For many people outside the country, today's Japan seems to be one of the most modern places on the planet. Even though there are now countries that have overtaken Japan in terms of modernity, many people still associate the country in the Far East with progress and innovation. To some extent, they are still right, but a closer look behind the scenes sometimes quickly reveals the surprising opposite.
When I first set foot on Japanese soil, I didn't really know what to expect. But I quickly discovered my enthusiasm for this fascinating country here in the Far East. This enthusiasm ultimately extends to so many different facets of this island kingdom that I now find it rather difficult to say what I like best here.
But these days I rarely travel to modern cities, I rather visit the countryside, the coast and the heart of the country. So it is probably this special atmosphere that welcomes and accompanies you at these places, that got me hooked. I feel very much at home in nature, and Japan has a lot to offer in that respect, and I'm always happy when I get to discover and explore some of this special beauty.
Just like on that fall day when we had planned to go for a little hike. Of course, hiking and climbing with a family isn't quite as easy and quick as it used to be when I myself was a bit more athletic when it came to getting up the mountains. But as there are a few mountains in our area that are also suitable for a family hike, we found us a new goal. We wanted to hike to the top of Mt. Kakuda, which rises to a height of 481 meters right next to the coast of the Sea of Japan and, together with its neighbor Mt. Yahiko, is a wonderful and inseparable part of the landscape south of Niigata City.
There are several hiking trails that take you to the top of Mt. Kakuda, attacking the mountain from different directions. One of these trails even starts directly from sea level, but we saved that one for another time. We wanted to take a more direct route, which would be shorter but a little steeper. After all we also wanted a bit of a challenge.
And we already were treated a great view as we approached our destination on this extremely friendly autumn day. When we passed this little shrine here we were driving between the freshly harvested rice fields, and the mountain in front of us seemed to greet us from afar.
That was exactly where we wanted to go and exactly where we wanted to climb. And I already had to stop and take some first pictures, and I was sure that there would be many more on the way. I find it hard to stop myself and always have to document all the wonderful things I get to see. But that's exactly why I can show you this blog post today.
The climb to the top is only 1.7 kilometers long, but as already mentioned, it's all uphill and some sections will be quite steep. But on this glorious day, we were all full of energy and also in a wonderful mood. And now that we were at the start of the trail, there was only one direction for us. So let's go, we're all set!
As you can see from this sign, the forest around us is home to many members of the world of birds. And so I was looking forward to some lovely birdsong to accompany us. As Mt Kakuda and Mt Yahiko are separated from the other mountains in the interior of the prefecture, there were no bears waiting for us here, so we didn't have to worry about any unwanted encounters with some furry and furious fellows.
Right at the start, the path went up quickly and there wasn't really any time to adjust to the ascent. But why should we? We were here to get to the top, so we wanted to make progress.
After a few hundred meters, we came across a small shrine built in a forest clearing. Here we stopped to pay our respects to the kami, the gods who also lived in this forest, and to ask for a little spiritual support for our climb ahead.
A little contemplation never hurts, and I wanted to take the tranquillity and serenity that emanated from this little shrine with me to the top of the mountain.
Right next to it was a stele with engraved Buddhist elements, which once again showed that religions can also get along and complement each other.
There also seems to be a kami living in this mighty cedar tree, and if you look up....
...to the top, you quickly get an idea of why people here have come to this believe.
We then continued along the trail, which was a little wider at first. After a while, the path turned into steps and stairs, which were often quite high and took some time to climb. But we progressed step by step and were also in no rush at all.
On the contrary, I enjoyed looking around everywhere and didn't want to miss any of the many details along the path. Small shrines and altars depicted various patron saints who were supposed to protect hikers from harm along the way.
Nature was always an eye-catcher too. Of course it was mostly green and brown around us, but every now and then there were a few splashes of color that I was always happy to discover.
After a while, we were able to enjoy the first views over the lowlands, which stretched from the sea to the mountain ranges further inland. And in between there were always some settlements and a whole lot of rice fields.
As mentioned, the sea was not far away and could be seen very well from up here. On this great day, the world presented itself from its best side.
We could spot a number of well-known places from up here. Like this lake in front of us, which we had already hiked around several times. It was these sights in particular that after feeling a little exhausted, helped to quickly lift our spirits again.
We went a little further up, where we came across this building, which we we discovered to be locked that day.
As it turned out, there are Buddhist relics on display and preserved in there, which seem to only be accessible on special days or occasions.
As you can imagine, we couldn't just walk past this bell, we definitely had to ring it. After all, we wanted to show the world that we had come up here.
At the summit we found a few statues depicting local celebrities....
...as well as bodhisattva statues, which are called Kannon here in Japan. Buddhism is still something I've barely understood, even though it's omnipresent here in Japan. But since most Japanese people are like me, so I don't have any reason to worry.
And here we are at 481.7 meters above sea level on the summit of Mt Kakuda. The climb took about two hours and was quite doable, at least for adults. With children, you sometimes have to help them a little, but our small team managed to get up here together and everyone should be proud of that.
There is a small hut at the top where you could spend the night if necessary. But as the day was still anything but over, we still had enough time to walk back down again.
But first I wanted to enjoy the fantastic view up here. We won't be coming up here again that quickly, although next time I would like to take the ascent that starts right on the beach. Which mountains give you this opportunity?
This lake down there is also quite familiar to us and we've already done a few rounds there too. Actually we had just been there a week before and now we were standing up here and enjoy looking at it from above.
If you follow the canal down there, you come back to the small shrine that you can see in the first two photos in the foreground of Mt Kakuda. We seem to have come full circle here, and I was really excited that I was able to spot and locate this place from up here.
The wonderfully green and fresh nature accompanied us all the way back, which took us down the same steep steps. At the top of the mountain it was quite sunny and warm, but in the forest under the dense trees it quickly became cooler and almost a little chilly. But for the end of September, we had chosen a wonderful day that spoiled us with great late summer weather.
Before reaching our starting point again, we stopped once more at the small shrine in the middle of the forest. I couldn't just rush past this charming and inspiring place, even though our legs were getting a little tired. However, I am now determined to hike up Mt Kakuda again sometime soon, perhaps in spring, when nature will show us a completely different side.
On this hike today, I once again found a thousand reasons why I have come to love this country here in the Far East so much. Fortunately, I always manage to discover new territory for myself and I often have the best team in the world at my side.
And that's exactly how I want things to continue and I'm already looking forward to our next adventures, which I hope to be able to tell you about at this place. So please check back here soon if you like to see new impressions and pictures from the land of the rising sun....
[//]:# (!worldmappin 37.77984 lat 138.85307 long A refreshing hike to the top of Mt. Yahiko 👹🍣🎎 Wonderful Japan d3scr)