Mitake-san is a mountain in western Tokyo Prefecture with a grand, old Shinto shrine on top. It’s become sort of the place in the hills that I head towards when I’m not imaginative to head anywhere else. Tried and trusted, there is a network of pathways through the forest, taking in a few mountain tops,… Continue reading Autumn at Mitake-san again
Tag: cable car
Nagasaki panoramas
I’ve seen Inasa-san in Nagasaki billed on tourist advertisements, along with Mt Hakodate and Rokko-san in Kobe, as one of the three “million dollar” night views of Japan. That’s why I expected gazillions of people up here enjoying the views – just like the night a few weeks earlier I was on Mt Hakodate –… Continue reading Nagasaki panoramas
Tsukuba-san with Dim
My friend Dim & I had a good day yesterday up in Tsukuba, a town about an hour north-east of Tokyo. We intended to climb Tsukuba-san, the smallest and easiest to climb of Japan’s “Hyaku-mei-san” (100 famous mountains), but also probably the most famous other than Fuji-san. Tsukuba-san is around 800 metres high, and has… Continue reading Tsukuba-san with Dim
Whiling away some time in Wellington
On my trip home from Tongariro at the beginning of February, I spent 24 hours in Wellington. What I thought might be a fairly staid small-town capital full of New Zealand bureaucrats turned out to be a great little city.