A pilgrim town of tofu and stone steps
Oyama, a mountain in western Kanagawa, has drawn pilgrims since the Edo period, when people walked here from Edo, today's Tokyo, to pray. The lodges that hosted them served tofu made with the mountain's spring water, and it is still the local specialty. Eat a tofu meal, climb a stone-step lane lined with shops, then ride the cable car to a shrine halfway up the mountain; it is about an hour from Shinjuku on the Odakyu Line to Isehara, then about 25 minutes by bus.
A tofu restaurant on the stone-step lane, where a set course lets you taste how many forms tofu can take: sesame tofu, yuba (the thin skin that forms on heated soy milk) eaten fresh like sashimi, and soft, loose oboro tofu. Some courses need booking, so call ahead or ask your hotel to.
A shukubo, a lodge that has housed Oyama pilgrims for generations, where you eat a meal made up of tofu dishes. Meals without an overnight stay are offered only on some days, so book ahead.
A lane of about 360 stone steps climbing to the cable car, lined with tofu restaurants, pilgrim lodges and souvenir shops. Look for Oyama koma, wooden spinning tops sold as lucky charms: a top that spins smoothly stands for a life that goes smoothly.
The cable car station at the top of the stone-step lane, where cars climb the steep, forested slope to the shrine in about six minutes, stopping halfway at the temple. Service ends in the late afternoon and stops in strong wind or storms, so check before you set out.
The shrine where pilgrims came to pray for rain and good harvests, right next to the upper cable car station on the mountainside. On a clear day you can see out over Sagami Bay from its grounds. The summit shrine is a steep hike of about an hour and a half beyond it, so most day visitors stop here.
An old temple whose main image is Fudo Myoo, a fierce Buddhist guardian, cast in iron and now an Important Cultural Property. It is a short walk from the cable car's middle station, and in autumn the stone steps up to its hall are lined with red maples.