Tokyo, Mt. Fuji, home

 On Sunday, July 12, I caught the train from Toyama to Tokyo. My hotel was near Shinjuku station, since I would be taking the bus from there to Mt. Fuji. Arriving in the confusing, hectic Shinjuku station, after over a week in smaller towns, was a shock to say the least. 

I found the hotel and left my luggage there, since it was too early to check in. From there I took the subway to Ginza to get something for Celene. While I was there I went to an art supply store called Itoya and bought some high quality paper for ink painting.

Interestingly, perhaps because it was Sunday, several streets in Ginza in both directions were closed to traffic. It became a large, high-end pedestrian zone. 

I returned to the hotel and checked in, found something to eat, and walked around the Shinjuku area around bit.

On Monday I decided to explore more of the area around Shinjuku, if nothing else just to get my bearings. I read in a cafe, and found another art store called Sekaido. Art stores in Tokyo are amazing, 8 floors where each floor is the size of an entire store in Vancouver. I bought a special ink stick, and more paper since the right kind of paper for ink painting is hard to find in Vancouver.

I walked around some more, and it turns out Meiji Jingu is not far so I visited there again.

In the evening I met up with someone from one of my Japanese classes in Vancouver, who now works in Tokyo. We had tea and then went to Tokyo Metropolitan Building. There is an observation deck near the top with views of the city. And at night there is a light show with projections onto the side of the building which I thought was very cool.

Tuesday, July 14, I caught the bus to the Mt. Fuji 5th station. There are 9 stations in all, and the 5th station is at about 2300 m. The elevation of Mt. Fuji is 3700 m. During the bus ride there were views of Mt. Fuji.

I arrived at the 5th station about 12:00, had something to eat, and visited the shrine there.

I started hiking at about 1 pm. There were a lot of people on the trail. My destination for the day was the 7th station Tomoe-kan hut at 2740 m. The hike starts off with fairly straight-forward switch-backs on a wide trail. There was even a group of young school-kids coming down.

Then the trail gets very steep and rough so that it becomes a scramble. I arrived at the hut about 3pm, quite tired. 

I had a dinner of curry rice, and retired to my 'room'.

I actually just dozed on and off for the rest of the day, since I knew I'd be getting up early the next day. It turned out that everyone got up and left by about midnight, in order to be at the summit for sunrise at about 4:30 am. You can see the sunrise from anywhere on the trail, so I didn't plan to get up that early. However, I woke up about 1am anyway. I was the only one left in the hut besides the staff member, so I decided to get going.

It was dark and I was alone on the steep scrambly trail, but fortunately the trail was very well marked.

I was at the 8th station by sunrise.

And then the final push to the summit.

It was quite busy at the top. There is a shrine, and several little places selling food and trinkets.

I walked around at the top to see the crater.

The way down was on a different trail. It was like a gravel road with long switch-backs, but it was still very steep so you had to be very careful to avoid slipping. I got back to the 5th station by about noon, caught a 1pm bus back to Shinjuku, arriving about 3pm. 

Needless to say I was exhausted. I just arranged my baggage a bit and went to bed.

Thursday, July 16, was the day before my flight. I had no plans, and the day was very hot and humid. After doing some packing I walked to Shinjuku Park where I sat for a bit and started a sketch.

I found a craft beer place near the hotel called YYG Brewing. I sat there for a while, had something to eat and a couple of beers, and finished the sketch.

Friday, July 17 was the flight home. There was an airport bus that left from the hotel, and I bought a ticket for that. Got to the airport in good time, had a coffee and wrote in the blog.

I'd been in Japan almost 2 and a half months. I'd become  kind of comfortable with the language at a coversational level, and did many things I'd wanted to do for a long time.

Toyama, Mt. Tateyama

Thursday, July 9, I caught the train to Tomaya, on the Japan Sea coast and at the edge of the northern Japan Alps. The train mostly followed river valleys through the mountains. I had often seen people fishing in the rivers, and finally got a picture of it.

I arrived in the afternoon, left my luggage at the hotel, and walked around. There's a nice little park and a castle in the middle of town.

At the tourist information center near the castle, they recommended the observation tower at the city hall nearby. I walked over and took the elevator up to the 70m high tower. Not extremely high, but enough to give good views of the city and the mountains.

While not really on the tourist map, Toyama struck me as a very nice, livable city. There's proximity to the mountains and ocean, and there seems to be a lot of park space and several art museums.

I went back to the hotel after getting something to eat, went to a nearby department store to pick a few things, and then just read in the hotel bar before calling it a night.

One of the things that a lot of tourists come to Toyama for is the start of the Tateyama-Kurobe Alpine Route. This is a series of trains, cable cars, and busses that take you up into the mountains, particularly Mt Tateyama, over the Kurobe dam, and ending near Nagano. I think many people do the whole thing just for the views from the transportation, and have their luggage forwarded to their destination at the other end.

