Tokyo Heart

Hiking the Nishizawa Gorge Trail in Yamanashi

Hiking the Nishizawa Gorge When most people think of Yamanashi the places that come to mind are the Southern Alps, the Fuji Five-Lakes area, Mt. Fuji, fruit farms, and wineries. However, one of the most popular day-hike trails within a couple of hours commute time from Tokyo is also located in Yamanashi. The Nishizawa Keikoku (Gorge) is one of the most beautiful valleys of the Chichibu-Tama-Kai National Park.
The round trip hike from the parking lot (or bus stop) is about 12 kilometers and takes about four hours depending on your own speed and the speed of the people in front of you. This is a popular hiking trail and gets quite busy on the weekends, especially during the autumn months when the foliage is changing to fall colors. The first half of the hike is mainly an upward climb, with a few flat areas, and takes you along a picturesque river and past several waterfalls. The hike to the top takes a bit over half the total time and you'll find yourself hiking along a dirt trail, rocks, manmade steps, and a couple of bridges across the river. Watch for signs along that way that point out some rocks that, when viewed from the right angle, suggest the shape of certain animals, such as "kaeru ishi" (frog rock). It's not a particularly arduous hike, but there are places where you'll be glad for the cables that are attached to the rocks as you use them to pull yourself up and over some of the rocks and steeper parts of the trail. If you take children along make sure they understand that the hike, like any hike, can be dangerous. You don't want them slipping on the rocks and sliding under the rope for what could be a long drop down to the cold river water. Also, it's a good idea to wear sturdy hiking shoes as some places along the trail are covered in loose gravel, or slippery from the water running off the valley's wooded walls. If you have hiking poles take them along; and a pair of those ever popular Japanese work gloves known as "gunte" (available in hardware stores or most any convenience mart) can save your hands from nicks or bruises as you clamber over rocks or use the cables and chains along the trail to keep you from falling.
Roughly 90 minutes from the trailhead (closer to two hours from the parking lot) you'll come to Nanatsugama-Godan-no-Taki, a beautiful five-tiered waterfall. It's possible to climb down and over the rocks to get closer to the waterfall for a picnic stop. There are other spots along the trail where it's possible to stop and have lunch or a snack break as you admire the scenery. However, most people continue to the top of the trail where there are a few rough hewn benches and a wooden platform where you can sit and have the picnic lunch you've brought along. There is also a toilet here and it's the only one since just before the trailhead. Be sure to bring along bottles of water, too, as there is no place to get water along the hike.
Keep going after the top of the trail and one you cross the river the road down is not much more than a walk through the forest along a well packed smooth path that is more of a road than it is a trail. Note the steel rails that are along parts of the path and in some places jutting out into space over steep drop offs. In days past these rails were used for flatcars to haul the cut timber down from the mountain. The flatcars were pulled up the mountain by horses and the loggers would load the trimmed logs on the cars for the ride down the mountain where the logs could be dumped into the river to be floated on down to the mills. As you walk down you'll see one of the flatcars with logs stacked on it depicting what they looked like long ago. Getting there: by car take the Chuo Expressway from Tokyo to the Katsunuma exit. Follow route 20 west to highway route 140. Go north to Nishizawa Keikoku (roughly 2.5 hours from Tokyo). By train take the JR Chuo Line to Yamanashi-shi Station (95 minutes by direct limited express train- about 4000 yen one way - from Shinjuku Station. From Yamanashi-shi Station, there are 3-5 bus round trips per day to the trailhead of the Nishizawa Gorge. The bus ride takes about one hour and costs 900 yen one way. If you decide to make it an overnight trip there are numerous Japanese inns along route 140 or within a hour's drive from Nishizawa Gorge. For an English language website of some hotels in the area see: http://www.japanican.com/ A map is available at: https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=%E8%A5%BF%E6%B2%A2%E6%B8%93%E8%B0%B7%E9%9B%BB%E8%A9%B1%E7%95%AA%E5%8F%B7&fb=1&gl=us&hq=%E8%A5%BF%E6%B2%A2%E6%B8%93%E8%B0%B7%E9%9B%BB%E8%A9%B1%E7%95%AA%E5%8F%B7&hnear=%E8%A5%BF%E6%B2%A2%E6%B8%93%E8%B0%B7%E9%9B%BB%E8%A9%B1%E7%95%AA%E5%8F%B7&cid=0,0,10334973919460279936&ei=jepXUav-Os6fiQfJu4H4Ag&sqi=2&ved=0CK0BEPwSMAA

