Image by Philip Belfer

Mitake Jinja Shrine

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Mitake first came on my shochu radar when I was working at Nihonbashi Takashimaya in the saké department. One large bottle (1800 ml) was sitting in the storeroom as a customer had special ordered it. It wasn’t a shochu that we normally carried. I asked one of my colleagues about it and she told me that it was a premium shochu. Premium is tricky in Japan. In this case, it is a popular shochu that is available in limited amounts, creating a premium price for it.

Fast forward about ten years later and you can imagine how thrilled I was to see Mitake being sold in our local department store saké department as part of a fukubukuro, the lucky grab bags that are sold on January 2nd at major department stores.

Can you see the beautiful imagery of Yakushima island on the label?

Mitake is made on Yakushima island, a UNESCO designated World Heritage Site for its rich flora and ancient sugi (Japanese cedar trees). Yakushima island is also famous for its delicious water, essential in making Mitake sweet potato shochu. In the shochu making process after it is distilled it is often diluted with water to lower the alcohol percentage. Some on Yakushima will tell you that the local water has umami, hence the Mitake shochu also has umami.

On the upper left corner there is a circle with what looks like three red E’s in it. This symbol is important as it recognizes that all of the sweet potatoes used in making Mitake shochu comes from sweet potatoes that were grown and harvested in Kagoshima prefecture. Apparently some shochu distillers are using imported sweet potatoes from overseas.

The red characters reading down is honkaku shochu 本格焼酎, or single distilled shochu. If you are drinking any shochu, it should be honkaku shochu. The other style, distilled several times, is better for making umeshu or other sweet shochu that is steeped with fruit like yuzu, lemons, or even coffee beans.

On the nose, Mitake has a sweet aroma, somewhat like sweet potatoes. It isn’t funky like some sweet potato shochu can be, but more on the mild side. On the palate it is slightly sweet, somewhat like steamed sweet potatoes. It’s slightly dry with a bit of umami on the palate. Overall a mild and easy drinking shochu. I liked it with hot water (oyu wari) but that is because it’s cold this time of year. It is also very nice on the rocks or as mizuwari (mixed with water).

If you ever come across a bottle of Mitake be sure to pick it up.

Mitake Shuzo started in Showa 33 (1958) and is currently a 2nd generation shochu distillery.

三岳 Mitake

芋焼酎 imo jochu (sweet potato shochu)

麹：米麹（白麹） shiro kome koji

原料：コガネセンガン base ingredient: koganesengan sweet potato

900 ml

25 degrees alcohol (Mitake also makes a shochu with the same label that is 35 degrees, so double check when purchasing)

Kagoshima-ken, Kumage-gun, Yakucho Awa 2625-19

鹿児島県熊毛郡屋久町安房2625番地19

TEL 0997-46-2026

You may like these other blog posts on shochu.

Currently stored on Mt Mitake shrine are 3 national treasures. There is an old saddle which is the only one in existence as there is not allowed to be another. This saddle may only be ridden on by the Emporer of Japan, and has not decorations in front because of this. The amazing thing about this saddle is that it is made of lacquer and circles of sea shells.

There is also a red armour that fighting solders use to wear. It is one of three famous national armours in existence, and the one stored in Mitake is said to be the best as it is an original. The other two armours found in Ehime prefecture and Hiroshima prefecture are reproductions, as the old ones were stolen or burnt and only parts of the original exist. The reason that Mitake’s armour hasn’t been stolen or burnt is because Mt Mitake is not known for fires, and because it is a mountain, thieves are less likely to come steal the armour. Due to this unique status, the armour has been seen as protected by the mountain god and as such, it is now the god’s armour. it is stored in a special house and it is not opened except for once a year where a single person is allowed to wear it for ceremonial purposes. The only other time this armour has left the shrine was when it was taken out during the Edo period by the Shogun at the time, but his order. When himself and the council saw the defects in the armour, they talked about repairing it, but the Shogun at the time refused as the old techniques that made the armour were not known, and he wanted to keep the originality of the armour. However, the armour was repaired during Meiji period, and the repaired parts (using advance techniques imported from Germany), are visible as they have not retained their colour, unlike the original armour pieces.

The second armour stored in Mitake is a purple armour which is a national treasure which was taken by the United States of America as they said the Japanese had too many national treasures. When the peace treaty was signed, the armour was taken to the United States of America to represent Japan, before it was returned.

The original reasons why these armours are stored at Mitake shrine is not known as it was so long ago. As the Armours are of such high quality and standard, there are many stories why, but the historical story is the Shogun at the time ordered the samurai which handed the armours over, to do so and dedicated it to the mountain.

After the lecture, we had two discussion groups where we talked about global warming and what we could do to prevent it. Our ideas went from realistic to the plain fantastic, but we all agreed it was a problem that can be solved, whether with today’s technology or tomorrows. After the discussion ended, the boys got together to play cards games till late, where we went to bed.

I had difficult getting to sleep as I guess I was use to my old bed. When I woke up in the middle of the night, I got a drink and then went back to bed.

In the morning I woke up early and took a nice hot bath, before I went back to sleep. When it was time for breakfast, Taijii woke me up and we went for breakfast, which was a traditional Japanese breakfast with fish. After eating it in protest, we went back to our room to pack, and then we went to the front door where we stored our bags, and then got ready for our walk around the mountain and shrine.

