I’ve only been in Tokyo for 3 weeks, and am already busily planning how to spend my holidays. Monday is Marine Day (Umi no hi), a public holiday, and I’m planning to go nowhere near the sea. Instead, I’m planning to spend tomorrow up in the Tanzawa mountain range, south east of Tokyo.
I spent hours this afternoon wandering around Kanda (just near Jinbocho subway station) looking at outdoor shops. My friend Phil put me onto them last weekend, and again on Friday night. The best two are:
- L-Breath (part of Victoria Sports)
- Ishii Sports
These shops are huge. They have so much gear and hiking gadgetry. The whole district is full of sports and outdoor shops, so it’s easy to get lost in them all. I now have some new things (new day pack, headwear and reading material), some ideas of more new gear that I’d like to get.
More importantly for tomorrow, I have maps! The main range of topo maps is aimed at hikers, and have SO much info on them. They’re not just general government published maps with no specific purpose like in Australia. Mark Reed would love them.
So I’m a bit excited about all of this. The plan for tomorrow is catch an early train on the Odakyu Line to Shibusawa, catch the Kanachu Bus from there up to the trailhead, and head up the hill to To-no-Take (1491m, apparently with good views) and maybe even to Tanzawa-san (1567m, one of the “Hyakumeisan” – 100 famous mountains).
I’ve also been asked at work what I’m doing for summer holidays (August), so I’m thinking about heading up to Tohoku to escape the Tokyo heat and humidity. There was something on the TV news tonight about the weather this summer being hotter than usual. Yahari, chikyuu no ondanka.
The big trip being planned is a long weekend in September, when Phil and I plan on heading up Kita-dake, Japan’s second highest mountain (around 3,200m). Some very enthusiastic planning is happening at the moment.
Knowing your enthusiasm, are you planning to tick off all the Hyakumeisan over the next 2 years? Wouldn’t surprise me!