I was more interested in just getting up to the mountains and doing a bit of hiking. This meant getting the local train from Toyama to Tateyama station, the cable car to Bijodaira station, and the bus to Murodo near Mt Tateyama. I had read that you needed a reservation for the cable car, but I misread when you could make them. So when I reserved most spots were full and I could only get one for 12:40pm. After the hour long bus ride to the top, this didn't really leave any time for hiking, before the last bus going down left at 4pm. 

I had read it might be possible to change the time of the reservation on the same day, so on Friday I got up early and was at the ticket window before it opened at 7:30am. I was able to get a cable car reservation for 9:40am, and I caught the next train for Tateyama station.

However, about 2 stops before Tateyama the train stopped, and the driver announced that there was rockfall on the track ahead and the train couldn't go, and that they were sending busses. The train was full but everyone took it stride as we waited about one and a half hours for the busses. We reached Tateyama and formed a long line for the cable car. By the time I got on it was about 11:40am, just an hour before my original reservation. Makes you wonder...

The cable car went up about a 25 degree slope.

The bus ride from Bijodaira station to Murodo went through spectacular scenery. There was an old cedar forest, and a view of the longest falls in Japan, Shomyo falls.

It then reaches the incredible Alpine plateau of Murodo, surrounded by mountains.

I got off at Murodo station with the view of Mt. Tateyama.

I had a couple of hours, so I started hiking quickly to see how far I could get. I made to Ichinokochi pass at 2700m, just before the final climb to the top. 

Next I walked the trail to end of the plateau with a view of  volcanic gas.

I did all that and made it back in time to catch the 3pm bus. I didn't want to count on catching the last bus at 4pm because they were often full.

I took the bus and cable car back, and by then the rockfall must have been cleared since there was no problem with the train back to Toyama. I went to the hotel and crashed.

Saturday I was up early since I'd been to bed so early. I caught the tram to another place the tourist information centre recommended: Iwasehama beach. I walked along the beach for a while, where many people were fishing.

There is also an old town at Iwase, but it was early and everything was closed. I took the tram back into town, and to a museum about Japanese Ink Painting. Its in a beautiful building on spacious grounds.

Unfortunately there were no current exhibitions, and only the two small rooms with permanent exhibitions were open. They were mostly about modern style ink painting. There was also a tea room in the back where you were served matcha.

I walked across the river to the centre of town and found a little craft beer place called A Corner Shop. It is owned and run by one young woman who was very friendly, and there as a good selection of beers, so I stayed and chatted for a while. She recommended a bar for sake that was called Uzumaki.

Toyoma is known for its seafood, so next I went to a restaurant and bar area near the castle and found a sushi place. Indeed the sushi was very fresh.

I then went to Uzumaki. It was indeed a very specialized bar for sake, and there must have been a hundred different kinds. I sat at the bar and talked with the people next to me, who were also very knowledgeable about sake. For example, the sake is specified not just by the brewery but also where the rice comes from. And, even for a given brand, the flavour of the sake depends on the particular rice harvest.

It was pretty fun chatting with the people there. I had a couple of glasses of sake, staggered back to the hotel and did laundry.

Takayama, Kamikochi

 On Saturday, July 4, I took the bus from Magome-juku to Nakatsugawa, train to Nagoya, and train to Takayama. I arrived in the afternoon, checked in, and went to the onsen that was part of the hotel. 

After freshening up it was still before 5 pm and things were open, so I went to the bus terminal next to the station, and bought a 3-day pass for the bus line. It gave unlimited access to the line between Takayama and Shinhotaka Ropeway, and included tickets for the bus to Kamikochi and for the cablecar at Shinhotaka. The weather forecast was not great, mostly cloudy with more rain on Monday. I decided to go to Kamikochi the next day on Sunday, spend the rainy Monday in onsens, go to the cablecar on Tuesday, and spend Wednesday exploring Takayama city.

On Sunday I got up very early to catch an early bus to Kamikochi. This is a river valley in a mountainous area about an hour and a half from Takayama. It's a popular area, and the bus was full. There was a bus transfer at Hirayu onsen town, to get on the bus dedicated to Kamikochi. The mountainous area is part of a park and vehicle access is restricted.

When I got off the bus I felt like I'd been transported to Banff, the scenery was so spectacular.

Even the park buildings reminded me of Banff.

I walked along the river in both directions  which is what most visitors do. There is also access trails for climbing the surrounding mountains, and I saw many people with overnight backpacks.

After about an hour in one direction I reached Myojin pond. This is a perfectly reflecting pond, and the location of the rocks and small trees make it look like a zen garden. Very beautiful and peaceful. The whole pond is actually part of a shrine.

I then walked back to the center area and continued to Tashiro pond. This is mostly filled in now but it makes a very interesting appearance.

Like the Nakasendo trail, there are bells placed at regular intervals. The idea is that people would ring them as they walked by, to ward off bears. Actually I thought it looked and sounded like a dinner bell ...

I got back to the bus stop in the early afternoon, just as it was starting to rain.

Back in the city I walked around a little, and had a dinner of Takayama ramen. This ramen is different in that the broth is clear and dark coloured, with a vegetable and soy sauce base.

