www.iht.com By Ken Belson Tokyo's reputation as an endless urban jungle is well earned. The concrete buildings, chaotic narrow streets and scarcity of parks can tire even the most citified. Which is why visitors in the central city are often surprised to learn that an hour to the west by train, Tokyo is filled with mountains and streams.

A day trip to the Tama region, which stretches toward Mount Fuji, provides a chance to enjoy fresh air, exercise and flora. It is also a pleasant counterpoint to the metropolitan excess that tourists typically see when they visit Japan for only a few days.

For those with only a day to spare, Mount Takao, the city's most prominent mountain, is a logical destination. There are more ambitious outings in Tokyo, but Takao has the virtue of being accessible enough that you can pack several activities into one day without emptying your wallet, something easily done by staying in town. In March and April, Takao is a great place to take in the plum and cherry blossoms that breathe life back into the city after a chilly winter; in mid-March, a fire-walking festival has revelers walking barefoot on hot embers. One of the city's more elegant and evocative restaurants, Ukai Toriyama, nestled in a small valley near the foot of the mountain, also draws day-trippers. Diners sit in huts with thatched roofs and are doted on by kimono-clad waitresses who provide hot coals to prepare sumptuous robatayaki, or grilled food.

As with so many things in Japan, timing is everything, though. Since Takao is mobbed on weekends and holidays, especially in the spring, consider visiting during the week. And leave the city by 10 a.m. so you have time to hike and eat a leisurely lunch or vice versa.

For visitors staying in central Tokyo, the easiest way to get to Takao is from the Keio train terminal on the west side of Shinjuku Station. Tickets to the end of the line, Takao-san Guchi Station, cost أ‚آ¥370, or about $3.10, and can be bought near the ticket gates. You can save up to 20 percent by buying a round-trip ticket that includes rides on the cable car up Takao. (www.keio.co.jp/english/multiple/multiple3.html; telephone: 81 42 337 3222.)

Since there is no difference in fare, you might as well take one of the express trains that leaves about every 20 minutes from Platform 3. During the first part of the roughly 50-minute ride to Takao-san Guchi, the train whizzes past nearly indistinguishable neighborhoods. But by the midway point, the city gives way slightly and, on a clear day, the foothills to the west come into view. From Takao-san Guchi Station, you can head straight for the hills, stop for a light lunch at a restaurant on the shopping street to the right or take a minibus operated by Ukai Toriyama to the restaurant for a fuller meal.

But if you have arrived early enough, try tackling Takao first. Only about 610 meters, or 2,000 feet, high, its main numbered trails are roughly three kilometers long and, while steep in parts, include numerous chances to rest on the way, as well as sneak peeks at Mount Fuji and the surrounding mountains. The Mount Inari Path is one of the longer ones, but less crowded, and includes beautiful spring or fall foliage.

Less ambitious hikers, or travelers in a rush, can ride the cable car or chair lift that takes passengers about halfway to the peak. Cars leave about every 15 minutes from Kiyotaki Station and Sanroku Station (for the chair lift), which are a three-minute walk from the train. The cars and lift operate from 8 a.m. until late afternoon or early evening depending on the season; one-way tickets for adults cost أ‚آ¥470, or أ‚آ¥900 for a round trip (Takao Tozan Dentetsu; 81 42 661 4151).

After alighting, visit the monkey park on the mountain's south slope (أ‚آ¥400 for adults, أ‚آ¥200 for children; 81 42 661 2381). Or start marching up through the forest thick with oak and evergreen trees. Trail No.1 is quite scenic as you pass through Joshin Gate, past maples and cedars, to Yakuoin Temple, about 20 minutes from the cable car. Built in 744 to commemorate the Buddhist saint Gyoki, the temple is dedicated to the Buddha of healing, and its waters are used by worshipers in their meditations.

The peak is often crowded with picnickers and photo buffs, and understandably so. On clear days, central Tokyo to the east seems to levitate in the distance, while the mountains to the west give a taste of Japan's rugged interior and the majestic Mount Fuji. Descending on trail No.6, you pass Biwa-taki, a delightful waterfall.

When you return to the train station, stop at one of the several soba shops near the station. Takahashi-ya, a two-minute walk from the station, offers filling dishes at reasonable prices.

If your budget, schedule and stomach allow, call ahead for a reservation at Ukai Toriyama (81 426 61 0739). The minibus from the restaurant picks up diners at the train station three times an hour. After a short drive, you are whisked to a private or semiprivate room. Then things slow down. Sitting on tatami mats, you'll hear the sounds of babbling streams, chirping birds and rustling bamboo.

The waiters and waitresses, in hushed tones, bring the moist towels called oshibori and then hearths filled with hot coals. A round of beers is a good way to start, followed by sake served in bamboo stalks. The specialty of the house is free-range chicken and is included on most of the set menus, which start at أ‚آ¥4,730 (not including drinks and tax). The course that substitutes beef for chicken costs أ‚آ¥8,930.

The elaborate kaiseki meals start with a few seasonal appetizers. This past spring, lunches included grilled takenoko, or young bamboo, from Kyushu, and a large hamaguri, or clam, that was heated on the hearth. That was followed with small slices of raw chicken with a savory sesame sauce. A clear broth with quail meatballs came next. Then skewers of negi (scallion), shiitake mushrooms and big chunks of chicken, which we grilled ourselves. Another round of skewers arrived, this time with iwana, a small river fish that was already roasted.

The meal was rounded out with miso soup, pickles and a bowl of barley and rice with sticky mountain potato, a staple at dinner tables around Japan. Diners will insist they are full until the dessert arrives: grape sherbet on shards of ice, accompanied by green tea.