Golden Myōgi

Mt Myogi is one of my favorite spots in Gunma. Located about an hour south west of me, the craggy eroded volcano reminds me a lot of the Rocky Mountains. It is one of the few local areas with nice rock formations. In fact, it is officially listed as one of three most noted areas of rugged beauty in Japan. Japan does love their lists. You may recall the Three Most Beautiful Gardens, or the 100 Places of Unique Smell. 

We started our loop at a small shrine on the east side of the mountain. It was actually pretty busy because we were there on a holiday, 3-5-7. Families bring their children to the shrine at those ages, 3 and 7 for boys and 5 for girls, to be blessed. We saw an adorable kid dressed in a suit with shorts. I suppose that is pretty excellent formal wear for a 3 year old.

Starting the hike proper, from the shrine you walk up a long, steep staircase that gets you up to the base of a tall pillar of rock. It is a pretty intense start, but it does gain you a lot of altitude quickly, and that is always to be admired.



A spur of the trail leads around the side of the spire and up to the top. Making it that far requires some rock scrambling with a bit of assistance from chains and an old metal ladder. The climb is easy enough with some care, but any fear of heights will be tested.



Unless you are this kid, who showed zero concern peeking over the totally sheer drop down to the shrine. I am a born rock hound and even I was sweating it a little bit from my vantage point. Bungee jumping sans bungee is not my idea of a good time! Though, to be fair, bungee jumping in and of itself is still not my idea of a good time.

Mt Myogi is one of the areas locally quite famous for fall leaves, which was one reason we made the trip. We timed it perfectly, this week and next are peak season for fall colors around here. The trail winds around and through rock arches and along narrow ridges that offer spectacular views of the north Kanto. It was a little hazy the day we were there, but I imagine that Tokyo would be visible if the day were clear enough. 

Sulfur and Snow

Gunma has the dubious luck to be a prefecture rich in volcanic activity. While in historic times this has tended more towards the cataclysmically dubious side, these days the forces deep under the area brings plenty of tourist dollars to the many, many thermal hot springs. My love of Japanese onsen has been pretty well documented, both here and by my friends. One even dubbed me the Onsen Otaku (an Otaku is a super obsessed fan of something.) In this aspect, living in Gunma has been great.

The resort town of Kusatsu is one of the more famous hot springs towns in Gunma, and in Japan. Its history stretches back centuries, and it is one of my favorite places in the whole country. I think a big part of my love comes from the combination of mountain scenery, great waters, and the eclectic feel of the town itself.

A couple of friends of mine had never been to the baths in Kusatsu before, and I decided that this was a situation that had to be rectified. We honestly could not have picked a better day. The chill temperatures and heavy snow fall were a perfect environment for enjoying a nice, hot, bath.

I have been to Kusatsu many times, but this time was my favorite. The steam rising off of the emerald blue waters of the massive outdoor bath and mingling with the fat windblown flakes was magical. There is just something so compelling about that strange conjuncture, of icy wind blowing in your frozen hair while the rest of you sits warm and relaxed in water that was heated and treated deep below the earth in the bowels of an active volcano.

Bellies Bellies Everywhere...

It seems that Japan hardly needs a reason to throw a festival, which is fine because I hardly need a reason to attend one! I recently visited the nearby city of Shibukawa for the Heso Matsuri, also known as the Bellybutton Festival. While there are a fair number of ancient fertility festivals held around Japan, with some rather suggestive floats, the bellybutton doesn't seem like a body part worth celebrating.

The roots of this particular celebration are much more recent and have to do with the fact that Shibukawa is located close to the geographical center point of Japan. The bellybutton of the country, so to speak. Nothing terribly sacred, the festival is more an attempt to drum up visitors and economic opportunities. Which is fair enough. These days even the most ancient festivals, steeped in Shinto lore are becoming much more about eating, drinking, and having a good time than celebrating anything profound. Not that I find anything wrong with walking around with a beer in one hand and fried chicken in the other while admiring ancient floats.

Sadly, there are no floats or portable shrines at the Heso Matsuri. There were some pretty entertaining taiko performances though. The main attraction is a pair of parades with shirtless people dancing by with faces painted on their bellies. The first parade was small children, and most of them were not having any of it. I don't know if I have ever seen such a group of youngsters who were so upset at their lot in life. Some were outright bawling. Though a few had a pretty big smile.

