Mt. Takao Cable Car vs Chair Lift: Price, Hours, the Mt. Takao Ticket and Which One to Ride (2026)

Updated 2026-10-16

Same price, different ride. The cable car from Kiyotaki Station and the chair lift from Sanroku Station both take you from the foot of Mt. Takao to the middle of the mountain for ¥490 one way or ¥980 round trip (children 6 to 11: ¥250 / ¥500). So the choice comes down to time and company: the lift is a two-seat chair in the open air, takes about 12 minutes and makes its last weekday run at 16:30 from May to November; the cable car carries 135 people, takes about 6 minutes and runs until 17:45 on weekdays and 18:00 on weekends in autumn. Coming from Shinjuku? Buy the Mt. Takao Ticket at the Keio ticket machine before you leave: ¥1,450 covers the train and the ride both ways, ¥390 less than paying separately. Prices and hours are from Takao Tozan Electric Railway and Keio's price table, checked 2026-10-16.

The two rides side by side

The cable car's steepest point is 31°18′, which the operator calls the steepest on any cable car line in Japan, and the car climbs 271 m in a kilometre of track. The lift has no walls and no glass. On a clear autumn afternoon that is the whole point; in rain it is 12 minutes of getting wet.

The two upper stations sit a short walk apart. From either one, Trail 1 (the paved Omotesando route) continues past the Monkey Park, Yakuo-in Temple and up to the 599 m summit. For the trails and walking times, see the Mt. Takao day trip itinerary.

Fares: the same on both

• Under 6 ride free, one small child per paying adult. A second small child with the same adult, or a small child travelling alone, needs a child ticket. A six-year-old who has not started elementary school still counts as a small child.
• Disability discount, cable car only: adult ¥250 one way / ¥500 round trip, child ¥120 / ¥240, and one carer at the same price. Show a Japanese disability certificate or the Mirairo ID app. The lift is excluded.
• Groups of 25 or more get a cash-only group fare (adult ¥430 one way, for example) and should apply in advance. Rides cannot be reserved, and the operator warns that waits can be long in busy seasons.

Which one should you ride?

• Stroller, wheelchair, a dog, a big bag, or a nervous child: the cable car. Animals are not allowed on the lift at all, and the cable car station has an elevator.
• Coming down after 16:30 on a weekday: the cable car. The lift's last weekday run is 16:30 from May to November and 16:00 from December to April, while the cable car keeps going until 17:15 to 18:30 depending on the month.
• A clear day, two of you, no rush: the lift. Twelve minutes in the open air over the treetops beats six minutes in a crowd, and the fare is identical.
• A big queue at one station: walk over to the other. The lower stations are next to each other, and so are the upper ones. The ticket machines at both sell the same ¥490 ticket.

A simple rule: lift up in the morning, cable car down in the late afternoon when the lift has stopped and your legs are done.

The Mt. Takao Ticket: exact prices from Keio's table

The Mt. Takao Ticket (高尾山きっぷ) bundles the Keio train from your station to Takaosanguchi and back with a cable car or lift ticket. Keio prices it per station; these are from its table revised 1 October 2025.

Paying separately from Shinjuku costs ¥430 × 2 for the train plus ¥980 for the ride, ¥1,840, so the ticket saves ¥390. The one-way-ride version saves ¥260 (¥1,350 at full price). The discount is bigger on the ride than on the train (23% against 20% for adults), which is why the version with the round-trip ride is the better deal if you will ride both ways anyway.

• Where to buy: the ticket machines at any Keio or Inokashira Line station except Takaosanguchi. Buy it at Shinjuku before you board; at the mountain it is too late.
• Valid on the day of purchase only. Not sold from 31 December to 3 January.
• It works as the base fare on the weekend Mt. TAKAO reserved-seat train (10:00 and 11:00 from Shinjuku, about 45 minutes); the seat itself costs ¥400 online or ¥500 at a machine, child the same.
• The ride coupon is printed for "cable car or lift". Whether you may go up on one and down on the other with the round-trip version is not stated on the operator's pages, so ask at the window before you tap through.
• A digital version is sold in Keio's TAMa-GO app.

Not from Shinjuku, or a bigger group? The Mt. Takao day trip cost calculator adds up the train and the ride for your party.