Spring Hearts

In the USA, where I hail from, the sight of a red-red robin (comes bob-bob bobbin' along) heralds the start of spring.

Although Japan has robins - known as "komadori" - most people don't associate the sighting of one as the beginning of spring. In fact, most probably wouldn't know what a komadori looks like. (Photo below for those of us who don't.)

                    Komadori

For the Japanese, and most foreigners who have been here any length of time, spring starts in Japan when the sakura (cherry) trees start to blossom. Actually, the plum trees bloom 2 to 4 weeks before the sakura, but to me those are the pre-spring blossoms. Lovely pink and white plum flowers to get our thoughts turning to spring.

         Japanese Plum Blossom

At our Toastmasters meeting this week, when asked what brings spring to mind for them, most all the participants, Japanese and non-Japanese alike said it's when the sakura trees bloom. Now that the flowers are opening up we can expect to see hordes of people in almost any location where there is a sakura tree or three. People will be clustered under the trees, sitting on blue ground tarps, enjoying snacks, sake, wine, beer, or any other of their favorite liquid refreshments for an afternoon or evening of "hanami" - viewing the flowers. Of course, there will be a little flower viewing done, but by the time the evening is over most of the viewing will be at ground level since sake heavy heads are pretty hard to lift up to where the actual flowers are. 

           Hanami along the river

So, if you're one of the hanami party goers - enjoy - and kampai!

Day Trekking at Mt. Takao

At 599 meters, or just under 2,000 feet, Mount Takao - Takaozan in Japanese - isn't an especially high mountain. However, with over half a dozen trails leading to the top, in addition to a cable car and chair lift that goes about halfway to the summit, Takaozan offers a great place for a day outing.

                    Step Up! Inariyama Trail

If you enjoy trekking you'll enjoy Takaozan. We've hiked a few of the trails and today we decided to tackle the Inariyama Trail. This trail, which takes about 90 minutes to the top, starts just past the left side of the cable car station. Look for the brown colored trail on the big map in front of the station. If you take this trail be prepared to climb lots of steps. Not concrete steps, but steps cut into the dirt trail with logs to keep the dirt in place. The trail is mostly an incline, but there are a couple of places where it flattens out and a couple where it goes downhill. Don't let this fool you - that just means there is another uphill climb from those spots. We do recommend that you wear trekking shoes or at least some very sturdy shoes with soles that grip the dirt.

When you come to a flat area with a few benches you'll see stone steps leading up to the visitor center. Take these steps if you want to go up there at this stage. We opted to continue on around the left side of the summit. About a quarter of the way around you'll see a trail heading off to the right and steps just to the right of that. These steps also go up to the visitor center. To the left you'll see three more trails (don't count the one going up the steps to the soba restaurant). These three paths converge just before an area called Icchodaira. We opted for the center path. Wow! Steps, steps, steps, and more steps! Going up is tough enough, but coming down will give your thigh muscles a good workout.

At the convergence of the trails we walked on ahead, up more steps (of course) to the flat area of Ichhodaira where there are a few open shelters if you want to take a break. It's possible to continue hiking and either go to Lake Sagami or do a long loop around to return the base of the visitor center summit. Since that loop takes almost four hours we decided to turn around and go back down those steps to the convergence point. From there we took the left trail, which is an upward hike, but not particularly arduous. We elected to then climb up to the visitor center for a bowl of noodles and some hot oden for lunch. This is a busy area and on a clear day, if you're there in the late afternoon, you may see several people with their cameras set up just waiting for the sun to go behind Mount Fuji. This produces the phenomenon known as Diamond Fuji when the sun's rays shine out like diamond rays from behind the mountain. Unfortunately, today was too hazy, and the wind was even gusting up some dust clouds, to even see Mt. Fuji.

