In the Pines

On Friday July 10th I climbed Ontake-san for the first time this season. July 10th is the date of the annual "mountain opening ceremony", known as kaizan-shiki 開山式 in Japanese. This year was my second time to climb Ontake-san for this ceremony (you can read my post about last year's ceremony here ). The weather was not agreeable to the ceremony this year. My friend R-san, a Belgian philosopher currently living in the village, and I began our ascent at a little after six in the morn ing. The weather at the ta-no-hara 田の原 parking lot was rainy with a bit of wind--most of Ontake-san was cloaked in dark swaths of cloud. But, we had both been prepared to meet bad weather. So, we slid our packs on and passed through the immense stone torii that marks the entrance to the mountain. The rain wasn't too fierce, and we only encountered a bit of heavy wind towards the first (Otaki) summit (王滝頂上). In hindsight it would have been best to push to the true ( ken-ga-mine 剣ヶ...

On Thursday, July 10th, mountain opening ceremonies were held both at Ontake's true summit, or ken-ga-mine 剣ケ峰 (3,067 m), and at Otaki's summit ( outaki-choujyou 王滝頂上 2937 m). I had planned on staying in the Otaki mountian hut the night before, but ended up not being able to. So, I set out from Ta-no-hara at about 6 on Thursday morning. It had been overcast and a bit drizzly in the village, but soon after I began my ascent up Ontake's south-eastern slope I left the clouds and rain below me. My body was light and moved easily up the rocky ridge leading to the Otaki summit. I made good time and was at the first summit by about 7:30. A gave a quick hello to a friend who works in the Otaki mountain hut and hurried on along; I made the true summit by about 7:45. Visibility was poor, but I was able to see the first two of Ontake's five ponds resting just below the summit. The first pond, ichi-no-ike 一ノ池, no longer holds any water, but the second, ni-no-ike 二ノ池, show...

I have, as of yet, to write in any length about Ontake-san (御嶽山), the volcanic mountain upon whose southwestern slope Otaki sits. Ontake-san is an integral part of Otaki's geographical, historical, ecological--and probably any other "-ical" one can think of--landscape. There's a lot to say about the mountain and so I've labeled this entry as "Pt. 1"; I don't pretend, however, to have any depth of knowledge about Ontake-san (in fact I know very little), but I do hope to learn more, and as I do I plan to add more entries. Anyway, here goes Pt. 1. Standing at 3,067 meters Ontake-san is Japan's 14th tallest mountain, and it's second tallest volcano, second only to Fuji-san. Ontake-san has been revered for hundreds of years as a reihou 霊峰--a holy mountain--and may have once rivaled Fuji-san in this respect. Every year hundreds of pilgrims come, dressed in white, to pay homage to the mountain, pray, and undertake various spiritual practices....

Last Sunday a festival was held in Kami-jo , the section of Otaki where I live. For those involved festivities began the day before with a drinking party after we had made preparations. Many events in Otaki are followed, inevitably, by drink and food. I met with the mayor of the village when I first moved here, and he asked, "do you like alcohol?" My answer came back in the affirmative, and he remarked, "ah, then you'll be OK here." On Sunday festivities began at 11:00. Various food both lined the street in front of the Kami-jo community center. There was barbecued fish on skewers, steak, stew, fried squid, doughy balls with bits of octopus in the center, fried noodles, a ring toss for the kids, and of course beer. It was a miniaturized version of festivals that occur all over Japan. The difference being that most food stalls at bigger festivals are run by yakuza --Japanese mobsters. I like the local community version better. The wife and I both volunte...

I’m in Kyoto now. It’s still the “golden” week and so everyone’s out for BBQs, sightseeing, and what not. I also have to check in at the university and sign for some money. . .well stipend. . .David St. Hubbins of Spinal Tap once explained that: “a stipend is like money; only it’s such a small amount that they call it a stipend”—I concur. Anyway, don’t wanna bore with details of that sort. Rather, I wanted to write a bit about a little fieldtrip Aki and I took a few days ago. We visited the 赤沢自然休養 (aka-zawa-shizen-kyuuyou-rin) in Agematsu; one town over from Otaki. 赤沢自然休養林 is translated as “Akasawa Natural Recreational Forest” on the official pamphlet—but you also see a lot of references to fo-resuto serapi- (forest therapy). Not totally sure why one forest is more capable of therapy than another, but. . . Driving from Otaki we turned to the south from Mitake and headed along the Otaki river until we reached Agematsu. From there we turned back west towards the...

Today, the wifey and I had a chance to look around Otaki a bit. However, before I get into that, allow me to give some orientation as to Otaki's location in Japan. The village is located a little over 200 kilometers west of Tokyo, in the southwest of Nagano prefecture, along the border with Gifu Prefecture. Otaki lays at the southeastern foot of Mt. Ontake 御嶽山. This volcanic mountain is revered by many who come to make pilgrimages and worship at various shrines and spots of natural wonder. In 1984 a strong earthquake caused a section of the mountain to crumble and flow into Otaki, killing several people. Ontake is definitely alive and well, greeting us with a small tremor on our first night in the village. Here's a depiction of Ontake showing the various shrines and pilgrimage stages. So, that's where I'm located. Next, a few photos of the new bungalow. The house is located a bit west of the village center, below a "children's forest", where kids used t...