After we left the Temple hotel, we walked up to the shrine, where the national treasures were stored. There we got a tour of the shrine area, explaining that the house for the Shinto god was new, made in the Meiji period which is why it has the Meiji emporer’s seal on the door. Apparently, during this time, people wanted to separate Shinto and Buddism as religions, and the older shrine design was a combination of both (having curved roofs). The new design, had straight roofs and was more pure Shinto. The master of the shrine also showed the old shrine which had the traditional Shinto symbol seals on it, and the shrine for other gods, including a wolf good.

After that, we were shown into the house where the special artifacts were kept. There we saw the old saddle which looked better up close then in pictures, and the old armours, as well as some old swords, which looked amazing considering their age. The master explained how the swords were made by beating two different types of metals together, the harder being the bladed side, till they made the perfect sword shape. We also got to see the reported damage on the armours as well.

Once we had our fill of the historical sites, we left the shrine, and walked the mountain trails of Mitake. At a few sites we were given educations lectures, like the mountain ranges use to be known as the Kanto mountain ranges, but no longer are called so, and those mountain ranges are actually made from material from the sea when the Dinosaurs were running around. At another site we were shown a stone that when hit against another stone sparked. This stone was made of compressed fossils and because of that was extremely hard.

After a lot of hard walking and lectures, we ate our packaged lunches we had gotten from the hotel (which were Onigiri), and then continued walking till we got back to the Temple Hotel. There we picked up our bags, and took the long walk back to the cable cars, where we took a cable car back, and then walked to the bus stop, which bus took us to the Mitake train station.

There, Taijii and a few friends rode the train ultimately to Hachioji, taking a transfer on the way. Once there, we separated, Taijii and I went to a store to looked at the new mobile phone he wanted to get. After that, we took a bus back to Minami Osawa where we bought some food at the convenience store before we walked back to the dormitory. There we took a nice bath, Taijii did his laundry while I failed as there was no free machines, and I went back to my room to eat dinner, write this post and upload my pictures.

My plans for tonight are to chat with friends, play video games and then go to bed for a well deserved rest.

蒸し暑い天気のときに一番涼しいところは、冷たい川の中です。@a_small_lab と @jessmantell と御嶽に行きました。東京にあんな自然がまだあります。実がついたバナナを見て、驚きました。

In summer’s heat and humidity, the best place to be is in a cold river. Recently I met up with @a_small_lab and @jessmantell at the Tama river up in the foothills of western Tokyo. At Mitake, you can feel that you are in the mountains while being still in the city. It’s about an hour and a half by train from central Tokyo, and the water is cold!

I was very surprised to see bananas growing by the river. The fruit is now forming.

