Okutama
The town at the end of the line
One of my best friend Jenna who’s half Japanese but has never been to Japan did her architectural thesis on Okutama. This is a small town of less than 5,000 located at the far western reaches of Tokyo in the mountains. Like many small Japanese villages, it is slowly dying out as young people move into the city and all that remain are the elderly.
Jenna’s thesis was an adaptable framework for local regeneration of
Japan’s rural aging communities to address issues such as a lack of amenities to service its aging population, the proliferation of abandoned houses, and ways to bring people back to the community.
I knew that I would be going to Okutama and so I planned a daytrip to see the town. My first stop was the Nippara limestone caves. This is the largest cave in the Kanto region and quite extensive, with several circulation routes that include steep stairs and ladders. The largest cave reaches a depth of about 527 meters while in other parts I had to stoop to avoid banging my head.
Okutama is nestled into a steep river valley and at one point the main employer was a concrete plant. Now, most people come from Tokyo to hike along the river or up the many surrounding mountains.
Unfortunately there isn’t much and the two people who took the bus with me to the caves left immediate on the train. This is unfortunate because the second floor of the train station has a nice cafe and there are two others nearby. Okutama doesn’t have much advertising the way places like Nikko are heavily featured in Tokyo and upon arrival, it’s not abundantly clear that there are shops and cafes so I don’t think a lot of people know about it.
I decided to hike along the river back towards a train station closer to Tokyo and found some beautifully clear reflective water. In the summer it’s possible to rent kayaks and paddleboards but because it’s not easily accessible it probably doesn’t draw a lot of tourists. In fact, I wasn’t able to find many of the hiking routes or guides until I visited the tourist information centre in person and was handed a stack of brochures for the region.
I think if the opportunity arose to return in the summer when there’s more daylight for hiking I’d be inclined to return but because of Jenna’s project I’m already swayed to liking Okutama.
