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Oyama's Autumn Foliage Light-Up by Cable Car | Night Views, Crowds and What to Know Before You Go

2025.11.23

If you'd like to see autumn colour but don't fancy a long climb to get to it, this is for you. Every year, timed to the momiji (maple) festival on Oyama (1,252 m) in the Tanzawa range, the autumn foliage is lit up after dark. And you don't have to walk up the mountain at all — a cable car takes you to it.

This post follows the evening in order: arriving late afternoon, riding up, and taking in the illuminations at Afuri Shrine and Oyama-dera temple. Access, how the cable car works, how surprisingly busy it gets even on the opening night, and what's worth knowing before you set off.

I usually climb Oyama in daylight, sweating. Lit from below at night, the maples make it feel like a different mountain entirely. It's a special autumn outing, and one I can recommend to people new to hiking, to families with small children, and to anyone who hasn't much time.

What the Oyama light-up is

Oyama is a 1,252 m sacred peak in the Tanzawa area of Kanagawa Prefecture, known for its clean pyramid shape and revered for centuries. In late November, when the leaves are at their best, the mountain holds its momiji festival, and during that period the foliage is illuminated at night.

I went on the first evening of the light-up. That year it ran for only ten days — a short, rich seasonal event. The main settings are Oyama-dera, the temple partway up the cable-car line, and the area around Afuri Shrine at the top. Deep red maples standing out against a night sky is not something a daytime hike will ever give you.

Because I'm always up here in daylight, foliage lit from below looks completely different. It's a pleasant contradiction of the assumption that mountains are a daytime activity.

Getting to Oyama Cable Station

By public transport, the way in is Isehara Station on the Odakyu Line. From there a bus runs to the Oyama Cable stop at the end of the line, and from there you climb the Koma-sando — a stone-stepped approach lined with souvenir shops and restaurants — to Oyama Cable Station, where the cable car starts.

The approach is full of old shops, and there's a real sense of travel in simply walking it. Going up the slope past the traditional shop curtains and signboards, the anticipation builds.

The light-up runs from late afternoon into the night, so you'll walk up in daylight and come back down in the dark. The approach has plenty of steps, so wear shoes you can walk in comfortably.

Six minutes up by cable car

From Oyama Cable Station the cable car takes you straight up, via Oyama-dera Station partway, to the terminus at Afuri Shrine Station — about six minutes. Covering ground on which you'd otherwise be soaked in sweat, while sitting down, is the whole appeal of doing it this way.

We arrived around 4:20 p.m., with sunset at about 4:30 — right on the changeover. The view from the window darkened as we climbed, and by the time we got out the place had put on its night face.

The last cable car that day was at 7 p.m. During the light-up period the service seems to run later than usual, but times can vary by day, so check the notices on site before you plan your return. In clear daylight, incidentally, this is a mountain with an enormous view: Sagami Bay below, and beyond it Enoshima, the Miura Peninsula, the Boso Peninsula and Izu-Oshima.

Highlight 1: Afuri Shrine, and a New Year atmosphere

Stepping out at Afuri Shrine Station, it's already fully night. The lit grounds were packed with people, with the particular buzz of a New Year's shrine visit. I kept hearing people say it felt like New Year, and they were right.

Afuri Shrine has been enshrined here for a very long time. From the Edo period onward, Oyama drew enough devotion that pilgrimage groups known as *Oyama-ko* were organised, and people came in numbers to pray for household safety and prosperous business. It was my first time walking a place with that much history slowly, at night. There were corners of it I hadn't known about, and it was a different set of discoveries from a daytime visit.

Being opening night, I'd assumed it might be quiet. It was not — the grounds were properly busy. The air had the crispness of early winter rather than autumn, and there's a subdued, atmospheric quality to a mountain at night that's worth the trip on its own.

Highlight 2: the maples at Oyama-dera, the main event

The single best part of the light-up is right outside Oyama-dera Station, the intermediate cable-car stop: the maples of Oyama-dera. This is the main spot. The trees flanking the stone steps are uplit, and the reds and vermilions of the leaves rise out of the dark vividly enough to make you say something out loud. There was a television crew filming while we were there, which tells you how much attention it gets.

The risk is that you get so absorbed that you stop watching your feet. Looking upward while climbing stone steps isn't safe, so keep to the handrail side and keep walking and stopping clearly separated.

There were food stalls in the grounds selling hot things, which is exactly what a cold body wants. Around ¥200 for something small, eaten near the heat — enough to make you happy on its own. Walking in the mountains at night chills you more than you'd expect, so having hot food available really is welcome.

Crowds, and how to work around them

Honestly: even on the opening night there were a lot of people. It's a popular event, and weekends will be busier still. If you want to take photographs at your own pace, or don't like crowds, aim for a weekday, or go up relatively early, just after the lights come on.

The other thing to manage is your sense of time. From arriving in the late afternoon to full darkness is startlingly quick. Assume you have plenty of light and you'll suddenly find you can't see your feet. Look up the sunset time in advance and do a first circuit of the main spots before it gets dark, and the rest of the evening is much more relaxed.

And plan your return backwards from the last cable car. Queues form at the station when it's busy, so leave yourself margin.

Things worth knowing before you go

To sum up what makes a night on Oyama comfortable and safe:

• Dress warmly: it gets properly cold up there after dark. It feels closer to winter than autumn, so bring an extra layer.
• Wear shoes you can walk in: the Koma-sando and the steps at Oyama-dera have a lot of level changes, and you'll be on them in the dark. Grip helps.
• Feet before views: walking while looking up at the illuminations is how people fall. Keep to the handrail side on steps, and stop to take photos.
• Watch the clock: check both the sunset time and the last cable car. Darkness arrives faster than you think.
• Expect crowds: it's busy even on day one, and busier at weekends. Shift your day or your hour if you can.

In short: autumn colour without the climb

With the cable car doing the work, Oyama's foliage light-up is an autumn outing anyone can enjoy regardless of fitness. The red-lit stone steps at Oyama-dera, Afuri Shrine with its New Year's-eve buzz, and something hot from a stall to warm you up. A mountain I normally climb in daylight puts on light and quiet after dark and shows a completely different face.

It made for a memorable evening, and a different kind of pleasure from an ordinary hike. The event runs for a limited period only, so if you have time in autumn, go up Oyama after dark. And then, another time, walk up to the summit in daylight and compare all the faces this mountain has.

Take care up there, and enjoy an autumn night on Oyama.

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