Mt. Omuro 大室山

Situated not far from the coastal town of Ito , Mt. Omuro has an interesting profile.

The mountain has a relatively gentle slope, and is not all that lofty at just 580 meters. It's sometimes green with vegetation and sometimes looks more like a snowy overturned rice bowl. Unless you were viewing it from above, you'd never suspect that this oversized hill was a volcano.

You can catch a bus from either Ito Station or Izu-Kogen Station to Mt. Omuro and its environs.

From Ito Sation, take a Shaboten Koen bound bus (about 40 minutes, 720 yen one way, one bus an hour). Alternatively, take a bus from Izu Kogen Station (about 20 minutes, 370 yen one way, one bus an hour) and get off at Izu Shaboten Zoo. The chairlift to the top of Mount Omuro is located across the road from the bus stop.

Tokai Bus offers two different one-day passes for Ito: one for 800 yen that covers Izu Kogen and the Jogasaki Coast, and a two-day pass for 1,500 yen that covers Ito City and almost all of Izu Kogen. The trip to Mount Omuro from Izu Kogen Station is fully covered by both passes, but the trip from Ito Station is only covered by the more expensive one.

Catch a chairlift to the summit, which takes you right to a path that you can follow to circumnavigate the entire mountain in a half hour or less. The panoramic views will likely keep you circling for a while. On a clear day, you'll be able to see Mt. Fuji and Izu Oshima , the closest of the seven main islands in the Izu Island chain .

If you'd like to do more than just walk and gaze at the amazing views, you can take the stairs down into Omuro's volcanic crater and hone your archery skills. It may be hard to believe, but the mouth of a volcanic that once produced fire, lava, brimstone and ash is now an archery range. It costs just 1,500 yen an hour (for adults junior high school age and older), including the rental of the bow, arrows and glove, plus coaching from the range staff.

After you've had your fill of the mountain itself, take the chairlift back down to the ground level and visit Izu Shaboten Zoo , which combines a vast number of cacti and other plants with a big petting zoo.

Another spot for nature lovers at Mt. Omuro's foot is the cherry blossom-viewing site called Omuro Yamazakura-no-Sato. Here, you can see 1,500 cherry trees of some 40 varieties from late September to May.

Since not everyone can make it to Japan during the spring when viewing blossoms is a national obsession, this is a great option. Mt. Omuro is the perfect backdrop for this stunning cherry blossom scene.