Takao-san

Invited by my friend Gigi from the japanese classes, I made my first ascent of Takao-san, a nice-sized mountain near Tokyo. And there was snow!

There is a big temple and a big shrine complex on the mountain, which were both very elaborate.

Besides the usual (beautifully!) carved dragon above the temple entrace, they also had bas-reliefs depicting various scenes with the different deities (here a turtle).

The mountain's special divinity is kind of half-man half bird, but is a good, protective deiety, despite the statues being rather frightening.

Our group of 9 met up outside the station, with all the other 20 groups meeting up outside the station. And then set off for the top, on the only path open for people without proper snow equipment.

It was a beautiful hike, through the snow and trees, with some wonderful views down onto the greater Tokyo. I was completely lost without my usual Sumitomo landmark, but was able to point out the Sky Tree in the distance to everyone, or at least everyone who had brought their glasses along.

We had a nice picknick lunch at the top, the youngest child having ever so much fun in the snow, and everyone else just enjoying the sun and the view.

Another person out to have fun was the middle-aged man who had carried a monstrous, carved conch shell in a macrame holder all the way up the mountain, and gave everyone little renditions at various look-out points along the path. He seemed to be quite a good conch-shell player, although I'll admit that is hardly a cultured opinion.

Then back down the mountain again, and into the pretty little town at the base of the mountain, famous for its fresh, handmade soba noodles.

Although the hike was not particularily long or difficult, not the day particularily cold, there is something fantastically satisfying in setting down with a big steaming bowl of noodles in front of you.