Category: 旅 / Travel

I have always had hard time in early spring due to temperature changes and hay fever.

In the end, I could not hold out until Japan’s Golden Week holidays in May, and I decided to make a short trip in April. My schedule was already packed on Saturday, I took Monday off from work and spend two days starting on Sunday.

Although I had thought of going on a trip, I had no idea where to go. It was too late for snowy landscapes at most of places but a little too early for spring sceneries especially in mountain areas. After searching for a while, I realized that it was just the opening of Tateyama Alpine Route where is the famous for snow wall in the spring. I wanted to see it.

However, the weather forecast looked bad. All forecast agencies said that the weather would change in few-day cycles, and everyone said the planned weekend would be in a bad cycle. Looking at the weather map, a low-pressure system was developed and supposed to move over the Sea of Japan, highly likely to cause bad weather at the Tateyama Alpine Route in Toyama Prefecture. Should we go or not?

I looked at nationwide forecast and found that all the forecasting agencies were predicting clear skies west side of Kyushu. They said it would be even better as going towards south. In southwest Kyushu, there is an island named Yakushima, where I have been interested in for a long time. I found that there were seats available on frequent flyer award ticket for the onward trip from Tokyo to Yakushima via Kagoshima, and from Kagoshima to Tokyo on the way back. This may be the god of Yakushima telling me to come.

I immediately secured free air tickets, but I was not sure what to do on the island. I only knew somewhere called “Jomon Cedars” and “Moss Forest” on the island, started to check these places. Jomon Cedars seemed to be a full day trekking trip, I had to give up. Trekking to the Moss Forest is said to take about five hours, including transportation to/from the forest. The local buses were too infrequent and I did not like driving, so I decided to sign up for a guided tour. This way, I could kill two birds with one stone. I would be picked up and dropped off at my hotel, no need to worry local transportation besides I would have trekking buddy.

The next step was to find a hotel, which was difficult because of the limited pick-up and drop-off locations of the guided tour, especially I had no familiarity on the island. While searching, I happened to find a sushi restaurant that looked good. I looked for the restaurant on the map, I found a nice hotel just in front of it, where was fit to location requirement too. It was a bit awkward process but supposed to work out.

It was the day before the departure when all arrangements were completed.

I woke up early in the morning and arrived at Yakushima before noon. The weather was clear, but the mountains looking up from the village were hazy due to yellow dust from Gobi Desert. I was able to avoid the low-pressure system, but I had not thought about the yellow dust at all. Since I would be visiting in the forest, there should be no distant view for photograph.

I left the luggage at the hotel, and I was picked up by the guide to go to Shiratani Unsui Gorge where the moss forest is located. Apparently, this forest is not in a World Heritage area because it had been deforestation during the Edo period. Instead, the historical relationship between the forest and people and regeneration of the forest can be observed. The forest was beautiful and rich in water on Yakushima, where was said to rain 35 days a month.

After the trekking, I went to a sushi restaurant in the evening where they serve local fish. I ate sushi with fishes I had never heard of, and got drunk on Yakushima Shochu (distilled spirit) with local foods.

I have a bad habit going to the same place many times for photo shooting. In the next morning, I had hungover but got up early again, headed to Shiratani Unsui Gorge on another tour.

I was glad that I went there twice. The first day was in daytime, so the sun was shining in the forest. On the other hand, second day was a morning scenery. It gradually became brighter, and soft sunlight shone into the forest. It was an even more beautiful sight than the first day. According to the guide, it is more beautiful when it rains because the moss becomes wetter, but I did not want to go that far as a photographer.

I initially wondered that it could be a waste of time to go to Yakushima on a short one-night stay, but I was right to take the chance. I fully enjoyed the forest and sushi, extremely satisfied.

It seemed that the gods of Yakushima had truly told me to come.

This summer was unusually hot probably due to El Nino. When I was a child, it was on news when maximum temperature exceeded 30 degrees Celsius in Tokyo, but it is not unusual even the temperature exceeds 35 degrees Celsius in these days.

Despite such climate, it is probably not a good idea to go up north for a summer vacation. I heard that it was hot even in Hokkaido Island this year. Maybe I could be in cold weather in North Pole. Alternatively, it would probably be able to find a cooler place in Siberia, but the current situation in Russia makes it difficult. I need to find somewhere realistic.

On the other hand, I have heard that it was cool at climbing entrance of Mt. Fuji even in this summer. Of course, this is not in the Arctic or Siberia, but in just outside of the Kanto area, Shizuoka and Yamanashi Prefectures. There are cooler places in Japan if you look for them. It is likely cooler going up in three-dimensionally rather than going northward in two-dimensionally.

In the meantime, I happened to get a reservation at a hotel in Murodo on the Tateyama Alpine Route. The altitude is around 2,450 meters, which is about as same as the climbing entrance of Mt. Fuji, so it should be cool weather in Murodo.

During the peak season, the hotel in Murodo is difficult to book and the schedule cannot be changed at last minute. Even if the weather is not good, you cannot go wrong if you think it as a summer getaway.

On departure day, it was the time when a typhoon was approaching Kanto area. I booked the first Hokuriku Shinkansen train so that I could leave before the typhoon reached, but it was not a clear day even if I went across mountains further to Sea of Japan side of the country. It was good that it did not heavily rain though.

Murodo was cold due to the strong wind blowing from the Nagano Prefecture. I walked around in the light rain until check-in time. After that, I snuggled under a blanket in my room. Not enough from a photographic point of view, but it was supposed to be perfect as a heat retreat.

As a photographer and blogger, I got up before sunrise in the next morning. However, Mt. Tateyama was in the clouds. The night before, I had three glasses of whiskey at the hotel bar, and I had hungover, perhaps because the high altitude affects the circulation of alcohol in my system. Waking up early does not do any good to me. I immediately returned to bed.

I woke up again before the noon. It was still cloudy, but there was no point in staying in my room. I went for a walk.

As it is said “every dog has its day,” I was able to see a family of rock ptarmigan. This alone was worth the trip. Moreover, the weather started to improve in the afternoon. The next morning looked promising. Since I am not a dog, I went to bed without going to the bar to ensure I could wake up early in the next morning.

Indeed, it was clear and sunny. I took my camera and walked to the place I had spotted the day before. I was able to enjoy quite a nice sunrise.

Having enjoyed Murodo, I decided to go down the mountain early. On the way down, I got off the bus at Midagahara for trekking. I then returned to Toyama Station in the early afternoon.

The altitude of Toyama Station is about 7 meters above sea level. With altitude differences of 2,440 meters, the temperature should have been around 14.5 degrees Celsius higher, and it was actually 32 degrees Celsius in Toyama City.

As expected, it was not much different from the heat of Tokyo although I went up north. I walked around in Toyama City in the extreme heat until time for evening sushi restaurant reservation.

I learned that the key to avoiding the heat was the altitude. However, I spoiled my body by escaping from the heat, and I began to suffer from summer fatigue from the day after I returned home. It seemed that effects from extreme heat I had endured in all summer came at once, and the malaise continued for more than a month, until mid-October.

I am unaccustomed to extreme heat and I am unaccustomed to heat retreat. It is difficult for a middle-aged man to live comfortably in summer.