The adults certainly had a bit more fun. Their improved mood may be due in part to the beer carts that followed each group of dancers to provide refreshment in the summer heat. While the whole affair was interesting, I would hardly call it compelling. Really the Heso Matsuri was a fun way to spend an afternoon with friends, but it wasn't much more than that.

Haikyo

Japan is covered in abandoned buildings, or haikyo. Some are old military installations, some are mining ghost towns, and some are relics of the 80s property boom. Some are just buildings that have been replaced.

Our days target for exploration was the abandoned Mt. Asama Volcano Museum and Observatory. It sits on the slopes of Mt. Asama, the most active volcano on the main island of Honshu. Asama-san straddles the border between Gunma and Nagano prefectures, and if things aren’t too hazy it is clearly visible on my ride to work. The museum was abandoned when a more modern (and less architecturally interesting) one was built right next door. Rather than tear it down, they just left it for the volcano to do the dirty work for them.

Both museums are located in the Oni Oshi Dashi, a lava field left by a cataclysmic eruption in 1783. The name refers to the exiled demons that were ejected from the volcano. It was fun for me to see a lava field like the ones I saw on Kilauea, only 200 years older. Despite the ample scrub, the lava fields still look pretty desolate.

In the 20 some years since it was left to rot, the volcano has done a pretty good job at breaking down the old building. Eruptions and earthquakes have shattered the glass, peeled the paint and even knocked down some walls and support pillars. The structure may not collapse tomorrow, but it is certainly looking a bit worse for wear. In fact, it is looking worse than it did even a few years ago, based on old photos and blog posts I have found online.

While most of the seismic action this year has been off the north eastern coast, the ground under Asama has seen a few good sized tremors as well, including one that hit in the wee hours of the morning on March 12th that woke up everybody in Gunma. This and the eruption in early 2009 have knocked the poor old museum around quite a bit.

While there are signs forbidding entry, it’s quite easy to get pretty close to the building, though plywood across the doors makes actual entry more difficult. In my great folly and or wisdom, I decided not to actually enter, but a couple of people in our group were a bit more adventurous and headed inside. They made it in and out in safety, so either things aren’t as bad as they look or we were fantastically lucky!

Return to the Crater

One of my favorite places in Gunma is the brilliant blue crater lake at Mt. Shirane, and the hot springs town of Kusatsu at the base of the mountain. It makes for an easy day trip from Maebashi, and the scenery is gorgeous and unique.

Our group had failed to consider the effects of the three day weekend, and traffic was pretty heavy on approach to the summit. Heavy in a "You can actually walk faster than the car" sort of a way. We saw license plates from all over Japan as we idled along. We had been joined on our excursion by people from Tokyo, Nagoya, Kanazawa, Utsunomiya and more. Despite the seemingly endless line of cars snaking up the mountain we persevered and were glad that we did.

The temperature in the uplands was fantastic, much cooler than steamy Maebashi. Peter, Dean and Tessia were all new to the sights and smells of Mt. Shirane, and were all suitably impressed. It was my third time to the top, and fourth to Kusatsu, but I had a fantastic time as always. There is a certain thrill to walking around an obviously active volcano that keeps one coming back, even with epic traffic.

While we had places to be in the evening, a stop at Mt. Shirane is not complete without a visit to the famous sulfur onsen below. I maintain that Kusatsu has my favorite onsen waters in all Japan. You just feel so GOOD getting out of the bath, though you do have to be careful of dehydration. I lost over a kilogram of water weight in an hour. It was a good thing we had Gatorade ready for replenishment.

From Kusatsu we sped to our next stop, a place of vengeful demons!

A Warm Welcome to High Summer

 

Every summer sees a flurry of fireworks festivals across Japan. There are actually fewer this year, as many of the larger displays have been cancelled due to the earthquake and damage to the power grid. Luckily for Gunma, the Tamamura display went ahead as planned. 

Several friends came to visit over this past three day weekend, and we launched things with the hour long display. Traffic was pretty rough on the way over, and the area was super crowded, far more than last year. However, we still managed to snag a choice location, almost as close to the display as you could go. When the wind shifted we were sometimes hit with hot ash from the explosions almost directly overhead! It was by far the closest I have ever been to a fireworks display.

I brought along my tripod, and had a lot of fun playing with shutter speed settings for different effects. Fireworks are tricky to photograph, but the end result can be a lot of fun. 

 

Sakura, Sprinkles, and Sake

Cherry blossom season has always been one of my favorite times in Japan. Two weeks of sunny skies, warming weather and cherry trees covered in delicate flowers are enough to banish winter from any heart. This was my fourth chance to enjoy hanami (花見), the flower viewing festivals that sweep every city in Japan.

