Mount Tsukuba (筑波山) is a famous mountain in Ibaraki. It is on the list of 100 Famous Japanese Mountains (百名山 / Hyakumeizan / Hundred Famous Mountains). Tsukuba is the shortest of the 100 Famous Japanese Mountains and is close to Tokyo. Due to the trains and ease of getting up the mountain by either rail/cable car or ropeway.
The mountain has a large collection of trails. Most people take one of the trails that start at Tsukubasan Shrine. A bus can take you from the nearby train station up to Tsukubasan Shrine. From the shrine, you can go up a modern route that follows the cable car. The other option is to take the old pilgrims trail which is less direct.
I took a different route. I took trail 5 which starts near Lake Tsukushi. This trail starts at station zero and is much longer. Mountains in Japan are broken into 10 stations. Many like Tsukuba and Fuji have a road that goes up to station 5 and most hikers start at 5. However the more adventurous can start at station 0.
Tsukuba is the first and only of the 100 famous Japanese Mountains I have claimed, so far….
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What is a famous mountain near you?