Mt Tsukuba & JAXA - Private Day Tour from Tokyo

Fuji is Japan’s most famous mountain; Tsukuba is the one it was paired with in old poems – ‘Fuji to the west, Tsukuba to the east’. It has two peaks, a shrine that is 1,300 years old, a cable car and a ropeway, and a view over the entire Kanto plain to Tokyo’s towers on a clear day. At its foot is Tsukuba Science City, home of Japan’s space agency. Nobody else puts the two in one day.

We collect you at your Tokyo hotel and drive an hour north-east. First stop is the JAXA Tsukuba Space Centre: the exhibition hall has real rocket engines, a full-size model of the Kibo module of the International Space Station you can walk inside, satellites and astronaut suits, and the outdoor H-II rocket is 50 metres long. Entry is free. Guided tours of the astronaut training area run on some days and can be booked.

After lunch in the science city we drive up to the mountain. From the shrine at the foot, the cable car climbs through cedar forest to the saddle between the two peaks; a short walk takes you up Nyotai-san, the higher peak at 877 metres, where the plain opens out below you. We come down by the ropeway on the other side for the change of view. Tsukubasan Shrine at the bottom is one of the oldest in eastern Japan, with a giant straw rope and a 800-year-old cedar.

If the day allows we stop at the Tsukuba Expo Centre’s H-II rocket model and planetarium on the way back to Tokyo.

What you pay is what you pay

The price is one fixed amount for your whole group: the private van, fuel, tolls, parking and your driver-guide for the day. There are no per-person supplements and no booking fees. Your Mount Tsukuba cable car and ropeway tickets are included in the price for everyone in your group. JAXA entry is free. Lunch is optional – bring your own or buy in Tsukuba Science City.

Good to know

JAXA’s exhibition hall closes on some weekdays for maintenance. If it is closed on your date we will tell you before the tour and you can choose a substitute stop of the same type (the Tsukuba Expo Centre planetarium) or a full refund of your booking, guaranteed. The peak walk from the cable car is about 15 minutes on rocky steps and is optional. The mountain is famous for plum blossom in late February and autumn colour in November.

Flexible day

This is your private tour, so the day is flexible. If you want to skip a stop, stay longer somewhere or add a place nearby, write it in the booking notes or tell your driver-guide on the day and we will adjust the route where time allows.