Tour Report for December 12, 2016

On December 12, 2016, a nice and cheerful family from Singapore joined TENGU's tour.  Though it was little cloudy, we were able to see Mt. Fuji from the summit and  enjoyed nice sunshine.  Moreover, we were able to observe winter cherry blossom.  Guests seemed to be excited and enjoyed the view of Mt. Fuji and cherry blossom.

Monthly hiking tour in December.

We hold our tour twice a month regularly. When we don’t have a guest, our tour becomes a day for our training. December 18^th was such a day. It was nice to learn from each other while enjoying hiking in the mountain for a change.

It was a beautiful day. We saw as far as Shinjuku or Sagami bay.

On the way back to the foot, we went down on the rout No.1, and observed various plants. I was

surprised to see some flowers show a sign of blooming.

 Now, Mt. Takao is preparing for the New Year. Shimenawas have been renewed here and there. I wish you ever happiness in the New Year.  (Nancy)

The December tour for JICA participants

The sky was clear. The air was warmer than usual. It turned to be an ideal day for hiking on December 3rd.

We had 15 guests from African and Asian nations.

One of the highlights of our tour is to see the Mt. Fuji from the top. With such a nice weather, I was confident that we could see it on that day. However, because of clouds, we couldn’t see it clearly. That’s a shame.

 Instead, we enjoyed colored leaves still remaining in the mountain and casual chat with our guests.

One of the guests in our group came from South Sudan. He told me about the beauty of Africa. “You should come to Africa. You can see the 5 biggest animals there, elephants, lions, hippopotamuses, crocodiles….” “Oh, that’s exciting. I love animals even crocodiles. If I can, I want to hug them”

 After the tour, when we said good-by to the guests, he looked back at me and said “Thank you, Nancy. I’ll send you a crocodile! ” 

If it is true, it will be an awesome Christmas present.  （Nancy)  

Enjoying the air of passing seasons on Dec. 4th

Color of leaves are changing and the season is moving to winter in Mt. Takao.

We had a friendly family from Singapore on Dec. 4th and could still enjoy the rest of autumn colors.We met at the train station a little bit earlier in the morning, and felt winter is coming in the air.It got warmer in daytime, then it was the relax time of lunch picnic at the top.

Mt. Takao is at the south-west boundary of Tokyo and a scenic location where we can overlook the Kanto plain,Tokyo metropolis, in the east, as well as Mt. Fuji in the west. Today's weather was enough to get both views, we enjoyed.Riding the chair-lift for going down was fun with nice view, too.

We thought how we could make fun time for the eleven-years-old girl of the family before the　tour,but Mt. Takao in this season was enough for all fun even without our guides' words. (Matt)

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

Tour Report for November 28, 2016

We were a little concerned about our November 28th Tour because of the snow on 24th and the crowded condition for Maple picking.   Fortunately, there were not many visitors as we had expected and we were also able to observe beautiful Mt. Fuji from the summit.  Though most of snow were melted, there were still some left and able to take a rare picture of snow and maple leave like below.

 Though it seemed to pass the peak of its beauty, it was still beautiful and enjoyable. Our guest from Philippines and their friends in Tokyo also seemed to enjoy our tour.  

 

(Cat)

Tour under autumn leaves in Mt. Takao

The season of autumn leaves in Mt. Takao is from about the middle of November to beginning of December. We got a request of a tour on Nov. 18^th. We were four of us, the guest of a merry couple from Canada and two of us as guides.

They are avid hikers and wanted to walk all the way up and down, so we took Biwa waterfall trail to Kasumidai and to Yakuoin temple by Trail 1, then to the top of the mountain, went down by the Inariyama trail. Even Mt. Fuji welcomed us with snow cap at the summit.

The mountain was full of red and yellow leaves and the blue sky made them more beautiful and impressive. All four of us were full of smiles under the beauty of the nature.  (Nori)

                                                                                                                                                                    

On supposedly the busiest day of the year

Away from the two main groups of ours queuing for funicular cable car for nearly an hour, three of us, our guest Maria from Germany, willing to walk all the way to and from the summit, my colleague Cat and myself took a route seemingly the least populous, like this.

So-called Biwa waterfall trail, one of the oldest trails of this region to Kasumidai Terrace located at the same altitude of upper Funicular cable car station, Trail No.1 jammed with tourists, yet with some space for walking, Main site of Yakuo-in temple ( We always took an internal back road), and finally descending to the backyard of Yakuo-in to walk up so-called Mt. Fuji trail to the summit.

Taking a luncheon somewhere farther than the summit or descending to Uratakao with bus connection to Takao Station in mind, we miraculously managed to get a table around the summit while so many people were eating on the ground even very close to a toilet, and took Inariyama trail for descent as scheduled only with a very short stop.

My colleague Cat always led the tour nicely with a bit of contribution of my own on plants.

Our guest, Maria generously told us that she also enjoyed this venturesome tour of November 20.