The next day, as forecast, it was pouring rain. I caught the same bus and got off at Hirayu onsen, and went to biggest onsen called Hirayu-mori. It had a beautiful outdoor baths surrounded by rocks and trees, and the water was milky blue coloured with a slight smell of sulphur.

I went to another onsen in a nearby hotel before catching the bus back to town.

On Tuesday I got up early again to catch the bus all the way to the Shinhotaka ropeway. There were two successive cablecars to take you to the top at about 2200 m altitude. The clouds covered the tops of the mountains but otherwise the views were great.

At the top there was a little walkway with viewpoints, and access to the mountaineering trails for which you needed a permit.

I went to another onsen at the base of the ropeway, then caught the bus back to town.

I arrived mid-afternoon, and the weather was ok, so I walked around Takayama. It is famous for an 'old town' district, which is very touristy.  I managed to get a picture without people.

The district is also known for its sake breweries. I found one that was still open, and I bought a ticket for sake tasting. You get a small cup and can try one of each kind of sake in the fridge.

I got through half of them.

During the tasting I met a nice Japanese couple and spent some time chatting with them, and we exchanged contact information on LINE. They have a 17 year old son who is learning English.

They next morning I met up with the couple and their son, Yuta, at the morning market. We walked along the market and then they took me to the Sakurayama Hachimangu Shrine. 

We then walked back to the center of town, and they had to leave to have breakfast and catch their train. A very nice family, and I was glad to have met them.

I spent the rest of the day exploring Takayama. I went the Jinya, or government administration building during the Tokugawa Shogunate. 

I then did the Higashiyama walk to several temples and shrines.

Koryuzan Sogen-ji temple

Tensho-ji temple

Zenno-ji temple

By then it was about 5 pm so I went to the old town for something to eat. 

Takayama is in an area called Hida, which used to be its own domain during the Tokugawa shogunate. I got the feeling there is still a strong sense of Hida identity. 

Something you see everywhere is Hida beef. It is a highly quality beef like Kobe beef, but is more fatty. Hida beef is not as well known as Kobe beef, which has successfully marketed itself as 'wagyu', but it is still very expensive.

Another thing you see everywhere is a good luck charm that originated here called Sarubobo, which roughly has the shape of a monkey.

On the way back to the hotel I passed Hida Kokubun-ji temple with an 1200 year old ginko tree.

After freshening up in the onsen at the hotel, I went to a nearby bar called Yu, where the owner makes all his own original cocktails. He's very friendly and the cocktail was amazing.

Nakasendo trail

 Wednesday, July 1, I took the shinkansen from Tokyo to Nagoya, the express train to the small city of Nakatsugawa, and then a bus further up into the mountains to the small town of Magome-juku. 

Magome-juku, along with Tsumago-juku, are two preserved post-towns along the Nakasendo trail. The original Nakasendo from the 1600's was a 400 km trail from Tokyo through the mountains to Kyoto. Now, most of the original trail is covered with roads, but there are sections, like the one between Magome-juku and Tsumago-juku, that make for a beautiful hike.

My guesthouse was right on the trail that ran through the center of the village.

The Nakasendo is a popular hike, and you can actually hike mostly on trails for a day before and a day after the part between the two post-towns. However for the couple of days I planned to stay here, I decided to hike just the popular 8 km section from Magome-juku to Tsumago-juku.

When I was planning this trip, I understood the rainy season to be in June. However I didn't do enough research and it turns out that in this part of Japan the rainy season starts later and lasts longer, so my hiking plans were right in the middle of it.

I woke up Thursday and it was pouring rain. However I had two days, and the forecast for Friday was better, so I decided to do the hike then. The owner of the guesthouse recommended an onsen that was a short bus ride away  so I went there in the morning.

The rain let up a little in the afternoon, so after returning from the onsen I walked down the Nakasendo in the other direction toward a town called Ochiai. At Ochiai there is about a kilometer long section of the trail in the original cobblestone, and it was a nice walk through the woods.

On the way there was a little side-trail to an old shrine.

The scenery below Magome-juku was also beautiful with the rice patties. 

The next day was perfect hiking weather: not raining but cloudy so it was cooler, with a few breaks of sun. The hike itself was a beautiful trail. About half way there was an old tea house with a friendly elderly man who served tea to visitors.

There were also a couple of cool waterfalls.

In Japan recently there has been a marked increase in bear sightings, with a few fatalities. Apparently the bears only come out very early in the morning and in the evening, so hiking on the trail with other people around felt pretty safe. Nevertheless, periodically along trail there were these bells to ring.

I arrived in Tsumago-juku about 11:30am. The main street still seemed like the 1600's. There were some restaurants and a lot of shops selling tourist souvenirs.

I went into a building that was a preserved house where feudal lords stayed.

I walked a little further up the Nakasendo to what was called the ruins of Tsumago castle, but was really just a hill with a nice view of the valley.

I caught the bus back to Magome-juku, where I met an American couple and a woman from Australia.

I spent the evening doing laundry and working on a sketch of the town.