steady his nerves, noticing, somewhat embarrassingly, that a chill had starred running down his spine.

Oh, wait a second…

…that chill was coming from inside the cave! Even before stepping through the entrance, you can already feel the cool air from inside seeping out.

And once you do head inside…

…it only gets colder!

Though you’ll obviously want to watch your step, the Nippara Limestone Cave interior isn’t especially treacherous, and can be navigated with decent walking shoes, so hiking boots aren’t a must.

Much of the accessible route is a stone tunnel, but periodically there are wider chambers to wander through.

Along with cool temperatures and ruggedly captivating geology, the cave also has something for history buffs, as it was used as a training and meditation site by Kukai, a wandering monk who trekked across Japan in the late 8th/early 9th century founding temples and writing poems.

Moving at a leisurely pace and stopping to take pictures, it took Seiji around 40 minutes to walk the complete course to the back of the cave and then back to the entrance.

Fog forming on his glasses as he emerged from the cave, Seiji realized that he’d been underground long enough to have forgotten the sting of the sun on his skin, which was exactly the sort of heat relief he’d been hoping for. So while we’re not sure if Nippara Limestone Cave is statistically the coldest place in Tokyo, we can say that it’s plenty cold enough.

Photos ©SoraNews24
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