Japan – Susan Spann, Adventure, Mystery, and Mountains

Mt. Fuji, Take Two: Only a Fool

Susan Spann 1000 Summits, 1000 Summits Hikes, Hikes August 5, 2024August 2, 20241000 summits, climbing Mt fuji, Fujinomiya, Fujinomiya Trail, Fujisan, hiking, hyakumeizan, Japan

In May, I got a phone call from my friends Erica Berglund and (fellow author) Laura VanArendonk Baugh, who had a spur of the moment idea about climbing Mt. Fuji this year. I hadn’t officially planned to climb Mt. Fuji a second time. In fact, a Japanese proverb about the mountain says “every wise man climbs [Mt. Fuji], [but] only a fool climbs [Fuji] twice.” However, I’m always up for an adventure, so the three of us decided to risk the mercurial summer weather and head for the summit on July 15. We spent the night before the climb in

Ringing in the New Year With Tokyo’s “Knotted Jizo”

Susan Spann Blog, Holidays & Observances, Shrines and Temples January 29, 2024January 27, 2024bells, Buddhist temples, Japan, Japanese holidays, Japanese traditions, joya no kane, Nanzoin, New Year, New Year's Eve, Shibarare Jizo, temple bells

The New Year holidays are a particularly important time in Japan. We observe a three-day New Year celebration, which officially starts on January 1.

Preparation for the holidays often starts well in advance; we give the house a thorough, deep cleaning, to ensure everything starts the new year fresh and clean. For me, that starts about a week before December 31. When I finish cleaning, I hang the New Year decorations.

Food Friday: Vending Machines (with Beer)

Susan Spann Blog, Food December 1, 2023November 25, 2023beer, Japan, Kyoto, vending machines

It’s no secret that I love Japanese vending machines–or that they stock an unusually wide variety of foods, beverages, and other items.

CHAPTER 34: Return to Mount Kōya

Susan Spann 1000 Summits, 1000 Summits Hikes, Blog, CLIMB Photo Companion, Hikes September 4, 2023September 4, 2023100 Summits, 1000 summits, hiking, Japan, koya sanzan, Koyasan, Shinto, Yoryusan

The Nyonin-michi–literally, “women’s trail”–circumambulates the rim of Kōyasan’s mountaintop plateau. Before the Meiji Era, this was as close to the sacred holy sites as women were allowed to come.

CHAPTER 33: I Love Rishiri

Susan Spann 1000 Summits, 1000 Summits Hikes, Blog, CLIMB Photo Companion, Hikes August 14, 2023August 12, 2023100 Summits, 1000 summits, ferries, Hokkaido, Hokkaido Hiking, hyakumeizan, Japan, japan hiking, Mt. Rishiri, Rishiri

September 23-24, 2018 This photo supplement tracks the events in CLIMB: Leaving Safe and Finding Strength on 100 Summits in Japan. The captions offer “extra features” that didn’t make it into the book. On the morning of September 23, 2018, in the wake of a violent storm, I boarded a ferry from Wakkanai (Japan’s northernmost major port) to Rishiri Island, a three-hour trip that I hoped would end better for me than it had for the crew of Gilligan’s Island. The sun came up over the water as the ship steamed north; I watched the sunlight break through the lingering clouds and

Mountain Outtakes: Sharidake

Susan Spann Blog, Hikes July 26, 2023July 26, 2023inspiration, Japan, mountains, photography, Sharidake

I shot this image in 2018, on the descent from Sharidake (1,547m), a stratovolcano in Hokkaido’s Daisetsuzan National Park. It’s interesting to look back on it now, because at the time the section of trail in this photo (which is quite a bit steeper than it appears, but clearly not a difficult descent) felt really scary. At that point, I’d climbed fewer than 30 mountains, all of them in the five months leading up to this ascent. I still didn’t really know what I was doing–personally or on the trail. The key is, I did it anyway, and as a

TeamLab in Saitama: “Shmoos” Among the Trees

Susan Spann Art, Blog July 20, 2023July 20, 2023Japan, Japanese culture, shmoo, Teamlab, travel

Earlier this summer, my friend (and fellow author) Jonelle Patrick and I hopped a train to Saitama Prefecture, West of Tokyo, to visit “Resonating Life in the Acorn Forest,” the permanent TeamLab exhibition in Saitama’s Musashino Woods.

The Yamanashi Gem Museum: A Hidden Treasure Near Mt. Fuji

Susan Spann Blog, Travel & Tourism May 5, 2023April 30, 2023Gemstone Museum, Gemstones, Japan, Natural History, travel, Yamanashi

I found an unexpected “jewel” on the shore of Lake Yamanako: the Yamanashi Gem Museum…

What Does it Mean to Live Your Best Life?

Susan Spann Blog May 1, 2023April 29, 2023courage, following dreams, Japan, living your best life

I spent much of my life wishing I was somewhere, or someone, else. I felt trapped and suffocated, and unable to break free. Breaking free from that cage took courage–but it also took the willingness to accept that I’d built myself a life that felt like a cage, and the awareness to look around and figure out what tools I had that might set me free.

Visiting the Famous Snow Monsters of Mt. Zao

Susan Spann Blog, Travel & Tourism March 22, 2023March 22, 2023Japan, Juhyo, Mt. Zao, snow monsters, snow monsters of Mt. Zao, winter, Zao onsen

Last month, I rode the shinkansen three and a half hours north from Tokyo to Yamagata Prefecture, where I hopped a bus to Zao Onsen, a hot spring resort that’s home to one of the Nihon Hyakumeizan (100 Famous Mountains of Japan) and a winter wonderland famous for volcanic hot spring baths, excellent skiing, and a unique natural phenomenon called “snow monsters.”

← Previous