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.
Kii-no-kuni
July 14th, 2008Tsumago-juku
June 13th, 2008The Kiso Valley lies about half-way between Tokyo and Kyoto, in the mountains of Gifu Prefecture. The Kiso Valley, oftened referred to in Japan as kiso-ji, or Kiso Way, was part of the Nakasendo, a medievel trail that lead between Tokyo and Kyoto. It was one (the other is the Tokaido Trail leading along the Pacific coast) of the trails used by merchants, nobles, and itinerant traders to travel through Japan up until the 19th century. Originally, there were 69 towns along the trail, referred to as ‘juku’, or ‘post towns’ in English. Each town had stables for horses, inns for the travellers, as well as a more elaborate accommodation for feudal lords known as daimyo who had to make the regular journey between their fiefdoms and Edo, as Tokyo was then called. It was part of the Shoguns’ system of rules and duties designed to keep the daimyos in their place. They had to spend six months in Edo each year, leaving their families in Edo as hostages when they returned. This system of ‘sankin kotai’ as well as other measures were very effective at stopping any revolts.
Nyuto Hot Spring
January 9th, 2008Nyuto Hot Spring, in the Akita Prefecture. Akita is in the north of the main island of Honshu, and the winters here are long and the snow is deep. Located just north of the lake of Tazakawa-ko, in the shadow of Mount Akita-komagatake, Nyuto Hot Spring is a small collection of hot spring ryokan, famed for its milky-white waters.
Mountain Spirits September 2007 Trip Report
November 17th, 2007I 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!