This year I joined a huge ALT party in the nearby city of Takasaki. Takasaki is actually the largest city in Gunma, and has a much more vibrant city center than Maebashi, even though the latter is the prefectural capital. (Years ago, Takasaki got the shinkansen stop and Maebashi didn't, and that quick link to Tokyo has made its effects known economically.)

Despite a rather dismal weather forecast and lingering doubts about how much we should celebrate in the face of the recent earthquake, our group gathered near the site of old Takasaki castle and settled down to the serious business of enjoying the flowers, and our snack and alcohol selections.

We did have some light rain, but nothing to damp the festivities too much. There had been some discussion of Karaoke, but in the end most people departed after dinner at the local Garlic Restaurant. When you start drinking at 1 PM, its hard to stay out much past 6 or 7!

The Red Castle in Snow

              Snow wise this winter has been very mild. Maebashi is protected by the Echigo mountain range to our west, and so all the precipitation falls on my old stomping grounds in Kanazawa, and points north. The city itself has seen flurries only rarely, and only this week have we got anything worth the name snow. It snowed Wednesday morning, but the accumulation was gone by 10 am. It is snowing now, as I write this though, and is forecast to keep it up over the weekend.

 

              While it has been very nice to not have to deal with the daily tribulations of regular snow fall, it doesn’t really seem like winter without at least an occasional glimpse. Luckily, Mt. Akagi, my backyard dormant volcano, has had a nice snow cap since late December. Recently Peter and I decided to get some  use out of my snow tires and see how things looked up top.

              It was a clear day with a deep blue sky, but even from my apartment I could see how fast the wisps of cloud were moving around the summit. Did this inspire me to grab a hat and gloves? Of course not! The drive up wasn’t bad at all, I continue to be impressed with my little car, it really is a champion.

              The summit lake is very popular for ice fishing, though I have never really seen the appeal. Fishing itself is fun if a tad boring, but add in biting wind and sub zero temperatures and it just seems like torture. Though there are obviously plenty of people who disagree with me, as the lake was dotted with a fair number of small shelters.

              Hatless and gloveless as we were, we still walked from the parking area to Akagi shrine. The area is always beautiful, but the red shrine, white snow and blue sky all came together to be particularly picturesque.

Kusatsu in Winter

Ever since I first visited Kusatsu Onsen in August, I have been a big proponent of this mountain top hot springs resort. As a big fan of the Japanese style of public bathing, when I call Kusatsu my favorite bath, it really means something. 

While Kusatsu is an attractive destination all year round, the appeal of a nice hot bath in the depths of winter is hard to beat. In an effort to been the creeping chill of mid winter, I got together a group of friends who were eager for a bath in the snow.

My friend Marcos is from Miami, and while he has seen snow before, he had never seen falling snow. He was thrilled from the moment we arrived, with a light snow delicately falling as we explored the city. Even being the hardened winter warrior that I am the scene was magical. Marcos was like a kid in a candy store, drinking in the experience with such glee that I think we all had an even better time.

While there are tons of baths around the city, my favorite is on the edge of town, and offers a sauna, indoor bath and outdoor bath. In the basement there is a selection of pools of different temperatures and acidity. Along one side of this room was a patch of wooden floor with a log headrest to lie down on and cool off. Relaxing on the wet wood with sulfurous steam making patterns in the beams of light above was a simply amazing experience.

Fully warmed and relaxed from the baths, we angled straight for an okonomiyaki lunch. Clustering around the hot griddle with the thickening snow fall outside was the perfect end of a winter day.

Double the Daruma

The nearby city of Takasaki is renowned as the birthplace of the Daruma dolls. A Daruma is a round wooden doll with unpainted eyes. After buying one, you color in one eye and make a wish. If and when the wish comes true, you then color in the other eye. 

While this can be done at any time of the year, the New Year sees a bevy of festivals celebrating a fresh start and fresh hopes for the oncoming year. People bring their old Daruma with both eyes filled in, and give them back to the temple for a ritual burning. They then buy a new blank doll for a new goal or wish.

I had the fortune to go to two different Daruma festivals. The first was in Takasaki, and was at the temple popularly known as the birthplace of the Daruma. A few days later the festival took over central Maebashi. While it was much the same the second time around, with even many of the exact same booths and vendors, I never pass up a chance for festival food.

I bought a small Daruma myself, and made a wish. It hasn’t come true yet, but it has only been a month so I suppose I should be more patient!