With the oppressive heat and humidity of a Tokyo summer bearing down, I headed to Yugawara (90 minutes south of Tokyo) to hike Shiroyama (562 meters) – a mountain I hoped would help me choose my greater path.
Read moreCHAPTER 23: Tidal Shift
Japan
CHAPTER 22: Summit Dawn
While it’s possible to climb up and back from the summit of Mt. Fuji in a day (and given the altitude of the Fujinomiya trailhead, I actually made several longer one-day round-trip hikes during the 100 Summits year), we opted for the more typical “overnight hike” in order to try and catch the sunrise from Fuji’s summit.
Read moreCHAPTER 21: Mount Fuji
After years of waiting (and more than two dozen attempted viewings spoiled by clouds) this was my first full view of Mt. Fuji, from the window of my hotel in Fujinomiya, the morning we began the climb.
Read moreCHAPTER 17: All Roads Lead to Kyoto
Hieizan (Mt. Hiei) – July 2-3, 2018 This photo supplement tracks the events in Chapter 12 of CLIMB: Leaving Safe and Finding Strength on 100 Summits in Japan. The captions offer “extra features” that didn’t make it into the book. To break up the nearly 8-hour journey from Mt. Daisen in Tottori Prefecture to sacred Kōyasan in Wakayama, I made an overnight stop in the Kyoto area–but this time, I bypassed the ancient capital itself and headed into the mountains that ring Kyoto for an overnight stay (and climb) on Mt. Hiei. It only takes about 90 minutes to travel from Kyoto
Read moreCHAPTER 16: Daisen’s Giant Chipmunk
Mt. Daisen: July 1, 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. At the time of its completion in 2011, the Tokyo Skytree was the largest tower, and the second-largest man-made structure in the world. As of 2020, it remains in the top five, and is easily visible from many of Tokyo’s 23 wards, as well as the neighboring mountains. At night, and on holidays, the tower lights up in a variety of colors. I loved being able to
Read moreCHAPTER 15: Magic in the Mundane
As the end of June, and my first apartment move in Japan, approached, I made a two-day trip to Nagano Prefecture to climb Kirigamine (aka Kurumayama). The trip did not go as planned, in many ways–and yet this ended up among the most memorable climbs of my mountain year.
Read moreHiking The Lake Trail (Tokyo)
Last weekend, I hiked the first leg of a multi-year, segmented hike of the Kantō Fureai no Michi (sometimes translated “Kantō Friendship Trail”). The trail is 1,799km (1,118 miles) long, and passes through seven prefectures (Tokyo, Saitama, Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Chiba, and Kanagawa) as it circumnavigates the Kantō (Japan’s largest flatland plain).
Read moreCHAPTER 14: Too Many Bees
Odaigahara lies in southern Nara Prefecture–several hours south of Nara City (itself, an hour south of Kyoto)–in a mountainous region formerly known as Yamato. After two days of rain, I was glad to see the sun as the bus set out for the trailhead.
Read moreCHAPTER 12: At Least the Frog Was Happy
The rain should have told me climbing Mt. Ibuki was a bad idea. Unfortunately, my lack of mountain climbing experience (or even hiking experience) left me entirely unprepared for the events that followed.
Read moreCHAPTER 10: Cuckoos and Chains
The Nasu volcanic complex began erupting over 600,000 years ago; today, Mt. Chausu is the only major active peak in the Nasu range. The last major eruption occurred in 1963, and the peak remains on the Japanese government’s “watch list” for active volcanoes.
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