Best of - part 1: Japanese Nature

Work has been keeping me pretty occupied recently so I have not been able to get anywhere for the blog so I decided to do the first in a "Best of" series.  I will add to this series from time to time with a different theme or an update to an existing theme.  The first in the "best of" series will be about Japanese nature.

When I first came to Japan, 16 years ago, I had the impression that Japan was a concrete jungle.  All skyscrapers and neon, shiny, plastic and new.  Maybe most people who come to Japan are under the same impression and there is a lot of that.  But scratch beneath the surface and there is a whole lot more waiting to be found.  Get away from the cities and you will be surprised.  There is a whole lot of beautiful nature here and living in these big cities makes the Japanese appreciate all of the beautiful nature around them.  They cherish it and protect it, wanting to maintain and preserve it for generations to come.  Following are just a few photos I have taken to highlight some of the naturally beautiful places that I have been to.  Let's start with Japan's 2 favourite seasons.

Spring time means only one thing in Japan.  Cherry blossom time!  Time to get out and enjoy the flower that has come to symbolise the country more than any other.  One of the best things about Cherry blossom time is that you don't have to get out of the city to see it!  The following couple of photos were taken in Yanaka cemetery, in the middle of Tokyo.

This next one was taken near the Imperial Palace in central Tokyo.

Cherry blossom season is also party time.  Troops of office workers march out of offices and into nearby parks setting down picnic mats and eating and drinking to their hearts content, enjoying the beautiful cherry blossoms.  Now in a city as big as Tokyo, that means a lot of people as this photo from Yoyogi Park shows.

But the crowds are never an issue as everyone is simply out enjoying the season just like the folk on the picnic mat next to them.  It is a fun, festive atmosphere.

You can find some full blog posts about cherry blossom season here, here and here.

The other season that is celebrated is autumn.  With autumn comes autumn leaves as everywhere in Japan is turned into a sea of reds, oranges and yellows!  This first photo is at the foot of Mount Takao, within the limits of Tokyo.

You can read more about Mount Takao here.

The next 2 were taken at Nikko a beautiful town less than 2 hours by train from Ueno in the north of Tokyo.  Nikko is home to an area of temples and Shrines that is World heritage listed.

To check out more about Nikko, check out some past blog posts here, here and here.

Last year in July I escaped Tokyo and headed deep into Nagano.  Nagano is an area of Japan that I love and that is rich in natural beauty.  Here are a couple of photos taken from that trip.  This first one is a river running through a beautiful, old, small town called Tsumago.  The day we visited was the day after a typhoon had passed through and there had been a little rain that had fallen.....

Just a little.....

Nearby Tsumago is the quaint old town of Magome and on the outskirts of Magome I was greeted with this view.

Stunning!  This trip was made in July, just after rainy season, so the greens were so deep and vivid!  You can read some more about and enjoy some more pictures of these 2 stunning towns here. 

A little further north into Nagano is Togakushi, in the mountains outside of Nagano city.  I went here on the same trip as Tsumago and Magome.  These next couple of photos are of some huge old cedar trees in the area.

Not too far away from this area was a beautiful lake called Kagami ike, or mirror lake.

I am told that early on a still morning, the view here is spectacular!  Unfortunately, I am not such a morning person......  Anyway, you can read some more about Togakushi here.

Now, not all of this stunning nature is found outside of Tokyo.  The big city has it's fair share of hidden gems too.  One such place is Todoroki valley, a hidden oasis of green in the sleepy suburbs of Setagaya.

On a hot summers day, a visit to Todoroki Valley is just the cure!  Check more out about Todoroki Valley here.

Just a couple of months ago I had the pleasure of visiting Ise in Mie prefucture.  Ise is home to one of the most important Shinto shrines in Japan.  It also has a stunning river running through the town.

Please feel free to read more about Ise and it's beautiful shrine here, here, and here.

The final photos I would like to share with you come from an area just outside the beautiful old city of Kyoto.  The area is called Arashiyama and is famous for its natural beauty, especially in autumn when the area becomes a patchwork of vivid autumn colours.  It is, however, a beautiful place to visit any time of year.  One of the other things Arashiyama is famous for is its bamboo walkway.

I was lucky enough to visit the area a day after a typhoon had stormed through the area (I swear I don't plan these things!) so it was not at all busy.  Continuing on past the end of the bamboo walkway I found this little hidden gem.

This place was simply stunning and nearby was a temple or shrine as I could hear the bell sounding every 30 seconds or so.  I sat here for a good 5 minutes just taking in as much of the tranquillity as I could.  What a find this place was!