We were more than happy, indeed.   (by Sumo)

                                  (Summit area with full of people)

TENGU TOUR on Nov.20

Our tour, surrounded by autumn colors and a crowd of mountain fans was held on November 20．This gorgeous mountain season was visited by different nationalities, like Germany, Vietnarm, Indonesian,and Bangladesh.The maple leaf festival held in front of the cable car station with traditional Japanese stage performance, enhanced our waiting for the cable car.

Burnish red color of maple tree leaves here and there, invited us to have lunch near Stupa, underneath the beautiful nature.

Yakuo-in temple drew climbers attention and was overly crowded.

Return to the cable car bottom station at 2：30.

Thanks to everyone who joined our TENGU TOUR today.
（by Kate）

Hiking tour under the fine weather on Nov5th

We had JICA tour today. Bakha(Tajikistan), Jayalath(Sri Lanka), Udaya(Sri Lanka), Briendral(Napal), Nasir(Bangladesh), ALI(Pakistan), Henrique(Brazil), GOBIN(Maurtius), Bishow(Nepal), Ramesh(Nepal), Samir(Azerbaijian), Lei(Philippines), Jaime(El Salvador), and Rodolfo(El Salvador) attended it from JICA. 14 TENGU guides and 3 visitors attended too. We took personal supporter system today because it was protection for a stray person. The best season of Mt. Takao have been started it was so clouded. We enjoyed so much and saw beautiful Mt. Fuji today.

                                                     (by Nao)

Autumn has come, Autumnal tints are coming soon!

We had monthly hiking tour on third Sunday, October 16th. The good weather welcomed us in the morning. We met three guests from India and Poland at 9:30 at exit of Takaosanguchi station.

On the way, three Italians and a Polish joined our free guided tour.

We took lunch at summit and started going down by Trail-6.
It was a nice walking along a small stream in the valley.

We felt the Autumn air, then saw tree leaves ready to change it's color.

Dropped in at Biwa-taki water fall where the people including priests train them-self in order to achieve various spiritual or ritual objectives. We broke up at the foot of Mt. Takao, Kiyotaki station around 3pm.  (Comson)

                                             

Hiking in comfortable Autumn air on Sep 3rd

The weather forecast was wrong in our favor.

No rain, no heat, we had only comfortable autumn air. 

On the day, we had 13 nice guys, most from African countries, and one from Asia, all with clear eyes full of ambitious look, ready to start advanced research work here in our country.

As usual, they were ardent listeners, and raised many questions making all of us feel great.

B.t.w., I took up my favorite topic, plants growing in Mt. Takao.

(Sumo, a leader of this month)

Here are some photos.

To catch every words of our colleague guide.

 

Learning and practicing formalities at water basin of the temple.

 

All participants.

                                                                          (by Sumo)

 

 

Our monthly tour will be held on Sunday,September 18, 2016.

The tour start at 9:30 am.  In this tour, we will descend via Trail-No-6 instead of a chair  lift.  It will be a little bit challenging but it will be fun to walk in the woods.  For those who wish to ride a chair lift or cable car instead of Trail-No-6, please send us a request so that we can take you to chair lift/ cable car station.
Check our website for further information and make your reservation via entry form .

We are looking forward to seeing you!

Our monthly tour will be held on Sunday, August 21, 2016.

The tour start at 9:30 am.  In this tour, we will descend via Jyataki (Snake Waterfall) Trail  instead of a chair  lift and will ride a bus to Takao Station.  It will be a little bit challenging but it will be fun to walk in the woods.  For those who wish to ride a chair lift or cable car, please send us a request so that we can take you to chair lift/ cable car station.

Check our website for further information and make your reservation via entry form .

We are looking forward to seeing you!

Tour Report for June 19.

On June 19, 2016, we held our regular tour for June.  It was little humid but it was nice day for hiking. 

There were many people joined our tour from various countries such as Singapore, Taiwan and Puerto Rico.  Also 7 Japanese guests who wish to join our club observed our tour.  As one of our member, Miguel, was able to speak Spanish very fluently, he guided Puerto Ricans in Spanish with joy.

Mt. Takao was not crowded as we had expected and we were able to enjoy relaxing walk.   As the doors at the main hall were opened, our guests were able to observe the inside while priests were conducting goma rituals. 

Thank you for everyone who joined us on June 19, 2016!
 

A tailored tour with guests from U.S.A.

On July 6th, we had two guests from U.S.A. and made a tailored tour to their request of seeing a waterfall.

Japan is in the mid of rainy season now and the previous day had rain.  No surprise. We worried the weather on the day, but fortunately no rain dropped. Instead, the rain of previous day left calm and profound atmosphere in the sacred mountain, Mt. Takao.

                             



The guests were interested in seeing the waterfall in which worshippers have ascetic training.  Of course, we tailored the tour to provide nice time and memory in their trip. The air after the rain showed greenery profound, and it was like TENGU, mountain deity, statues were trying to get their life. I hope guests could enjoy this holy place, Mt. Takao, and some spiritual experience ! 

