Spring in the mountains of Japan is a glorious time. The flowers are out, the days are warm again and trails that might have been under snow only a few weeks before are once again open and ready to be explored. I lead a German couple in May along the Kumano kodo, the old pilgrimage route that once lead from Kyoto to the great shrines of Kumano. After achieving World Heritage status in 2004, the route through the mountains of the Kii Peninsula has been lifted somewhat from obscurity, but you can still walk all day and only see one or two other walkers. Over the course of 3 days, we walked eastwards, through forests of cedar, staying at small minshuku and hot spring ryokan. Our first night was spent at the small village of Chikatsuyu, in the delightful minshuku run by Mr and Mrs Kinoshita. I have to say the food there is some of the best I have had in Japan. It’s not fancy, rather the food is superbly fresh, wonderfully simple, and because the minshuku has only 4 rooms they can take so much care with each dish.

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I lead the Mountain Spirits tour this September. We had as usual quite an international group. Paul and Kim from the UK, Carlos from Spain, Anne from the US, Caroline from Australia, and Anthony and Ommar also from the UK. Japan had seen one its hottest summers on record, but as the group et at the end of September the temperatures started to fall – thankfully!

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