Also in the Arashiyama area is a river called Katsura river.  I reached the other side of the river at around dusk and it proved for some wonderful photos.  Here are just a couple of them.

I did manage to get another photo while I was here and this is one of the most beautiful photos I have taken, although, quite a different kind of beautiful!

If you would like to read more about Arashiyama and Kyoto, you can find their blog posts here and here.

Well, I think that will do it for this post.  I hope you enjoyed that photographic tour.  As I said at the start of the post, there will be more posts with the "Best of" theme so please keep an eye out for them.  Thanks again for reading.  Please leave a comment and share the blog with someone you know who will enjoy it.

Se you next time!

Mountain hiking in Tokyo - Mount Takao

Located less than an hour away from central Tokyo lies Mount Takao.  Standing only 599 metres high, it is a popular weekend destination for hikers of all ability levels.  There are 8 hiking trails located around the mountain covering a total of about 30 km.

Right now is Golden Week in Japan.  It is one of the few set holiday periods when people are able to take vacation time.  What that means is that everywhere is crowded and busy!  I chose the one work day during the Golden Week period to make my way out to Mount Takao hoping that it would not be too crowded.

I arrived at Nakano station to meet my good friend Atra and we briefly flirted with the idea of a light lunch

before dismissing the idea due to time constraints and jumped on the Chuo line to head out to Takaosan.

Just a little, useful piece of information for those who head to Mount Takao via the Chuo line.  Once reaching Takao station, you need to switch to the Keio line and head one more stop to Takaosanguchi station.

Many thanks to the friendly lady who helped us.....

We exited the station and just started following the people.  If there are no people when you visit, just exit the station and head right.

The first thing we did was head straight for the chairlift

and enjoyed a scenic 12 minute ride part way up the mountain.

Reaching the top of the chairlift we paused for a view out over the outskirts of Tokyo

before continuing up the path to the summit.  All along the way there are interesting statues, monuments

and well, I don't even know what some of them represent........ (see update at the bottom of this post)

About halfway up we reached Yakuoin Yukiji Temple.

The Temple was built in the year 744 and is a multi level Temple that covers a large area of Mount Takao and is dedicated to the Medicine Buddha Yakushi Nyorai.  We walked inside and were immediately confronted by these 2 big guys.....

With a polite nod, and avoiding eye contact, we made our way quietly past and wound our way through the rest of the Temple.

Now, a word of warning.  The Temple area has a lot of sets of steps to climb

so come prepared for a good workout.

We were now nearly at the summit so we pushed on, finally making it to the top where, unfortunately, the view was not so good due to the clarity of the air.  All is not lost however, as here is a photo from the top that I prepared earlier (2 years earlier, in fact.  More on that later).

On a clear day, It is a stunning view from the top, looking out at all of the other nearby mountains, and on a really clear day, you can even see Mount Fuji standing majestically in the distance.

Atra and I had a quick bite to eat to refuel and shared some rice with the local wildlife (who was grateful for the gift which was clearly going to last him for a while).

Finishing up, we decided to make our way back down via one of the hiking trails.

After a little while I stopped and listened.............

to nature..........

and what a beautiful song she sung.  Silence, birds singing, wind rustling through the trees and more silence, all at once.........

Living in Tokyo, there is not much silence and the only birds I hear are the crows screeching as they go about their business.

This,

this was what we came to Takao for, and Takao was in a very generous mood.

We, all too soon, arrived back at the chairlift and made our way back down to the foot of Takao.

Now, I showed a photo of the summit that I had taken a couple of years earlier.  I went to Takao in Autumn of 2014 and took some shots which never made it onto the blog, so I would like to share the beauty and colour of Takao in Autumn with you too.

Also a great time to visit Mount Takao.  Fully satisfied, Atra and I jumped back on the train and wearily made our way back to inner Tokyo.  It was a great day, and I felt rejuvenated having immersed myself in nature again!  In fact, I'm already planning another trip back!

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed that.  Leave me a comment below if you did, I love hearing from you.  Take care, and, until next time, bye.

Update May 7th 2016: I have been told by a friend that the statue of the octopus on Mount Takao is for students who are studying to take exams.  As students pass by the octopus, they rub its head and pray for success on their exams! (Thank you Norico!)

Also, I have been told that there is an onsen (hot spring) at the foot of the mountain right next to the train station (in fact you can access it from the station).  It is called KEIO Takao San Onsen, so if you are feeling tired from the hike up and down the mountain you can step inside the onsen and soothe your weary muscles before heading back to Tokyo.  (Thank you Marina!)