Power shower: Waterfall meditation is the new (old) big thing in Japan

The hike: From the top of the cable car, head left on the concrete path through an archway that says “御岳山へようこそ”. The route starts out quite flat before arriving at the small village, where it meanders a bit past a thatched-roof house and a youth hostel. Make sure you follow the signs that point towards 御岳山 and you should be ok. A little further on, the road will split in half, with an insanely steep slope branching off to the right. You’ll see a sign posted in English for “Rock Garden”, so kick-step your way up the muscle-burning road to the main gate of the temple. Along the way, you’ll pass by a couple of restaurants and souvenir shops. The udon noodles here are famous for their unique texture and green color, so consider having an early lunch if you’re in the mood. (I had no problems being served at 10:30 in the morning). Climb the stairs, go through the main gate of the shrine, and turn left, following the signs for 長尾平. At the time of writing, the path to the shrine was under construction, so you’ll be detoured to the right up an incredibly steep concrete road, where you’ll pop out just in front of the main shrine building. There’s a statue of a warrior on a white horse here, and that’s the landmark you want to search for. After a quick prayer, descend the staircase just to the right of the statue (if facing the statue that is), and you’ll see a toilet and concrete forest road, as well as a path signposted for 長尾平. The steep path was under repair during the autumn of 2011, but the short drop will connect with the main forest road/path after a couple of minutes. Turn right as soon as you hit this forest road and you’ll soon see a rest area on your left with some drink machines, picnic tables, and a shop selling snacks. If you walk down along this path for about 50 meters you’ll find some toilets and a nice view of Mt. Odake on your right and Tokyo on your left. Anyway, keep walking on the forest road and, for now, ignore the trail that branches off towards the left towards Rock Garden. A little further on you’ll find another trail junction, but instead of turning left, head on the upper path on your right towards Oku-no-in (奥ノ院). The trail will more than likely be deserted if you’re hiking during the week, as the majority of people stick to the gorge at Rock Garden. The cedar trees here are all mysteriously labeled with numbers, but the path is really easy to follow and the ground cover thin, exposing a vast network of tree roots. Keep clambering over the roots, past an exposed area with chains, and soon you’ll reach a trail junction marked 奥ノ院・鍋割山. You can either turn right here past the small shrine, or continue going straight and making a sharp right turn after about 5 meters. Whatever you do, don’t turn left and start descending steeply into the valley! The path is a bit difficult to pick up, so make sure you’re climbing instead of descending. A little past this tricky area you’ll reach another junction, with a trail on your left marked 大岳（巻道）. You can take either path here, as they both meet a little further on. The  巻道 is much easier, as it skirts the base of 鍋割山 before descending back to the main forest road you left earlier in the hike. When you reconnect with this road, turn right and start the steep climb towards the mountain hut. There are a few exposed areas with chains and the path becomes much rockier, so take care of your footing. Eventually you’ll reach a mountain hut on your left and a rustic shrine on your right. There’s a toilet here, and this is a good place for a break before the final push to the summit. Walk up to the shrine and take the path just to the left (marked 大岳山頂) which zigzags its way up to another really rocky area. Take extreme care in rainy or misty weather, as the boulders can become quite slippery. After a tough 10-minute scramble, you’ll pop out on the summit of Mt. Odake, where the conical shape of Mt. Fuji will float above the clouds on the horizon. Or not, depending on what kind of mood she’s in. I caught a glimpse of Japan’s highest peak just before she hid behind the cloud. From the summit, you can continue on the ridge down to Oku-tama, but be warned that it’s a long, 3-4 hour hike. A better option would be to head back to Mitake via the Rock Garden path. Retrace your steps back to where you came, and turn right at the junction marked 御岳・岩石園. The trail will descend to a scenic valley with a couple of spectacular waterfalls. At the first shelter you come to, follow the sign written in English to Ayahiro waterfall. It’s a short, quick drop to an awe-inspiring cove of eerie rock formations and tumbling water. This is a great place to while away a few hours contemplating life (if you haven’t come here on the weekend with half of Tokyo that is). Continue descending through the gorge, taking care on the numerous river crossings. About halfway down you’ll come across a rest area with a toilet. Several minutes past this, the route will climb up towards an immense rock formation called Tengu-Iwa, where you’ll find a junction. Drop the pack here, and prepare for the adrenaline rush. First, take the path marked for Nanayo waterfall. The no-nonsense trail plummets down the valley via a never-ending array of metal stairs. Descend carefully, and after a few minutes you’ll reach the first waterfall. This area is extremely slippery even with a good pair of hiking boots on, and if you’re not careful you could tumble over the waterfall. You’re actually in the middle of a tiered waterfall, but you’ll have a great view of the tumbling water if you make your way over to the right. The path continues down from here (not sure if you’ll get a full view of the falls, however, as I was running out of time and daylight). After a sufficient look, climb the stairs back up to the junction (and your waiting backpack). If you stare up at Tengu rock, you’ll see a metal chain dangling on the left-hand side of the rock. Grab ahold and pull yourself up to the top of the rock formation, where you’ll find 2 different statues of the mythical long-nosed goblin Tengu. If you’re acrophobic then please don’t attempt this ascent. After scaling the rock, return back to the junction and take the path marked for Mitake and the cable car. It’s a gentle climb back up to the main forest road, where you can retrace your steps back to Mitake shrine and the cable car. If you don’t want to shell out the money for the cable car, there’s a road on your right you can take just after you pass through the village. Be warned that it’s another 3km or so until you reach the bottom of the cable car. If you’ve got the time, then I recommend spending the night in the village. There’s plenty of accommodation and you’ll be able to enjoy the hike at a more leisurely pace.

When to go: This hike can be done year round, but you should bring a pair of light crampons in the winter months, as ice/snow tends to linger on the rock faces. Avoid the weekends if you don’t want to share the peak with half of Tokyo. Autumn is impressive with the fall foliage, but winter usually has the best visibility.

Access: From Shinjuku (新宿) station in Tokyo, take a rapid (快速) train on the Chuo line bound for Okutama (奥多摩) and get off at Mitake (御嶽) station. Direct trains are few and far between, so you’re better off taking a train to Tachikawa (立川) or Ome (青梅) and changing to an Okutama train from there. At Mitake station, change to a bus bound for Mitake Cable Car (ケーブル下). The bus is timed with the train arrival, but the bus stop is tricky to find. Go out the ticket gates, down the stairs to the main road, and turn left. You’ll see the bus stop on your left. Click here for the bus website (in Japanese). Get off the bus at the final stop, climb the steep paved road in front of you for about 5 minutes, and you’ll see the cable car station on your right. Taking the cable car saves about an hour of walking on a paved road through a rather uninteresting forest.

Level of difficulty: 3 out of 5 (elevation change 430m)

Distance: 10km (4 to 6 hours)

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Every place in Japan is famous for something.  For example, my town, Tako, is famous for rice (how can you be famous for rice you ask?  Yeah, I’m still figuring that one out).  Yakushima is most noticeably well-known for 1000+ year old giant cedar trees.  The most famous of these is Jomon Sugi (or Somon Jugi or whatever you called it, S), a tree that is put at between 2,400 years (scientific core sample) and 7000 years old (going by size, which I guess, means people’s guesses…but maybe they’re ‘experts’ guesses).

It’s definitely older than any other trees we came across because the bark has an entirely different look to it, as if the tree is somewhat human and its ‘skin’ has taken on all the wrinkles, creases and character of old age.

Our trip began out of Tokyo with D, T and myself meeting up on the Thursday night to catch the overnight bus down to Kyoto, where we would meet up with S, staying a couple of nights at his dubstep-hatin’ pigeon war-pad (the neighbours are on an anti-bass crusade and the pigeons are shitting all over his porch).  We also met up with M, who came down from Tokyo a couple of days later than the rest of us (by comfy and quick shinkansen no less… bitch).  On the Sunday evening we sailed out of Osaka on the Sunflower Satsuma ferry for Shibushi, a small port town at the very south east tip of Kyushu.  From there, we rode a shuttle bus the two and a half hours into Kagoshima, a city of about 600,000 where we were to catch the hydrofoil over to Yakushima.  As you can tell, it was a logistical exercise getting all this together and I have to give a huge shoutout to my office ladies (yes, they are MY office ladies, I’m usin’ the possessive pronoun, that’s right!) for all their help.  I now feel much more confident about making bookings over the internet in Japanese… and somewhat more comfortable about making reservations by phone!  Haha.

