Japan – Susan Spann, Mystery Author

Fujisan Decides

Susan Spann 100 Summits, Blog October 21, 2018October 21, 2018100 Summits, climbing, Fuji, Japan, mountains, Mt. Fuji 0 Comment

Anyone who climbs mountains regularly knows that the climber gets to plan, and to attempt, but the mountain has a say–if not a deciding voice–in whether or not you stand upon its peak. In some cases, that also goes for whether or not you even see the summit.

The Great Toilet Parade Mystery of 2018

Susan Spann Blog October 3, 2018October 2, 2018Japan, linguistics, servicemen, toilet, Tokyo

My Japanese skills are improving rapidly since my move to Japan, and I’ve achieved a state of relative (dis)comfort with basic functions like travel, shopping, restaurants, and paying basic bills. In other areas, I can often “keyword spot” and intuit the portions of a conversation I don’t know, to at least achieve an acceptable result. However, it doesn’t take much to remind me that, in the immortal words of Robert Frost, I have “miles to go before I sleep” in terms of linguistic fluency. Case in point: this afternoon’s Great Toilet Parade. (Read to the end to understand the photo…)

Mt. Tomuraushi – and Pikachu!

Susan Spann 100 Summits, Blog October 1, 2018September 30, 2018100 Summits, hiking, hyakumeizan, Japan, mountains, pika, pikachu, Tomuraushi

My third and longest climb in Hokkaido was the first on my 100 Summits quest that I almost failed to complete. But it wasn’t pain or exhaustion that almost cost me the summit. On Tomuraushi, as always, time proved my worst enemy. My guide Takuto and I began our hike at 7:40 am at the trailhead near Tomuraushi Onsen, where we’d spent the night. If you read the sign, you’ll notice the peak lies 9.2km from the trailhead – and they’re not an easy nine kilometers, either. The hike begins with a lovely walk through pristine forest. It has some

On the Road – and at the Races!

Susan Spann 100 Summits, Blog September 17, 2018September 17, 2018100 Summits, hiking, Hokkaido, horse, horse racing, Japan

I’m sorry the blog has been more silent than usual lately – that’s changing, starting now. I’ve been quiet mostly because I’ve been climbing, and I have a ton of exciting moments to share! The #100Summits journey has taken me halfway across Japan, 1,100 kilometers north of Tokyo, to the northernmost major island, Hokkaido.

To Hokkaido . . . In The Wake of the Quake

Susan Spann 100 Summits, Blog September 9, 2018#100Summits, 100 Summits, climbing, Hokkaido, Japan, mountains, Yotei

I started planning the 100 Summits Project a year ago, and even then I knew the most difficult region of Japan in which to climb would be Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost major island. Most of Hokkaido lies beyond the northernmost terminus of the Shinkansen (bullet train) which ends its run at Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto terminal, 1,099 kilometers from Tokyo but only at the southernmost end of Hokkaido itself. From there, it’s almost a full day’s ride by express train to the northern end of the island – and the hyakumeizan peaks are scattered across Hokkaido like a handful of dice flung down by an angry

The Headless Buddhas of Koboyama

Susan Spann Blog August 24, 2018Buddha, Buddhism, history, Japan, koboyama

While hiking Koboyama, I passed many shrines and temple buildings, indicators of the mountain’s history and holy status. However, the most poignant of these was not identified with a roadside sign, or even set at a noticeable place along the path. About twenty minutes past the summit of Koboyama, I came across a row of carved stone buddhas by the side of the trail. Each had been decapitated–and someone had replaced their heads with stones.

Hiking Kōbōyama (Part 2)

Susan Spann Uncategorized August 22, 2018August 19, 2018#100Summits, 100 Summits, Buddhism, hiking, Japan, Kobo Daishi, koboyama, Shingon

Last week’s high-temperature, high-humidity hike in Kanagawa Prefecture took me to the summits of three more peaks: Sangenyama, Gongenyama, and Kōbōyama. (For the story and photos from the first two peaks, click here.) The trail from Gongenyama’s summit down the ridge toward Kōbōyama starts off a highly civilized set of stairs with trees on either side. At the foot of the stairs, a short section of trail leads to a parking lot where people who prefer to drive to the summit, rather than hiking, can leave their vehicles for the 15-minute stair-walk to Gongenyama.

Hiking Sangenyama, Gongenyama and Kōbōyama (Part 1)

Susan Spann 100 Summits, Blog August 20, 2018August 19, 2018#100Summits, 100 Summits, climbing, gongenyama, hiking, Japan, koboyama, mountains, sangenyama

Last week I braved the 90-degree temperatures in Kanagawa Prefecture (south of Tokyo) to continue my 100 Summits journey with a “station to station” hike that included a traverse of three different mountains: Sangenyama, Gongenyama, and Kōbōyama. Since these three peaks are separate mountains, rather than a single “compound peak,” they count as three toward my 100 Summits Project goal and bring the current total to 22. (The August heat has slowed me down, largely for safety reasons but also because I’m working on finding a long-term rental apartment, which is challenging in Japan when you have a cat! But I

Taking a Cat to Japan, Part 2: Customs and Cat-ligraphy

Susan Spann Blog August 13, 2018August 9, 2018animal import, cats, Japan, taking cats to Japan, Tokyo, travel, traveling with cats

Oobie isn’t good in carriers, so I worried about her reaction to the nearly 24-hour journey from Los Angeles to our first short-term apartment in Tokyo. To my relief, she handled it like a champ.

Taking a Cat to Japan – Part 1

Susan Spann Blog August 9, 2018cats, international, Japan, move with pets, Oobie, pets, travel

Our decision to spend a year in Japan for the #100Summits Project depended, in part, on our ability to take our cat, Oobie, along on the journey. My husband and I believe that “pets are for life” and we wouldn’t have dreamed of leaving her behind. However, since Japan is a rabies-free country, entry requirements for pets are strict (see also: “draconian” – but with good reason) and it took us almost a year to ensure that Oobie could enter without undergoing extended quarantine.

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