We opted to hike down Trail 1 for the return trip. Although it's a pretty boring trail (concrete all the way), it does lead to a couple of interesting areas on the way down. At the first small Jinja (Shrine) take time to walk through the stone circle after making a wish. Ring the metal rings hanging on a pole on the back side of the stone circle as you offer a prayer for your wish to come true.

                       The Wishing Circle

Keep going down till you come to Yaku-ou-in Shrine. Have a look at the shrine's old buildings before making your way down through the Tori Gate and down the steps where you should turn left to keep going back down to the base. As noted, it's a concrete trail and it's a bit steep downhill walk all the way down.

               Old Carvings at Yaku-ou-in Shrine

Once you reach the base stop by any of the shops for a soft cream snack or try some of the freshly made sembei crackers sold at several of the shops.Getting to Takao is an easy. Just take the Keio train from Shinjuku and get off at Takaosanguchi Station. It takes less than an hour and the train fare is just 370 yen. Or, you can drive out the Chuo Expressway, connect to the new section of the Ken-o Expressway, and take the Takaosan exit. Turn left at the light and you'll come to the entrance about 3 kilometers down the road (be sure to take the left fork very soon after you turn left from the expressway). If the first parking lot (just past the bridge) is full drive up the hill about 20 meters to the next "P" sign. Parking is 1,000 yen for the day.

Plum Blossoms and an Easy Hike

Japan is well known for its cherry blossoms, but did you know that the plum blossoms bloom a month or more earlier than the cherry trees? And, the plum blossoms, in shades of white and pink, can be just as beautiful to see.

There are many plum gardens, known as bai-en, around Japan including a few in or near Tokyo. However, if you want to get out of Tokyo for a nicely blended easy hike and plum blossom viewing, head to Yugawara to see the Makuyama Bai-en Koen (Mount Maku Plum Garden Park). The trees usually start blooming in late February or early March. By mid-March most of the 4,000 trees in the park will be in full bloom and it's pretty much over by the end of the month. Entry to the park is 200 yen.

At 626 meters Makuyama is a fairly easy climb, even for the kids. However, be sure to wear sturdy shoes as there are a lot of steps and loose gravel as you climb through the plum orchard. A map for the hike is available at the park office. Watch for the rock climbers as you make your way up the steps to the upper level of the orchard. There are usually a few people there doing their best to scale several sheer cliffs.

Plan to get there early enough to have time to view the plum blossoms and take a few photos before you leave the orchard and head up the mountain. Of course, by the time you leave the plum tree orchard you'll already be a good part of the way up. Make sure to follow the map once you get to the top or you may wind up a pretty fair distance from the park. The map route will bring you around the back of the mountain and down to the road that follows the river back to the park. Pack a picnic lunch to enjoy as you take in the view from the top of the mountain.

Back at the bottom walk along the road, or in places you can walk beside the river, to the park. If you're there during the main plum blossom viewing season you'll find plenty of small stalls selling drinks and food in the open field by the park office. Or, take advantage of one of the picnic tables they have set up to enjoy the lunch you've packed along, if you didn't eat it on top of the mountain.

The park closes at 4:00 P.M. and the last bus for Yugawara Station leaves around 4:30. Taxis are also available and the taxi ride to the station should be around 1,200 - 1,500 yen.

If you're not ready to head back to Tokyo, or wherever you started from, Yugawara offers a large number of onsen (hot springs) hotels and inns. You can spend a night or two or just pop in to one of the "higairi" (day use) onsens for a few hundred yen for a relaxing soak in the hot spring water before catching your train. The main street in front of Yugawara Station is lined with numerous shops selling local foods and souvenirs.