We had a great couple of days in Kyoto/Osaka.  Around 3 or 4 hours after arriving on an overnight bus on which we obtained very little sleep (approx. 1 hour for me) we were off to the Nagisa Music Festival, somewhere out in the docklands of Osaka city.  It was strange being in a city where I had no idea of where I was.  The festival was relatively small.  I’m guessing around 5000 people.  There were a half a dozen stages, including a couple of bigger ones.

Straight away we were grooving with the locals to some nice beats in the sun.  The highlights of the day for me came later on with DJ Krush playing a set that very quickly moved into drum n bass and continued solely in that direction. Mmm  The finale of the day was Hifana, a Japanese breaks/scratching kamikaze duo, who just rocked the place.  They looked a bit like this:

From there we carried on to the afterparty and en route met the first character of the trip.  His name was Shaun or Shane, not sure which.  He was very strange…  somewhat awkward.  And possibly a pedophile.  He wanted to smoke something synthetic with us.  He also told us that he’d had ’12 year olds givin’ him back on the train’.  We tried to lose him in the subway system but he was persistent.  We managed it when we came above ground again but then made the stupid decision of eating on the street from a ramen shop.  We were found again.  Some kind words from some of us and looking at the ground from others of us finally gave him the hint and he disappeared into the night.  Ah… Shane/Shaun… what are you doing now…?  Is some young girl rubbing up against you…?  I hope not…

The afterparty was in a club called Partita built into an old warehouse building.  There were a couple of rooms in the front building, another dj playing outside which led you on under an old steel framework into a little alley selling food, where four more tiny dj booths were set up and on to the last room of the place, the main stage.  It was a pretty impressive place, in size, layout and industrial-ness.  Quite the opposite of Ageha in Tokyo, the big ass club I’m most familiar with there.  Kinda dingy and low key, it had a cool vibe about it.  There was even a pile of rubble!  I managed to lift a new poster for my Japanese Hip-hop poster collection.

The poster features Japanese naaastieeest gangbanger, the infamous D.O.  Check that guy out – the tats, the slicked back hair, the teeth, the snarl, the glasses and the popped suit collar, this guy is GANGSTA!!  Getting caught woulda been worth it just for this fulla.  If you want a laugh, copy and paste this - マザファッカ - (the word underneath his name) into Google Translate and see what you get.  We cranked until the sun came up and then headed back to Kyoto and crashed for a few hours.

In the afternoon we arose and went for a little trip around Kyoto, checking out the Kiyomizu Temple.  This was a very cool place but very crowded and hence difficult to feel anything all that spiritual.  Kinda cooler was the walk up the hill to the temple and the 墓地 (bochi – cemetery) we passed through.

We wandered the streets a bit after that, had a beer by the riverside and then went to an izakaya for dinner.  We got ourselves home at the decent hour of 1am to prepare ourselves for our travels beginning the next day.

We left S’s place early, giving him and his lady a little bit of privacy and headed out to see some more of Kyoto’s famed sites.  Kyoto was Japan’s capital for over 1000 years and is pretty much THE place to go for a Japanese history buff (T, I’m looking at you).  Time was not really our friend and thus we got half way up the hill covered by the Inari Gates before we decided to come back down and move on to the Imperial Palace.  The Palace is open only on select days of the year so our view was pretty much of the impressive walls surrounding it only.  Serene garden to walk through though.

From here we headed into Osaka and met up with S and M (see what I did there!).  M informed us correctly that we were actually heading to the wrong terminal for the ferry we were to catch, the only hitch in my transportation organisation.  The ferry was a blast.  The ride was 15 hours overnight and we had booked the cheapest class – 10,930 yen (about $160 dollars) so I wasn’t sure what to expect.  Were we to just find space to sleep where we could?  We had sleeping bags and bed rolls with us…  As it turned out we were put in a large room with about 50 other people and provided a futon, pillow, sheets and a blanket.  It was perfect!

We brought some bentos on the boat with us for dinner and a couple of bottles of whiskey for the evening.  Vending machines provided us with beer when we felt like a change and cheap, greasy food for breakfast in the morning.  There was an onsen that we didn’t get around to using on the way down but we made sure we used it on the way back.  It was pretty amazing getting in there at 6.30 am as the day lightened and we re-approached Osaka, watching the ocean, the mountains in the background and planes running parallel to us coming in to Kansai International Aiport.  The onsen also provided the gayest moment of the trip (it’s a bunch of naked men, of course it did, you say), as D and S splashed each other with water from the cold tap.  It was a beautiful thing.

On the way back we also meet the other character of the trip – a very drunken young Japanese mother who, with child in tow, pretty much assaulted each of us in her attempts to take us to bed (or the toilets, boat deck, right there, I don’t know that she really had a plan…).  Each of us was hugged viciously as she recited the title lyrics to Elvis Presley’s I Want You, I Need You, I Love You; D was kissed on the neck, I was grabbed by the hips and bit on the back of the neck and S was fully laid out upon.  It was a morality test but it was ultimately concluded that to take advantage of this when her child was tugging on her sleeve saying ‘Mama, neru yo’ (‘Mum, its bed time’), among other things, was contemptible.

