BootsnAll Travel Network



Return to Tsukuba-san

Sunday, February 11, 2007

The sun shining through the curtains this morning was an unexpected surprise. Last night we fell asleep to the sound of a downpour and expected a day spent relaxing indoors.

The rain cleansed the air of its rural haze and a strong wind is helping as well. Today was the perfect day I’ve been waiting for to return to Mt. Tsukuba for a hike. I climbed this mountain over two years ago right after I arrived in Japan and I’ve felt I’ve wasted the opportunity to return in the past ten months, seeing that I live within eye-shot of the peak.

Japan is covered mostly in rugged mountains, but you wouldn’t know it just visiting Tokyo or the surrounding Kanto region. This flat area is only disrupted by three famous peaks, Mt. Fuji (Japan’s largest and most famous) to the south, Mt. Takao to the west, and Mt. Tsukuba to the north. Tsukuba-san, as it’s called in Japanese, offers a peaceful retreat where you can climb the tangle of roots and boulders to the summit and enjoy a hot bowl of noodles. If the hike up wears you out, not to worry. There is a railcar you can catch for the trip down for 570 yen.

The best thing about hiking in Japan is the attitude of the people you encounter. In day to day life Japanese people become experts in blocking out the noise and crowds of modern Japan. With so many people around it’s to be expected. When they venture into the outdoors people really come out of their shells and become chatty. They become konnichiwa machines.

Everyone we passed today said hello, or ganbatte (don’t give up), or daijoubu (are you okay?). It really added a lot to the already beautiful day. When we got to the top of this 877 meter peak the wind was howling, so we only had a brief time to enjoy the view. Laid out before us was the flat expansive grid of rice paddies, roads, and small towns that make up southern Ibaraki prefecture. To the north the rest of the mountain stretches toward the proper mountains of Tochigi and Gunma prefectures along a narrow ridgeline. Because of the exceptionally clear weather we could see the towering silhouette of Mt. Fuji on the horizon to the south. I never even thought to look for the peak from here, assuming it would be too far to see. But there it was, a gray smudge in the distance that slowly grew pink, then purple, then faded away into the night sky with the setting sun on her western shoulder. I’m happy I waited patiently for this perfect day on Tsukuba-san.



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