This is Bukozan, the sacred mountain of Chichibu, a small town west of Tokyo. The town is surrounded by scenic hills and forests, attracting hordes of campers, hikers and day trippers from the capital, and one recent weekend Emi and I joined them. I'd been looking for an easy hike that would offer a bit of exercise but not kill my back, and the Kotohira trail (one of dozens in the area) seemed to promise just that.
As a special bonus, my train line heads directly to Chichibu, making it really convenient to get to (a bit less so for Emi, who lives downtown). Part of the way there we shared a train car with Charles Jenkins, the former American soldier who defected to North Korea and found himself stuck there for nearly four decades. He was with a young Japanese business-man type and they got off at Iruma station, which made us wonder what they were doing there: Jenkins lives on Sadoshima Island, Niigata (hometown of his wife, whom he met and married after she was kidnapped and brought to North Korea), which is quite a ways away. We decided that he must be missing American food and wanted to shop at the Costco in Iruma, perhaps the closest one to Niigata.
It turns out he was there to help promote the products of Sado Island (it's very common for celebrities to represent their hometowns or areas of residence in these types of promotions), but I still think our guess was a good one. I hope he had time to stop by Costco while he was there.
Starting at Seibu Chichibu station, the trail first passed through Hitsujiyama, a park famous for the
shiba-zakura (creeping phlox) that carpets its hills in pink every spring. In May it looks like
this, but in October the hills are bare and dull, but at least I found out where the name comes from: "hitsujiyama" literally means "sheep hill", and it turns out that there are in fact sheep there.
We actually got lost at first, as the beginning of the trail is not well marked. But after an hour's detour we came upon the sheep and we knew we were alright. From the park the trail headed through a grove full of susuki (pampas grass) that captured the morning sunlight far more prettily than this picture shows.
And then we entered the forest and my troubles began, as though my on-line research had indicated that this was a trail suitable for beginner hikers and had few inclines, it actually turned out to be a bit challenging. Without ever gaining a lot of altitude the path was not the smooth, straight one I'd imagined: most of the way was constantly up and down.
It wasn't exactly difficult, just not the gentle walk I'd imagined. Luckily I'm out of shape enough that the soreness of my thighs and my general exhaustion outweighed the pain in my lower back, and soon enough we came to a clearing with an inviting gazebo, so we stopped for a lunch break.
I chose sleeping in over packing a bento, so my lunch consisted of two yaki-onigiri (grilled rice balls) and a few dried umeboshi (pickled ume plums) bought at Seibu Chichbu station. The croquette is Emi's, and the clementines were kindly given to us by another group of hikers (Japanese people are at their friendliest when out in the mountains).
Soon after we came upon our first temple. Aside from general hiking trails, Chichibu boasts a pilgrimage route, on which devout Buddhists can visit thirty-four temples devoted to Kannon, Goddess of Mercy. This was a wing of Temple #26.
Temple #27 came soon after, approached from behind. It was only after exiting the temple that we noticed the statue of Kannon up in the mountains, where we'd just come from.
From there the trail splits in two, with one route heading to the main building of Temple #26 and then on to Kagemori station. We took the other route, which lasted a bit longer and ended at Urayamaguchi station, stopping at another temple and a cave on the way. Part of the route was along the side of a busy road, which wasn't fun, but the cave was worth it.
We paid 200 yen each to go through the cave, and although it mostly lacked the stalagmites and stalactites I was hoping for it was pretty cool. We had to wear helmets and leave our bags behind, and the route was so cramped and narrow we had to crawl at times. A lot more fun than I expected.
Once out of the cave we stopped by this converted farmhouse to rest. The place doubles as a restaurant and a rakuyaki pottery workshop, rakuyaki being a simple type of paint-it-yourself pottery that is quick-fired while you wait (not to be confused with the high-class raku ware that goes by the same name). It was getting too late to try the rakuyaki and we weren't hungry enough for the delicious looking soba they were serving so we opted for some soft-serve ice cream made with local milk.
I'm not sure if the machine was broken or this was just a special style of ice cream, but it was full of little ice chunks. It was tasty but the texture was a bit odd and we left disappointed. Anyone know if soft-serve ice cream is every supposed to be chunky? There was a nice looking cafe beside the farmhouse and I think we'll be stopping there for a snack next time.
This temple, #28, was right there but we were all templed out didn't bother to get any nearer to it than this. I hope the gods understand.
This flower reminded me of the Queen Anne's lace we have back home so I had to take a picture. I wonder if they're related?
From the temple it was a short walk through a quiet residential area to the station. One last stop was at Fudo Meisui, where natural spring water was available. We watched a few people fill up big jugs of water, including this guy who'd come all the way from Gunma (he had a few more big jugs in his car)--this must be some special water. There was a donation box for those who fill up jugs, but apparently hikers who just fill up a bottle or two needn't bother paying. The water was cold, delicious, and a little minerally, in a good way, and I wish I'd brought more bottles.
At the station we discovered there was a half hour wait for the next train to Seibu Chichibu so we hopped on a bus, from where I took this picture of Bukozan. It is far less impressive facing the afternoon light than it was with the sun behind it: you can see where the mountain has been removed to make cement. Cement-making is Chichibu's main industry, and if you ever wondered where Tokyo got all its concrete, well, you're looking at it.
Here are some before and after pictures, showing the mountain in 1960 and 1998. And to think it's considered a sacred mountain.
Back at Seibu Chichibu station we strolled through Nakamise Dori, a short covered street full of souvenir shops and food stalls, where we each had a quick bowl of soba. Chichibu, like nearly every other rural tourist area in Japan, is known for its soba, so we pretty much felt obliged. I had kitsune soba (hot buckwheat noodles topped with fried tofu) and it was actually pretty good, especially considering it cost me 400 yen.
It turned out to be a great hike with some very nice scenery, and although some of the trees were starting to show fall colours I'm sure it will be even more beautiful in about a month's time when the autumn leaves are at their peak. It would also be a great walk in the spring, and I'll do it next year for sure when the flowers are blooming in Hitsujiyama.
Chichibu is reached from Ikebukuro by the Red Arrow express train on the Seibu Ikebukuro line, the trip takes about 80 minutes and costs 1370 (reserved seats only). There is a tourist information centre near Seibu Chichibu station offering maps and information on hiking and sightseeing in the area, mostly in Japanese. For more information on the Kotohira trail, see
this link (in Japanese) or
this PDF file (in Japanese, Kotohira is trail #6).
JapanSoc it!
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