Arrival in Shibushi, Kyushu, the ferry’s birthing port, was followed by a two and a half hour bus ride to Kagoshima.  For some of us this was our first look at Kyushu and it was very nice indeed.  Largely rural and somewhat more tropical in vegetation than Chiba with tea plantations instead of rice paddies.  We made it to Kagoshima, did our food shopping for the couple of days hiking ahead, rode a tram to the hydrofoil port and shot our way across to the island.  OK, if you’ve been keeping track, you’ll know that the group has now travelled by: bus, train, Shinkansen (OK, M only, but I’m still counting it), subway, ferry, tram, hydrofoil and taxi.  Not bad.

It was as we were about to board the hydrofoil that the news came through about the death of Bin Laden, raising T’s usual patriotic fervour to a patriotic furore.  You couldn’t wipe the grin off his face.

Service on the island was incredible.  We were picked up at the small port in Anbo, the town we were staying in the first night, by the hostel folk.  They took us to a little place out of the town centre secluded in the bush; a house that had been converted into a hostel.  They also took us to a restaurant for dinner (this was a bit cartel-like in nature though) where we ate two types of とびうお (tobiuo – flying fish) amongst other things, snuck sips of the giant bottle of shochu we’d brought in with us, and simultaneously entertained/were entertained by two impertinent little girls dressed in pink.  They were very funny and very non-Japanese – cheeky and in your face.  Because I don’t take photos of little girls I can’t show them to you, but D took some shots before one little girl said (in Japanese, of course), ‘Stop taking photos of us and just play with us’.  Hilarious.  Actually, they’d have to be the third character of the trip.  We then caught up with a friend who happened to be on the island at the same time.  We sat next to the river running through Anbo at a funky little cafe/bar and supped away a bottle of Mitake.  Very civilised, even if I’m sure the conversation wasn’t.  Upon return to the hostel we met some lovely Japanese girls who T and I sat up until 2:30am chatting too, much to the annoyance of S particularly, who was pretty much a part of the conversation as he was trying to sleep on the couch where we were congregating.

The next morning saw us out the door before 9am to catch the bus up to ヤクスギランド (Yakusugiland) to the head of the hiking trail.  The weather was foreboding, with the sky a heavy grey and light rain falling on us.  We managed to catch the right bus, largely thanks to T, and started winding up into the mountains.  The ride was about 40 mins with a 20 min walk at the end to the start of the trail.  After a woman tried to sell us a portable toilet thing (I have read about these; because of the large numbers of trampers in the Japanese wilderness, they want you to defecate into a bag and carry it out with you!  Pretty shit, eh?! Hahaha), we got to it.  An hour or two in we came to a small rock outcropping and began to realise how little we were going to see in terms of views on this trip.  The precipitation hung heavy over the mountains, reducing visibility to the immediate area around you.  This was probably the biggest disappointment of the trip.  Our view from Mt Miyanoura, the highest point south of Honshu, was basically nothing.  This, our first deer sighting, will give you an idea.

These deer were so tame.  You could come within two or three metres of them and they would still go about their business.  Yakushima is famous for two animals – Yakushika – deer and Yakuzaru – monkeys, both of which we saw in abundance.  Once we arrived at the hut that night, I wandered in the dark down to the stream to get some water.  I was watching my footing carefully as it was very wet and there were logs and roots and a couple of little drops to negotiate.  Next thing I know a couple of deer eyes a metre or two in front of me are reflecting the piercing white light of my head torch. びっくりした！(lit.’I was surprised!’  I got a fright)

We arrived at the hut soaking wet.  We had heard from a Japanese guy earlier in the day that the hut wasn’t very busy.  He’s a damn liar.  It was definitely busy when we got there.  We managed to find space for four of us in the hut and I decided to be stoic and pitch my tent in spite of the pleas of my friends that there would be space somewhere.  There probably was, but it wasn’t going to be much space.  Thankfully the rain had abated at this point.  I found a spot that wasn’t too sodden and got my gears out.  My sleeping bag was fairly wet so I opened it up, hoping it would dry a bit before I crashed out for the night.  This was around 6pm.  D and I started to cook some dinner and got into the couple of bottles of wine we’d lugged up the hill.  I was getting cold cooking dinner so went back to the tent and changed into some dry clothes (I’d been smart enough to have a pack liner for my gears, not smart enough to wrap my sleeping bag in even a plastic bag in the bottom compartment of my pack), after which I felt a lot better.  The wine probably helped too.  It was about 9pm when we headed to bed and my sleeping bag was still wet so I laid out still fully dressed and went to sleep.  I woke up at some point feeling kinda cold.  Thankfully the sleeping bag had dried out a lot by this stage and I was able to throw it over me and actually got a fairly comfortable nights sleep.  Until the helicopter arrived.  It was about 6.30am.  There was construction going on around the camp and I just presumed that this chopper was here to drop off or pick up construction equipment so I stuck my head out for one tiny look and then tried to go back to sleep for a bit.  Turned out it was actually airlifting a lady out of the bush as she had hurt her leg.  I missed all the action but the others caught it.  D has some pictures posted here.

The weather held overnight and the day started quite nice on that front (pun intended).  We were about 50 minutes away from Jomon Sugi.  On a different front, because of the famous tree, the number of people on the track dramatically increased from here.  At points it felt like you were walking down the Omotesando (Tokyo’s Champs-Élyseés).  Not exactly my favourite hiking conditions.  I think I counted the number of cute girls we passed at 115.  The famed tree itself… well, not really too much to say.  I’ve already mentioned its wrinkly skin.  Another description – it kinda looked like the Blob – like it could go amorphous at any moment, collapse on itself and crush all of us standing on the platform built to protect it from us.