Paying at the mountain without the ticket

• Cash or Suica/PASMO: buy a ticket at the window or the machine at the lower station. IC cards are accepted at the machine, not at the gate.
• Contactless credit card: go straight to the boarding area and tap. One card per person; you cannot pay for a group on one card.
• TAMa-GO (QR ticket): buy online, then go straight to the boarding area.
• From 1 November 2026, IC cards at the gate. The operator has announced simple IC readers at Kiyotaki, Takaosan, Sanroku and Sanjo stations. Each tap deducts a one-way fare, one card per person, child IC cards pay the child fare, and there is no auto-charge and no top-up at the stations, so load the card in Tokyo first. Discount fares stay as paper tickets.

Hours by season

• The cable car's first departure is 8:00, the lift's 9:00 (May to November). When it is crowded the cable car may start earlier and runs every 7 minutes instead of 15.
• During the summer Beer Mount season (the beer garden at the top of the cable car; in 2026 it opened on 30 May), the last cable car is 21:15, with trains every 20 minutes from 18:00. The lift keeps its normal hours.
• Timetables change for inspections; the operator posts the day's hours on its top page.

Getting there and leaving your bags

• Keio Line, Shinjuku to Takaosanguchi: ¥430 per adult (¥220 child). Shibuya is the same via the Inokashira Line and Meidaimae. Takaosanguchi is the end of the line.
• Takaosanguchi to the lower stations: about 5 minutes on foot to Kiyotaki (cable car); Sanroku (lift) is beside it.
• Lockers: inside Kiyotaki Station, ¥400 to ¥900, open during cable car hours. A suitcase that does not fit can be left at the station office for ¥1,000, a stroller for ¥500, but the office may refuse when it is crowded.

One hundred years of the cable car

The line opened on 21 January 1927, was shut down in 1944 during the war and restarted in 1949. The cars were replaced in 2008 and the hoist in 2014, and the current car weighs 10.7 t with a 42 mm rope rated at more than ten times the load. On 13 October 2026 the operator started a 100-day countdown to the centenary on 21 January 2027, so if your trip falls that winter, expect events at the stations. The lift is younger: it opened in October 1964, the year of the first Tokyo Olympics, as a single-seat lift, and became the present two-seater in 1971.

Frequently asked questions

How much is the Mt. Takao cable car?

¥490 one way and ¥980 round trip for adults, ¥250 and ¥500 for children aged 6 to 11. The chair lift costs exactly the same. Children under 6 ride free with an adult.

Cable car or lift: which is better?

The lift if the weather is good and you are not in a hurry: it is open-air and slower. The cable car if you have a stroller, a wheelchair, a pet, or are coming down after 16:30 on a weekday, when the lift has usually stopped.

What time is the last lift on Mt. Takao?

16:30 on weekdays from May to November and 16:00 from December to April. On weekends in the warmer months the operator extends it "depending on conditions". The cable car runs later: 17:45 on weekdays and 18:00 on weekends from September to November.

Is the Mt. Takao Ticket worth it?

From Shinjuku, yes: ¥1,450 for the train and the ride both ways against ¥1,840 bought separately, a saving of ¥390. Buy it at the Keio ticket machine before you travel; Takaosanguchi Station does not sell it.

Official sources (checked 2026-10-16)

• Cable car and lift fares, hours by month, payment methods, free rules for small children, group and disability discounts (Takao Tozan Electric Railway, Japanese)
• Cable car history and specifications: 1,000 m, 271 m climb, 31°18′, 135 people (Takao Tozan Electric Railway)
• Chair lift history and specifications: 872 m, 12 minutes, two-seater since 1971 (Takao Tozan Electric Railway)
• FAQ: pets, wheelchairs, lockers, IC and credit cards, group waits (Takao Tozan Electric Railway)
• IC cards at the gate from 1 November 2026 (Takao Tozan Electric Railway)
• Countdown to the cable car's 100th anniversary on 21 January 2027 (Takao Tozan Electric Railway)
• Walk from Takaosanguchi Station to Kiyotaki Station, about 5 minutes (Takao Tozan Electric Railway)
• Mt. Takao Ticket prices by station, revised 1 October 2025 (Keio, PDF)
• Mt. Takao Ticket: where it is sold, validity, Mt. TAKAO train (Keio, English)
• Mt. TAKAO reserved-seat train: times and seat fee (Keio, Japanese) Fares, timetables and rules change. Confirm with the operator before you go.

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