To Maruyama
August 22, 2004
| For a change I am heading into
some uninhabited country on todays hike. My aim is to climb Maruyama
(Round Mountain), simply because it is there ( and also because
it is in the middle of an uninhabited area, there is a trail to
the top, and the views are supposed to be quite good).. I start
from Mizunokuni on route 261 about 6 a.m. and start heading up the
small one-lane paved road that heads to Mihara. The road immediately
becomes steep and starts to rise above the stream. A typhoon came
through 2 days ago, and debris, rocks, stones, bits of tree, litter
the road. I pass a couple of Jizo. Jizo is a boddhisattva who looks
after the souls of children who die prematurely, that is to say
through being aborted, stillborn, or dying in the first few years
of life.Statues of Jizo are by the roadsides everywhere in Japan.
There must be at least a million of them. These Jizo are out in
the open, exposed to the elements, and so are covered in moss, but
some Jizo are housed in shelters, and I have even seen some with
glass doors and lighting. After about a kilometre of climbing the
road passes Otaki (Big Falls) an 18 metre high waterfall. The road
now levels out somewhat and continues up the watercourse. |
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| The road passes over the stream
and veers away across the mountains to Mihara, but I carry on straight
along a dirt road that has a barrier across it. No traffic allowed,
and a sign informs me this is a Wildlife Preservation Area. In truth
I believe this road is a logging road. The forests of Japan are
mostly dense,.. and I'm ashamed to admit how little I know of the
trees and bushes that surround me. Sugi (Japanese Cedar) is easy
to recognize. Most hills and mountains have sections planted monoculturally
with Sugi. Its ahrvested for pulp and for construction. Like most
"farmed" trees, the space between the trees is largely
bereft of life. Giant Bamboo is also easy to recognize, as is Maple
with its distinctively shaped leaves. There is Oak, and some Pine,
though one is just as likely to see dead Pine as Japan was hit by
a devastating Pine disease some time ago. Other than that I dont
know the names or life-cycles of any of the other vegetation. The
road continues to climb gently, a good ways above the water below.
On the other side of the stream is Maruyama. Getting closer to what
I guess to be the pass, I see evidence of logging. Fresh roads bulldozed
into the trees. and then a piece of logging machinery.... dont know
its name, but its like a crane with a dozen cables attached to it.
It drags the fallen logs to a central place. Like all the "heavy
machinery" in Japan, bulldozers, tractors, diggers etc, this
piece of equipment is much smaller than what I have seen in the
Pacxific Northwest. Looks like Tonka Toys. |
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| About 25 metres from the crest
of the pass I see a huge wild boar trotting down the road towards
me. I stop. It stops. It takes a few steps toward me then turns
and ambles back where it has come from. At the crest of the pass
there is another Jizo, this one with fresh flowers on the altar.
Starting down the other side I am startled by another boar that
is just as startled by me, and it goes crashing off through the
underbrush. The road descends steeply now, and though it starts
to drizzle there is a spring to my step that comes from going down
after a couple of hours of going up. Then, after about a kilometre
the road stops. It doesnt narrow and gradually become overgrown,
it stops dead. There is a gravel berm across it, and behind thick
undergrowth and trees. I try and make my way through, but can see
no sign of any old trail so come back out and look at my map. According
to it, and another map I checked before leaving, the road continues.
I have come to have a deep distrust of Japanese maps. You are lucky
if you can find any 2 maps that agree with each other. Luckier still
if you find a map that corresponds with reality. The Japanese prefer
a " nice" , harmonious reality. I suspect that the bureaucrats
responsible for the maps decided that there " should"
be a road here, that it would be nice to have a road here, so they
drew one in. So, I head back the way I came, about 5K to the main
road and then 10k along the main road back home, passing Kannabiji
and passing through the small farming communities. On the bright
side, its getting hot, but there are plenty of vending machines
with iced drinks on the road back. |
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