Far more impressive was Wilson’s Stump, in my opinion.  The remains of a tree logged at some time in the past, the circumference of this bad boy is a whopping 32 metres.  The inside is hollow and inside there is a small shrine.  You can wander around inside, looking up through the gaping hole at the canopy above you.

The visibility was slightly better that day but we didn’t have the majestic vantage points that we had been up on the day before.  There was a lot more roaring water this day too with several awe-inspiring bridge crossings.

The track eventually came to some old train lines which the hiking trail followed.  At some point along these we were meant to turn off to the north but somehow we missed the turnoff.  There is only one spot I remember where it could’ve happened and the signs here was very old and decrepit.  This I guess was the other disappointment of the trip.  It meant we missed the Shiratani Unsuikyo Ravine… should I Google Image search it now…  Curiosity will kill me if not… chotto matte kudasai… (hold on a minute)… phew, I didn’t find anything that filled me with too much regret, although most of these pics were taken on clear days including one with a beautiful blue sky and a great view down to the coastline… bastards…  Missing the turnoff meant we came out an hour or two earlier than expected at the Arakawa dam.  There were a lot of people round.  A couple of buses came 30 minutes later and took us on the return journey into Anbo (not where we wanted to go; two more buses later we made it back to Miyanoura on the island’s north coast).

Our hostel that night, it was as if they knew we were coming sopping and tired.  The washing machine and dryer was right next to our room.  We had a small kitchen area in our room.  D cooked up a pasta dish in the rice cooker using the leftover tuna we had amongst some other things from the supermarket.  ’Twas a glorious meal, accompanied by some beers and Yakushima’s finest, the Mitake shochu.

The following day was probably the best of the trip. We managed to rent a car, thanks to T’s international driver’s licence, he being the only person who remembered to bring it.  Thank God.  We started out from Miyanoura and headed west with the plan of circumnavigating the whole coast of the island.  The weather was much as the day before starting out but just as we reached the beautiful Inakahama Beach, the rain stopped, the clouds parted (well, no that’s a step too far) and the wind died down, and we were able to do a little subtropical skinnydipping.  Swimming in the ocean, along with the hiking was what I really wanted to do here.  It’s nearly summer, we’re half way to Okinawa on a beautiful island, we have to get in the ocean!  The previous couple of days had dampened my hopes so the fact that this came off made my day.  T wasn’t down for it, and M wasn’t felling too well so she stayed in the car, but D,S and myself stripped down and spent a glorious 30 mins or so in the water splashing around like a bunch of seals.  Various Japanese people wandered onto the beach.  T proceeded to tell them we were naked much to their delight, particularly two old ladies.  The young girls (we’re talking 20′s here I guess) that were with them apparently left the beach realising we weren’t going to get out until they did so and then proceeded to watch us from the carpark up the top of the beach.  Sneaky bitches…

We carried on from here towards Ohko no taki, the island’s most famous waterfall.  Along the way the road ducked through the forest where we encountered monkeys for the first time.  Lots of monkeys.  Apparently you’re not meant to look these bad boys in the eyes.  We had no probs but I did imagine what a monkey rampage might be like.  I reckon they would FUCK you up.

The waterfall was spectacular and very powerful.  There’s something about the neverending flow of water that I find incredibly beautiful, whether its a trickle or a torrent.  There was a rock outcrop you could climb above the splash pool which made for some great photos.  Getting down right by the pool’s edge the spray and the force of the wind was impressive.  Here we met a man who couldn’t quite be classified as a character but his teeth sure could, all three of those long ass mofo’s precariously hanging on to his lower gumline.  The wooden charms he was selling smelled wonderful and so we all snapped one up.

Continuing around the coast we got to the Hirauchi Kaichu Onsen, a small onsen charging only 100 yen to relax in their pools right beside the ocean.  The hostel worker in the morning had told us 11.30 – 2.00  were the times that the tide would permit us to use the pools today.  We showed up nearer 2.3o and things were definitely still all good!  Everyone was stoked.  We stripped down for the second time that day and joined the few old men enjoying the hot water in the pools.  M came and dipped her feet in with us but wasn’t game enough to strip it off with the boys.  She took some pictures though.  A Japanese couple then came along and the woman, who spoke good English, asked if we’d take a naked photo with her man.  Of course we would.

The rest of the day pasted in a restful haze as the onsen did its magic and the weather deteriorated on the east side of the island.  We searched briefly for something describe on the map as the ‘Pillow-shaped Lava Field’ but alas didn’t find it.  We took some backroads and came across a magnificient sunset.

That evening we cooked in the hostel again, eager to save a bit of coin.  We then had a couple of drinks at the izakaya down the road.  From there we climbed the steel staircase of a couple of silos probably eight or 10 stories up in the air for a beautiful view of the harbour and lights of Miyanoura.  Thankfully no one saw us and called the cops.

