The experience isn’t all mountain views and cold drinks.

Located towards the western tip of Tokyo, Mt. Takao is a beautiful destination for those who love the outdoors…but it’s also a beautiful destination for those who love beer. That’s because every summer, just as beer gardens are popping up on the roofs of shopping centers and department stores in the big cities, Mt. Takao’s very own beer garden, called Beer Mount, starts pouring cold ones from its perch at an elevation of 488 meters (1,601 feet), which offers some fantastic views looking back towards central Tokyo.

You might remember the Mt. Takao beer garden from our Japanese-language reporter Ahiruneko’s trip out there last year, but he has a few regrets about that excursion. First, July and August are the high season for beer gardens in Japan, when the contrast between the summer heat and the cold beer is supposed to be the most sublime. Other pressing obligations, though, meant that Ahiruneko was unable to make his way out to Mt. Takao until September. Also, at that time Ahiruneko took the easy way out and rode the chairlift that whisks you up almost all the way from the foot of Mt. Takao to Beer Mount. Because of that, he didn’t feel like he’d really earned his beer, and that it would have been even more delicious if he’d done things the old-school way and hiked up the mountain instead.

So this year, Ahiruneko was determined to make a hard-mode visit. No using the chairlift — instead, he’d be walking up Trail 1 (the mountain has multiple trails), and he’d be doing it at the hottest time of the year.

And as he stepped off the train at Takasosanguchi Station, about an hour west of downtown Tokyo, a glance at the weather report told him that this was going to be a very hot day.

It wasn’t even noon yet, and it was already 33 degrees Celsius (91.4 degrees Fahrenheit). It was going to get even hotter as he hiked, with the projected high all the way up at 35 degrees, and with only scattered clouds in the forecast, the sunshine was going to be scorching him whenever he wasn’t underneath some source of shade.

He appeared to be having second thoughts about his plan while standing in front of the entrance to the chairlift. But since he’d already written about taking the lift up to the beer garden, our boss wasn’t going to pay him to produce the same article again, so it was either hike up or give up his beer expense account, so he got walking.

▼ Beer Mount is located within the Kasumidai observation deck building.

Staring with the good things, Mt. Takao’s forests are quite lovely at this time of year, full of verdant vitality that put a spring in Ahiruneko’s step too.

Trail 1 is also very nicely maintained. We wouldn’t recommend walking it in flipflops or high heels, but you don’t need dedicated hiking boots either. A pair of sneakers in good condition will do the job.

Ahiruneko’s steps started becoming less springy, though, as the angle of incline gradually increased. And while there’s pavement at the start of the route and once again once you get close to the beer garden, in between you’ve got a dirt trail with wooden steps in the steep sections.

That’s not to say that it’s a treacherous trail that only experienced mountaineers should attempt, but it’s not a walk in the park either. It’s a legitimate hike, and with Ahiruneko, by his own admission, being pretty out of shape these days, it wasn’t long until he started feeling his legs start to burn.

As for the other parts of his body, he felt like those were melting.

It was already hot and steamy when he’d gotten off the train, and the atmospheric conditions hadn’t gotten any milder while he was hiking up the mountain. He was drenched in sweat, and he wasn’t the only one struggling, as he passed a couple who’d stopped to rest and recuperate part-way up the trail.

Sopping wet, Ahiruneko’s spirits improved when he saw the pavement return, signaling that he was getting close to his destination.

Next came the familiar sight of the upper station for the chairlift, where he’d gotten off last year…

…and finally, 40 minutes or so after Ahiruneko had started walking, there it was, the beer garden!

▼ The set of steps that lead into the building is sort of like the hike’s final boss battle.

Beer Mount, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, operates on an all-you-can-drink/all-you-can-eat system, with a charge of 5,000 yen (US$34) for two hours. The place is set up sort of like a summer festival, with different stalls and stations where you can get food and drinks, as opposed to ordering and then waiting for a server to bring them to you.

This suited Ahiruneko just fine, because it meant that he could get his first beer ASAP.

And how was that beer?

FAN-TAS-TIC!

Ice-cold and refreshing, Ahiruneko couldn’t imagine a more satisfying beer than the one he had in his hand just then.

Looking out over the railing and seeing just how far up he’d climbed gave him a sense of accomplishment, and he almost forgot about the sweltering heat…which is to say that he didn’t actually forget about it. Sure, sitting down with some partial shade had him feeling slightly cooler than when he’d been on the trail, but he was still out in the open, very hot air.

Beer Mount does have an indoor air-conditioned seating area too, though, so Ahiruneko decided to take refuge in there for a while.

Many of the seats were set aside for other customers who’d made advance reservations, though, and it does feel like kind of a waste to hike all the way up a mountain just to spend all your time after that indoors, so Ahiruneko thinks the best thing to do is step inside if it gets too unbearable outside, but then head back out once you’ve cooled off.

In addition to beer, he also had plenty to eat, with options including yakitori (grilled chicken skewers), karaage (Japanese-style fried chicken), and ramen.

It all tasted good, but to his surprise, the most delicious-feeling of all on that day was the salad, which he credits to his body crying out for something light and crisp to counter the fiercely hot weather.

And if you’re worried that Beer Mount tries to bloat its profit margins by being extremely slow serving your beers, that’s not the case at all. Though he had to look back at his notes afterward to confirm it, during his two hours at the beer garden Ahiruneko knocked back a total of seven beers, so he feels like he definitely got his/our boss’ money worth.

In the end, is hiking to Beer Mount better than taking the chairlift? That depends. On the one hand, Ahiruneko absolutely thinks that the beer is more delicious, almost like a life-saving elixir, if you hike up there. On the other hand, you’ll be a lot more comfortable if you take the chairlift, and considerably drier too.

▼ Behold Ahiruneko’s T-shirt after his hike, so drenched with sweat that there’s a clear outline of the tank top he has on under it.

There’s also the matter of extra supplies you should carry with you if you’re doing the hike in midsummer: bottles of water to rehydrate, sunscreen, a towel to wipe yourself off with, etc. Regardless of how well-equipped you are, though, you will be very sweaty when you arrive at Beer Mount, which could be a deal-breaker, depending on how comfortable you are with profuse perspiration.

Still, if you’re up for it, the hike up to Beer Mount is a fun challenge, so ultimately the best way to make the ascent is up to you. On the other hand, there is a clear-cut answer for the best way to come back down from the beer garden, which is to use the cable car.

▼ After you’ve knocked back several beers, walking downhill on a dirt trail isn’t a good idea, and sitting on an unenclosed chairlift isn’t advisable either.

Oh, and if you’re wondering, yes, both the cable car can be ridden up from the bottom of the mountain too, which means that while Ahiruneko has now hiked and ridden the chairlift to Beer Mount, there’s still one method of ascent he hasn’t tried, so maybe he’ll need to go back one more time for more research next summer.

Related: Beer Mount official website
Photos ©SoraNews24
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