Takao-san

Today my friend Emi and I went to Takao-san (Mount Takao, a 599 metre "mountain" in Hachioji, western Tokyo) to join an event called International Exchange in Nature. This was a tour led by volunteer Japanese guides who explained Takao-san's history and nature in English. Arranged by the Takao Visitor Center and English Adventure, the tour was free except for a 200 Yen insurance fee.

The tour started at Takaosan Station, where the cable car stops, near the summit of the mountain. I had been looking forward to climbing the mountain, but that would have required us to wake up a couple hours earlier. I'm not that much of a morning person, so I woke up at a sensible 5:30am and we took the cable car up the mountain.

The morning had been rainy, and although the rain stopped by the time the tour started, many participants didn't show up. So there were almost as many guides as there were tour members. I felt bad for the guides, who had obviously practiced a great deal and were eager to share their knowledge. The guides were all local people, including a couple of mountain rangers, ranging in age from college students to seniors. Their English abilities varied but all tried really hard and we were able to learn a lot. I've actually climbed Takao-san 2 or 3 times before, but didn't know much about the mountain, and it turns out it's a really interesting place.

The picture above shows the top of a beech tree, which is rare in this part of Japan, preferring a colder climate. Apparently it is leftover from the Little Ice Age, along with a handful of other beeches on the mountain. Another beech we passed was surrounded by dozens of tiny beech saplings, something the guides have never seen before. I guess this is going to be a good year for beech trees.

The paths were muddy and everything was still wet, meaning all sorts of creepy crawlies were out and about. We came upon this yellow leech-like creature feasting on a worm (I'm sure you wimpy scaredy-cats will appreciate how I kindly chose the small version of this picture). That white thing in the middle is the unfortunate worm, and the leech thing is swallowing it whole. The guides didn't know what this is called in English, and I forget the Japanese name. Anyone know what this is?

The mountain was shrouded in mist, which really enhanced the beauty of the forests. It also completely obscured the view, and instead of seeing Mount Fuji on one side and central Tokyo on the other, all we saw was an endless white fog.

Takao-san is a sacred mountain, dotted with small temples, shrines, and statues of various deities. The guardian of the mountain is Tengu, a red-faced ogre with a long pointy nose, whose image can be found all over Takao. Unfortunately I couldn't take any Tengu pictures, because a my camera's battery was extremely low. It seems a certain someone (hint: her name begins with A and ends in my) forgot both to recharge the battery and to bring the spare. So I ended up packing my camera away to preserve the battery, and then pretty much forgot about it. But if you're curious as to what Tengu looks like, click here.

The main temple on the mountain is Yakuoin, shown here. It is reached by a choice of two routes: a long sloping mountain path, and a steep set of stairs. These days people are free to choose whichever they like, but traditionally the stairs were for men only, and the path for women. One reason is that the fair sex, being weak and delicate, would have trouble with the stairs. Another is that the stairs are considered purifying. There are 108 steps, each of which represent one of the 108 worldly desires (Buddhists are much pickier than Christians, with their mere 7 deadly sins). By climbing all 108 steps, men can erase those desires and prepare themselves to visit the sacred temple. Women, presumably, are already pure.

Not me though, so I climbed the stairs. And when I finished I really did feel pure (pure is a synonym for exhausted, right?).

Near Yakunoin is a smaller temple surrounded by dozens of little statues of Buddha- 88, to be exact. This happens to be the same number of temples on the Shikoku Pilgrimage, which takes about 6 weeks to complete on foot. If that seems like too long a journey to make, you can make the rounds on Takao instead, stopping at each little Buddha to offer a coin and pray, as this man is doing. I didn't bother- I've already done a Shikoku Pilgrimage substitution at Katsuo-ji in Osaka, and I think once is enough. It makes me wonder though- if so many temples offer easy versions of the pilgrimage, why do people still bother with the real one?

After the tour we walked down the mountain, taking the 6th trail (I think). I recognized it as the trail I chose when my friend Krista and her friends came to Tokyo to visit a few years ago. At that time I was surprised at how hard it was, having remembered Takao as an easy, relaxing hike. After taking numerous brakes and totally exhausting myself, I had concluded that I was really out of shape.

That was probably true, but it turns out that trail #6 is the hardest trail, and today even the descent was tough in some parts. Not to mention slippery from the morning's rain. But we made it.

Having finished our descent, the remaining guides and tour members headed for an izakaya at Takao Station. I met back up with them for a quick drink later, but first Emi and I did some souvenir shopping and had a bite to eat at the foot of the mountain. Takao is famous for yamaimo (mountain yam), especially in the form of tororo-soba (buckwheat noodles topped with grated yamaimo). There are several restaurants serving this at the foot of the mountain, and we chose the place above, Takahashi-ya. Housed in a large traditional building, it had a nice, old-fashioned atmosphere.

This is what we both ordered- hot tororo soba. That's the yamaimo on the left, topped with a raw quail's egg and some unidentified seeds (or seaweed?). You pour the yamaimo, along with thinly sliced negi (green onions) on top of the noodles and slurp it up. The yamaimo cools the hot noodles and adds a wonderful slipperiness.

It was good, if a bit pricey (this is a tourist area, after all). As impressive as the food and atmosphere were the chopsticks- the tables were topped with the usual chopstick holders, but instead of waribashi (disposable wooden chopsticks) they were filled with regular reusable chopsticks. Doesn't seem like a big deal, but in Japan it's quite rare. The waitress says they've been using regular chopsticks since she can remember, so this isn't a recent reaction to the price hike on imported waribashi from China. She wasn't sure, but she thinks Takahashi-ya is the only restaurant in the area doing this, so I know where I'll be eating on my next visit. And I recommend the place to you, too. Takahashi-ya (also called Takahashi-ke) is easy to find, being a large building on the corner near the cable car station. Look for the red umbrella, as in this picture.

I also recommend the tour. I don't know when the next one is planned, but apparently it's a semi-regular thing, so keep your eyes on the  Takao Visitor Center's webpage for details.

Comments

[carlyn]

Amy;
Sounds like a wonderful outing...Beautiful! The soba would be my favorite part of the day, as yamaimo is one of my best loved foods.....yum....Glad you had a good time.

[tabehodai]

Hi,
what a wonderful day trip you had. Wonderful food that you tried too.
By the way, are you sending in an entry for this?
http://blog.jagaimo.com/archive/2006/05/20/2397.aspx
Please do!
Have a good week ahead.

[Lea]

A lurker here just wanting to thank you for your wonferful blog. And this post is a prime example of why its so fantastic. Thanks for giving those of us so far away a window into the incredibly different world you're living in! =)

[Kim]

I always look to your blog for food inspiration and your photographs are absolutely BEAUTIFUL. Thank you. :)

[Pamela]

Looks like you had a great trip! Love your photographs too!

[ken]

I think the name of that leech is "Hiru".

[Amy]

Thank you all for the kind comments.