The next morning we began the return journey to Osaka.  10am – hydrofoil. 2.45pm – shuttle bus.  5.50pm – ferry.  8am the next day – arrive in Osaka.  We were all fairly exhausted by this stage, perhaps a little sick of each other but I think most of all, for us Tokyo boys, keen to see our respective Tokyo girls, so we looked into changing our bus to an earlier one but to no avail.  This meant 12 hours hanging out in Osaka trying to spend as little money as possible.  We achieved this quite admirably I feel.  A bit of breakfast in a small city park, after which we met some friendly foreign skaters; Tokyoites, doing a little filming tour of Nagoya and Osaka.  We hung out with them for a bit, catching sunrays and encouraging one guy trying to tailslide up a ramp edge and 360 flip out.  He came close but didn’t quite nail it before the piled into their van and continued on their way.

From there, we went on the hunt for a frisbee.  Coca-Cola blessed me with a free watch from one of their vending machines (as my watch is buggered, I’m wearing it right now).  Our frisbee hunt produced no fruit but we wandered through a loooong covered arcade which took us to a fun little video arcade and the coolest grocery store on the planet.  My sunnies broke at some point along the way but thankfully they clung to my face for the day with just one temple (this is the name opticians use for that side part of glasses – I had to Google search ‘what do you call the part of glasses that hangs over your ears’ to find that out – I found this website).

S departed from us at this point.  Our trip was nearing its end.  D, T and I hunted around for a spot for dinner after venturing into Namco Town, one of the craziest game centres I’ve yet been to in Japan.  We found an izakaya type place with small circular tables and tall stools, different to your usual izakaya setting.  Our simultaneous ’Doumo!’s to the waitresses got old pretty quickly I think so we took our leave and headed to the bus stop, arriving in plenty of time.  Along the way we discovered this place.

The bus back to Tokyo was a lot more comfy than the one to Osaka and I managed a good few hours sleep.  D and I got off in Shinjuku leaving T to ride the final few kilometres to Tokyo on his own.  D and I shared a train as far as Ikebukuro before parting ways without a word (he thought I was getting off too, turned out I wasn’t and there was no moving back through that crowded carriage).  I ended up at the wrong station which added 15 mins to my 15 min walk to M’s place.  I got there before she shot off to work though, surprising her in the shower (haha).  She introduced me to her Grandmother who lives downstairs and who chucked my washing in the machine for me.  After getting it back and hanging it I crashed into bed for a few hours.  Later on I did some Japanese study and fiddled around with a guitar I found in M’s wardrobe.  In the late afternoon I indulged my new favourite hobby and went for a walk through the small back streets of the neighbourhoods around M’s apartment (with the iPhone I never get lost!).  D gave me a call and helped me with the recipe for poached peaches.  Finally I arrived at the supermarket and bought some things for dinner.

M and I ate dinner and drank and talked into the small hours of the morning.  With two or three hours sleep I arose at 4.30am to jump the trains and buses I’d need to get back to Tako in time for work.  I didn’t get back in time for work.  I arrived 20 mins late.  No worries though, but still not something I’m going to make a habit of.

It’s a bit of a cliche but ‘epic’ really is the word that describes this trip.  Nearly 60 hours spent in transit on various modes of transport, more drinking than I’ve perhaps ever done (I never got shitfaced, I just mean the drinking was steadily continuous, if that makes sense), climbing another of Japan’s 100 Famous Mountains,  getting wet… a lot, getting naked… a lot, all nighters in Osaka, deer and monkeys and helicopters,  good friends, good times and a lot of laughs.  I can’t wait for the next long haul!

The other day a friend introduced me to a walking route along the Tama River.  The weather was fine but hot, as the long record-breaking heat of the summer still lingered on.  We caught a train bound for Ome at Kokubunji Station, and at Ome transferred to the Ome Line, a four-car train where you had to push a button to open the door if you wanted to get on or off.  Although it was Tuesday, the day after Respect for the Aged Day, there were plenty of fellow travellers heading in the same direction, including many recently-respected-aged folks, and at one end of our car a group of noisy college-age kids, who looked like they were skipping classes for a barbecue on the riverbank.

After fifteen minutes of passing through sleepy little stations where no one got on or off, we came to Sawai, our stop.  We were the only ones to get off.  At the back of the platform rose a steep, thickly wooded hill.  The sun-heated air smelt faintly of what turned out to be sake.  We crossed the tracks, exited the station, and kept going down the hill, following a steep winding slope past a sake brewery. We had come to a main drag of sorts, and a traffic light whose main purpose seemed to be to give us a chance to cross the street without being run over by passing vehicles.

A few yards to the left we came to a short flight of stairs that took us down toward the river, past the garden terrace of a restaurant closed on Tuesdays.  We could see people sitting at tables on the terrace anyway, so we walked in among the trees and found a table next to the river where we could eat our sandwiches before starting on our walk up the river to the next station, Mitake, from which we planned to catch a train back to town.  My companion, who had been there before, explained that when the restaurant was open, you could sign up inside for a tour of the sake brewery, reached through a tunnel under the road, followed by a sake-tasting opportunity back here in the garden terrace.  I was okay with skipping the sake tour, though, because the sun was still quite high over the yardarm, and we had an hour or so of hiking yet ahead of us.

The terrace was a delightful place.  The restrooms were open, and the vending machines well-stocked with water and soft drinks for the road.  No doubt because it was a weekday and the restaurant was closed, it was not at all crowded, and in our spot by the river and under the trees, the air turned cool and refreshing.  A cloud of dragonflies flitted above the swirling jade-green water of the river, their wings reflecting the sunlight.

