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Mt.Fuji in Kyushu island???

Mt. Kaimon Dake at the southernmost point of the Satsuma Peninsula called ‘Satsuma Fuji’. It’s shape is exactly like Mount Fuji.

Delicacies from sea

Can you imagine? Huge Spiny lobster was still moving his feeler on the plate. Really fresh and tasty. Thanks for the gift from Nature.

Our Amazones girls team

Look at our brave Amazones soldier! We tried traditional ‘Shihan-mato’ in Obi for the very first time. This particular Japanese archery plays only in Obi with sitting on Tatami.

Volcanic Group in Kagoshima

Yes! We are on Land of Fire (Kyushu’s nickname) . We are very happy to be with an energetic Volcano! It smokes everyday!

Volcanic Wedding!

Local People love their Sakura-jima island’s Volcano even at a Wedding!!

Azalea in Yakushima

Walking by beautiful Azalea in Yakushima island. Of-course there were many more lovely flowers in this tropical island.

Yo-zakura in Kyoto

We saw many people doing ‘Hanami’ picnic (most likely partying, drinking happily…..) while this was a famous cherry blossom season. Sakura blooms every year and every year we celebrate those beauty what ever happens.

From Chikatsuyu, the trail continues east, and the first section is mostly through small villages, sometimes paths that pass by villager’s gardens and rice fields. We stopped for a break after only an hour of walking, at Nonaka, where an old lady prepares wonderfully strong cups of coffee in a small thatched house. It always amazes me that you can get coffee this good in such places even when it’s still a challenge in England. But then Japan is such a place of perfection. Did you know that a Japanese man recently won the world prize for making pizzas in Italy?

At Koguchi, another small village deep in the mountains, we were the only guests at the small minshuku, and they prepared a feast with what must have been 9 or 10 courses. Earlier in the day, on arrival, we had found a good place to swim in the shallow river. The day was warm but the mountain river was cool, and clear enough to see the tiny fish and pebbles on the bottom. OK, river swimming was not in the itinerary, but a welcome ending to hours on the trail.
Our host told us about the pressing concern for the villagers this year; monkeys. I had noticed that the vegetable and fruit fields tended by the villagers were increasingly covered with nets and even electric wires, and it now seems that if someone from the village shoots a monkey (and I don’t mean with a camera…), they can get a reward of 30,000 Yen (about £150/$300) from the local government.

The Kii Peninsula, which juts south into the Pacific Ocean south of Kyoto and Osaka, remains one of my favourite places in Japan, I think mainly because it has missed-out on so much of the development in other parts. There is one slow train line that hugs the rugged coastline and takes 3-4 hours to reach Osaka, and narrow roads through the mountains that wind between the peaks and rarely allow you to drive at more than 30 miles an hour. It has my favourite hot spring in Japan, a tiny, open-bath-beside-the-river-affair along a deep valley with no mobile phone reception. There is a tiny wooden box suspended from a rope that you can use to hoist yourself across the river should you wish – but there is nothing but forest on the other side.

One of the highlights for everyone was the walking in Oze, the wetland area high in the mountains north of Tokyo. Our cosy lodge ‘Chozo Goya’ served freshly-ground coffee in the evening, and we sat around the wood-burning stove trading stories. Anthony found the ¥2000 bottle of Italian wine much to his liking, while Carlos enjoyed the ‘Aki-aji’ (autumn flavour) beer more to his taste. The next day we left early and walked around the northern edge of Oze-numa lake, arriving at a small wooden resthouse at 7.30am. It was a surreal moment, drinking fresh coffee and donuts high in the mountains while gazing at the sun reflecting on the lake.

We hiked out of Oze, and took a series of buses, ferries across a dammed lake, and more buses to our hot spring ryokan. Only in Japan could this amazing bus and ferry journey go without a hitch. The bus dropped us at a small lakeside pier, and 5 minutes later a small ‘ferry’ came around the corner to pick us up. It deposited us 50 minutes later at the top of a huge dam, and a bus came to pick us up there 10 minutes later. We arrived at Tochio-mata hot spring 45 minutes later, just in time for dinner. Grilled char, salmon baked in foil, tempura, and an assortment of other dishes made up the evening meal, washed down with beer and sake.

At Mount Gas-san in Yamagata prefecture we climbed to the summit of the mountain in dense cloud. Unluckily for us it was clear the day before and the day after, but that didn’t dampen everyone’s spirits. We enjoyed our lunch during a (quick) stop at the top, an then headed down. The cloud parted at times to give us a tantalizing glimpse of the autumn colours. The heather was a deep red and we could briefly see to the coast.

Another highlight was the Tono Valley, or more specifically the Magariya guest house. Run by a father and his two grown up children, the small guesthouse (5 rooms), had been in their family for generations. The father had found the house, owned by relatives, had been abandoned and asked them whether he could take it over. After they agreed, he took the house apart beam by beam, and brought it to its present location. Magariya are local traditional farm houses in the shape of the letter ‘L’. He serves locally-grown vegetables, fish and tofu, but not red meat. In the evening the ‘master’ made a smal fire in the ‘irori’ (sunken hearth), and we put on our cotton ‘yukata’ robes to enjoy the meal and some local beer.

The next day was perfect, a crisp autumn day, warm in the sun and just perfect for a slow cycle on the country roads of the valley. We passed by farmers out harvesting rice, children walking home from school, and cats sunning themselves. I always enjoy the Tono Valley, because its people have a real pride in their home, and it’s one of those places you feel you yourself have discovered. No tourist buses, no queues, and no hype to live up to!

Our next stop was Nyuto Hot Spring, in neighbouring Akita Prefecture. We spent an evening there enjoying the eight milky-white baths, Carlos taking endless photographs. Nobody quite believe I knew where I was going when we turned off the main road onto the small ‘track’ to get to the hot spring. It was so perfectly hidden deep in the forest.

Our last stop was Kakunodate, former castle town and feudal stronghold. Several of us enjoyed the cherry-blossom flavour soft ice cream, before we head back to the big city. Another enjoyable trip to the wonderful north of Japan.