GO WILD TOKYO! / Wild Tokyo Adventures in Tama and the Islands
Tokyo’s popular image is a city of skyscrapers and constant motion. Step just beyond the urban core, however, and the landscape quickly changes: clear rivers, deep forests—even islands where people follow their own distinctive rhythms of life.
The mountainous Tama area, for example, is only one to two hours from central Tokyo by train, while offshore lie the city’s island territories—some 635 islands. Together, these reveal another face of the metropolis, where everyday life goes on in spectacular natural landscapes.
The GO WILD TOKYO! series introduces eight experiences across the city’s western and southern reaches that showcase the appeal of adventure tourism. These are not just sightseeing itineraries, but travel meant to encounter fascinating ways of life: meeting people who protect forests while welcoming visitors, and innovators creating new experiences through fire, water, and the natural world.
The following eight experiences are grouped into three categories: day trips, overnight stays, and island journeys. Some can be reached on a casual weekend, others might include a night immersed in the forest, or a ferry ride to a remote island. All share the same revelation: adventure is nearby, beginning at Tokyo’s edge.
Day Trips—Three Outdoor Spots in Tokyo
In just one to two hours from the city center, Tokyo’s environment gives way to unexpectedly natural surroundings. The rush of clear streams, the wind in the trees, and the quiet persistence of satoyama life—this is the Tama area in western Tokyo, where adventure tourism is easily accessible. Whether it’s relaxing beside crystal-clear water, tracing the remnants of a former railway line, or enjoying forest landscapes that change with the seasons, even a short trip can recalibrate your sense of Tokyo.
Fuji Forest (Hinohara Village): Experience the blessings of clear streams and forests
Dive into a waterfall plunge pool and feel the cold, clear stream with your whole body.
At the far reaches of Hinohara Village—the only village in Tokyo’s Tama area—Fuji Forest is a base for learning about the forest and living alongside it. Forests cover around 90 percent of the village, and here, visitors can take part in hands-on adventurous activities such as building small cabins using local wood, splitting firewood, woodworking, trekking, and river trekking. The site also relies on sustainable systems that circulate local timber—from felling to reuse—a working model of a forest that is not only protected but actively utilized.
Read more: https://allabout-japan.com/en/article/11332/
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Address: 5990-1 Hinohara, Nishitama District, Tokyo
Access: From JR Musashi-Itsukaichi Station (Itsukaichi Line), take a Nishi Tokyo Bus and get off at Nango; about a 5-minute walk
Notes: Day-trip experience programs available
Website: http://www.fujinomori.net/index.html
Fourth Wellness (Akiruno / Mitake): An adventure-tourism tour on Mt. Mitake
Experience Mt. Mitake’s hiking and trekking routes.
Fourth Wellness is a program that trains adventure-tourism guides, and it has used its expertise to develop a series of model tours set in the Mt. Mitake area (Ome City).
On Mt. Mitake—where shrine culture and shukubo temple lodgings remain woven into everyday life—the journey begins with a formal visit to Musashi Mitake Shrine. From there, the route leads through forests shaped by centuries of spiritual practice. Along the way, massive rock formations, clear mountain streams, and open viewpoints reveal another side of Tokyo’s mountains. The program also includes time for inward reflection. Breathing techniques and guided meditation are woven into the walk, expanding the journey into a blend of healing and exploration.
Read more: https://allabout-japan.com/en/article/11427/
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Operating organization: Fourth Wellness (company name: Tokyo Yamagawa DMC)
Notes: Day-trip model tours (reservation required)
Website: https://mt-tokyo.com/
Hamura City: Walking Tokyo’s abandoned rail line along a waterway
The texture of the wooden formwork is still visible on tunnel walls, giving the route a palpable historic feel.
The Hamura–Yamaguchi Light Railway Abandoned Line Exploration Tour is operated by the Hamura City Tourist Association. Starting from the tourist information center, the route follows the Tamagawa Josui waterway and traces the remains of a former railway line.
In the early twentieth century, this railway carried limestone and materials. Today, the route has been reborn as a subdued greenway, where traces of former industries surface in small details along the way. This fascinating walks reveals another Tokyo—where nature and industry once supported daily life in a careful balance.
Read more: https://allabout-japan.com/en/article/11428/
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Hamura City Tourist Information Center: 1-13-15 Hanehigashi, Hamura City, Tokyo
Access: About a 3-minute walk from the West Exit of JR Hamura Station (Ome Line)
Website: https://hamura-kankou.org/
Overnight in the Forest—Three Spots Reveal Another Tokyo
The forest after dark bears little resemblance to its daytime appearance. Sitting beside a fire in a quiet ravine, breathing deeply while looking up at the stars—these, too, are Tokyo experiences. Overnight stays in natural surroundings are increasingly popular as a restorative retreats, or as a way to experience the forest with all five senses. Family-friendly camps that weave together nature and art are also gaining attention. Drawn by the richness of time rather than convenience, a growing number of travelers are shaping a new kind of Tokyo journey—one that unfolds slowly, in the woods.
Tanagokoro Village (Hinohara Village): A forest retreat to unwind the mind
In spring and autumn, yoga sessions can be held on a wooden deck in the ravine.
Tanagokoro Village is a small lodging base in Hinohara Village, western Tokyo, where you can experience living next to the forest. Set in a valley filled with the murmur of clear streams, its cottages are equipped with wood stoves, saunas, and outdoor barbecue spaces, encouraging a stay that moves in step with nature’s rhythm.