Between the edge of the terrace and the river bed below it, we found two footpaths, each running in opposite directions.  The one to the left, according to a sign, followed the river bed back to Ikusabata, the station before Sawai, while the one to the right led to Mitake Station by a route somewhat above and overlooking the river.  We kept to our original plan and took the path to the right.

The path was paved in a haphazard kind of way; you had to keep your eye out for potholes and spots where the asphalt buckled up, as well as for the occasional footbridge over rivulets trickling down the hillside into the water below.  Not to mention wildlife:  At one point a small black snake slithered across our path, on its way down to the river for a swim perhaps.  On the left was always the river, which changed as we walked, sometimes flowing freely, sometimes forming rapids among large boulders in the river bed.  On its opposite bank rose the hillsides densely packed with cedar trees.

Although neither the path nor the river was crowded that day, we were not alone, and here and there as we walked along we caught sight of people fishing, kayaking or sitting among the rocks at the river’s edge chatting over tea.  When we passed an area of white water, a raft of helmeted young women came downstream in our direction, waved at us, and then made it through the rapids without capsizing.

Between the river and the edge of the paved path grasses, trees and flowers grew abundantly, drooping a little as if worn out from the effort of going to seed.  Large green banana plants loomed over the path, while the more lowly but more vivid higan-bana (literally “equinox flower” but called “cluster amaryllis” in English according to our translation staff) bloomed amid the overgrown grass.

Going around a bend in the river we came upon a rustic tea hut, a perfect setting as my companion pointed out for writing a Tree article while looking out over the river and enjoying the autumn foliage.

Perhaps I'll come back in a month or two when it is cooler and those maple leaves have turned red.

There was an odd sensation here of being in two places at once.  On the left was wilderness, the river and the grasses going to seed.  On the right side of the path, however, were the back yards of homes that lined the road running parallel to the river above us.  These homes were built on the sides of the hill and could be reached by long steep pathways or stone stairways.  As we passed by these narrow passageways, we could look up and catch a glimpse of the road above.

The view on the right side of the path was quite different from the view on the left.  Here were the back yards of the homes, overflowing with flowers and bushes and assorted garden decor and gardening tools.  At another bend in the path, about halfway between Sawai and Mitake, we came upon a conveniently located public restroom.

I bought some myoga (Japanese ginger) and dokudami tea leaves here at this wayside vegetable stand.  The leaves of the dokudami (translated in our office dictionary as “a foul-smelling perennial plant of the family Saururaceae”) make a mild-tasting herbal tea with detox properties.  Also on offer was some plum vinegar, but I passed on that.

A bit further on we found signs advertising a restaurant and a coffee shop.  We followed the signs up a steep stone staircase toward the street in search of coffee.  We passed through a patio-like area set out with chairs strung in brightly colored strings, as if a large spider had attempted to spin her web here.

This turned out to be part of the "Ome Art Jam."

Moving onward and upward, we came to a hut with its doors wide-open to the public.  A helpful young woman at the entrance explained that the restaurant at the top of the stairs served traditional Japanese fare, probably not coffee, so we abandoned our climb, and instead accepted her invitation to view the art on exhibit inside.  We removed our shoes at the entrance, ascended onto the tatami floor, and in our sock feet walked around admiring the several paintings in the room.  These too were part of “Ome Art Jam,” an exhibition sponsored by the Ome Art Museum at various locations in the Ome and Mitake area, featuring the work of local artists, and promoting the idea that the area with its abundant water and greenery is especially conducive to the production of art works.  [This exhibit lasts until October 11.  For more information, visit http://www.npo-enza.com (only in Japanese).]

We descended again to the footpath where immediately next door we found Twinkle Refreshment Parlor.  In front of an old gate signs advertised everything from beer and soba to coffee and shaved ice.  We passed through the navy blue noren and entered a compound of elderly buildings of faded beauty set in a garden full of artefacts:  large blue and white porcelain hibachi, gaudy guardian lion-dogs, statuary both European and Buddhist.  All the buildings appeared to be open for inspection, but we chose the pavilion just past the gate with its open windows overlooking the river, and ordered our coffee.

another type of hibachi

[Twinkle is open from March through November, 11 AM to 4 PM; closed on Wednesdays and in inclement weather.]

Continuing our walk, we eventually came to another public restroom, near a bridge spanning the river. The wide stone staircase beside it led back up to the road.  When we reached the top, huffing and puffing, we walked down the road to the left and found Mitake Station on our right.

Mitake Station ticket gates

For anyone looking for something more ambitious than this riverside stroll, you can take a bus from the station part-way up Mt. Mitake and hike up to the summit.  But for those who prefer a more leisurely route offering both the wonders of nature and cultural amenities like art exhibits, coffee houses and restrooms, the walk from Sawai to Mitake is highly recommended.

Most common in the Fall are armillaria mellea, the Honey Mushroom. Here is picture from Wikipedia:

These are easy to dry, have a good strong mushroom flavor but can be a tad on the tough side. I got several pickings of these and I now have some in the freezer.

I also was fortunate enough to find a lot of Grifola frondosa, aka, Mitake, aka, Hen of the Woods. These are one of the fine mushrooms that have been “domesticated” and the spawn sold in wooden plugs. Here is a picture from mushroomthejournal.com:

I found several of these (one is good, several is very lucky). My first was about 3 pounds and the second (discovered originally by my wife and dog on a walk) was about 5 pounds. On the oak where the second one was located there were three others of a similar size. We now have six bags in the freezer.

These will be great flavorings all through the winter.