Here, the city’s pace falls away. Guests warm themselves in the quiet forest, look up at the night sky, and take part in workshops or cooking experiences that use local timber and ingredients. It is the kind of place that gently reminds you why, in nature, breathing feels deeper—and life, momentarily, simpler.
Read more: https://allabout-japan.com/en/article/11334/
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Access: From JR Musashi-Itsukaichi Station (Itsukaichi Line), take a Nishi Tokyo Bus bound for Kazuma and get off at Uzushiki Iriguchi
Notes: Lodging and experience plans available
Website: https://www.tanagokoro-village.com/
ART CAMP VILLAGE in KODAIRA (Kodaira City): A family camp combining nature and art
After sunset, a campfire is lit where people can gather around the fire.
ART CAMP VILLAGE in KODAIRA offers a one-night, two-day family camp tour that brings nature and art together. The tour unfolds along the Tamagawa Josui Greenway and at Kitsuneppara Park Children’s Campground, with guided walks that explore the natural landscape and the history of the area’s waterways. At night, intimate events may include concerts featuring early music instruments, or outdoor screenings by filmmakers. By day, hands-on workshops—from spice curry cooking to lantern-making—invite both children and adults to learn through play. At Art Camp Village, local artists, farmers, and outdoor brands collaborate in a new kind of Tokyo camping experience—one rooted in creativity, community, and the great outdoors.
Read more: https://allabout-japan.com/en/article/11425/
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Notes: One-night, two-day camp event (held once per year)
Website: https://artcamp-village.com/
HINOKO SHELTER (Hinohara Village): A members-only cabin utilizing fire
The view from the interior space offers a strong connection with the outdoors.
Set beside the clear waters of the Minami-Akigawa River, HINOKO SHELTER is a members-only lodging facility built around the Japanese concept of “Kubete, sazukaru” (to take and to receive in return). At its heart are three expressions of fire: a bonfire, a wood-stove sauna, and a fireplace, each offering time to slow down and reconsider our relationship with the natural world. Here, guests split firewood and tend the fire. Neither a hotel nor a mountain hut, the shelter is a place to converse with nature with your own hands. In the quiet glow and heat of fire, and the calm natural setting, the mind gradually settles.
Read more: https://allabout-japan.com/en/article/11426/
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Address: 5647 Hinohara Village, Nishitama District, Tokyo
Notes: Members-only lodging facility (annual membership fee: 13,000 yen; advance registration required)
Website: http://hinoko.jp
Tokyo’s Islands—Two Journeys to Meet Original Landscapes
Some landscapes can only be reached by crossing the sea. Tokyo, in fact, encompasses roughly 635 islands—one of the largest island groupings in Japan, where volcanic terrain, subtropical forests, and the blessings of the sea exist side by side. On these islands, communities have long passed down the knowledge needed to live with nature, and daily life unfolds at a gentler pace. In an environment featuring forests and the sea, quiet stays here offer a richness rarely found on the mainland. Time measured by the rhythm of the waves reveals another way of living—and another face of Tokyo.
Gojinka Cycle (Izu Oshima): Cycling a volcanic island
With an electric-assist bicycle, visitors can take in Izu Oshima’s scenery at an unhurried pace.
About two hours by high-speed jet ferry from Tokyo’s Takeshiba pier, Izu Oshima is a dramatic island shaped by the active volcano Mt. Mihara, where fields of black lava descend toward a deep blue sea. Gojinka Cycle invites riders to traverse this volcanic landscape by e-bike, feeling the island’s pulse in the wind and the rise and fall of the road. The island is also known for its exposed geological strata and for camellia oil, the production of which flourished during the Edo period. Together, these elements reveal a place formed by seismic forces and human ingenuity—where nature and culture still exist side by side.
Read more: https://allabout-japan.com/en/article/11330/
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Gojinka Cycle: Inside Harika Oshima Shop, 2-17-8 Motomachi, Oshima Town, Tokyo
Access: About 1 hour 45 minutes by high-speed ferry from Takeshiba Passenger Terminal / About 25 minutes by air from Chofu Airport
Website: https://gojinkacycle.com/
Kanaka Village (Ogasawara Village): A luxury eco retreat at the far edge of Tokyo
Quiet time surrounded by nature is what makes a stay on the Ogasawara Islands special.
Located about 1,000 kilometers south of metropolitan Tokyo and 24 hours by ship from Takeshiba, the Ogasawara Islands are often associated first with the sea that surrounds them. But these islands also host deep forests. Kanaka Village, in Chichijima’s Kitafukurozawa, is a stay-type eco resort that invites guests to slow down within the quiet forest surroundings. Trailer houses, tent saunas, and thoughtfully designed spaces support a slow, low-impact way of island living. Rather than rushing from one attraction to the next, guests settle down between forest and sea, gradually attuning themselves to the island’s rhythms. At night, waves and stars envelop, and time itself seems to loosen its grip.
Read more: https://allabout-japan.com/en/article/11424/
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Kanaka Village: Kitafukurozawa, Chichijima, Ogasawara Village, Tokyo
Access: About 24 hours by scheduled ferry Ogasawara Maru from Takeshiba Passenger Terminal
Website: https://www.kanaka-village.com/
Nature and city, silence and energy—both live inside one metropolis. That is Tokyo’s strange charm, and its potential.
A GO WILD TOKYO! journey is not just sightseeing. It is a trip to rediscover Tokyo as a city.
So, for your next break, which Tokyo will you head to?
This content is supported by a grant from the Tokyo Convention & Visitors Bureau for the Promotion of Adventure Travel.