 

Mt. Takao has cable-car and chair-lift, too, so it's easy for everyone to reach the sacred mountain and tour plan is flexible. Experience in Mt. Takao must be another one in your Japan trip. Feel free to contact us for your plan of Mt. Takao !

(Matt)

Hiking in mid of Rainy season

We were lucky!  In that morning it was cloudy and afternoon sunny on Jun. 2nd, although it was in mid of rainy season.

15 guests from 11 countries (Peru, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Philippines, India, Papua New Guinea, Mexico, Chile, Swaziland, South African Republic) participated TENGU hiking tour at Mt.Takao.

The hiking course was below.

Start Cable car → Trail 1^st → Yakuoin → the summit and Lunch (around noon)

The path for return was the same way as going up, but we used chair lift.

We had a wrap up meeting near Kiyotaki station and finally took our group picture.

We saw line of priests who were returning from fire ritual in the main hall, around 11:30am. The guests seemed to feel stately, religious, and Japanese. One priest at the end of line showed us blowing a conch and explained in English. Some of guests took pictures together with the priest. It was amazing experiences to them.

Anyway we really enjoyed !!

Tim

Wonderful tour of green season

It was very sunny day on June 4, 2016. We, TENGU, greeted seven guests, who came from the Islamic Republic of Iran, Turkmenistan, Angola, Georgia, and the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

First, we did self-introduction and brief orientation just beside the Takaosanguchi station. And then we, all took the cable car which gains 2/3 height differences to the summit of Mt. Takao.

After taking the cable car, we started walking on Trail No.1 till the summit of Mt. Takao with some guides such as Octopus Root Cedar (蛸杉), Stone Monument on Warning (殺生禁断の碑), Men’s slope(男坂）and Women’s slope（女坂）, Tengu statues(天狗像), and so on.　When we reached to the summit, the sky was hazy, but we could get view the top of Mt. Fuji fortunately.

   

     (Gudie about the “Stone Monument on Warning”)

At noon, we had relaxed lunch time including Picture-Story Show around the summit. When going back to the foot, we walked Trail No.4 named “Forest and Animals” which provides more fresh air and green scene for us. Our guests who came from dried area were impressed by aged trees like Redwood and Japanese Beech(ブナ) and the Miyama bridge (suspension bridge).

                          
                                   (from the suspension bridge of Trail No.4)

    Finally all of our guests and TENGU members returned at Kiyotaki station safe and happily with experience of the Chair lift around at 2 pm.
 
    June is one of the best seasons for joining tour if we have no rain. Let’s enjoy walking and feel nature of suburban Tokyo. (by Kei)

Our monthly tour will be held on Sunday, June 19, 2016

Our monthly tour will be held on Sunday, June 19, 2016.

The tour start at 9:30 am.  In this tour, we will descend via Inariyama trail (trail#6) instead of a chair  lift.  It will be a little bit challenging but it will be fun to walk in the woods.  For those who wish to ride a chair lift or cable car instead of inariyama trail, please send us a request so that we can take you to chair lift/ cable car station.

Check our website for further information and make your reservation via entry form .

We are looking forward to seeing you!

Mild, Sunny & Perfumed breeze of May

  The weather was very fine today because of May ! Mild, Sunny and Perfumed breeze under the fresh green leaves of trees.So many walkers from the early morning and crowded on the way to the temple/shrine and filled with walkers all over the top of the mountain .

 

 On May 21, total 14 visitors from JICA, mainly Africa, Middle East and Asia this time. We started to walk at 9:45 with divided two groups attended by Tengu 7 members(leader, subleader and three

observers.)  Fortunately the area in front of the cable station were not so crowded than expected and easily we could get on the cable car at 10:15. And reached to the station at the mid of the mountain soon. The view from the observation deck was not so clear because of the mist at the Sagami-Bay but could see the center of Tokyo and Yokohama. After we passed the Japanese Monkey Park and Wild Plant Garden. We saw the old cedar tree which has strange shape of the roots(Octopus Cedar), hanged with sacred straw rope . We walked under the fresh air to the gate of the temple through the way of the ridge between the warm and cool area. We walked in the old cedar trees road and found the nest of the flying squirrel among the cedar trees in the valley.

 The day of 21^st every month means the special day for this Temple and luckily the place of the god(Izuna) was opened to see specially for the visitors. All of us could enter into this special room to see and pray this god(Izuna)  attended by the monk. He served all of us the sake(alcohol). Some visitors from Islamic could not take Sake(alcohol). Later on we passed the Shrine(not the Temple) passing the red arch of the gate.There were a lot of steps. Then the lion dogs were waited our visit.

 

 After 20 minutes’ walk we reached to the top of the mountains where filled the people all over and no place to have lunch. Finally we found some place to sit and have lunch. Then we could have lunch around 30 minutes.Today it was misty in front of the Mt. Fuji .No chance to see the Mt. Fuji today.

 

We walked down through the different route to the station of the chair lift.  Not so crowded at the chair lift station because many people intended to walked down because of the nice climate.

Finally we reached the station at 3:30 and held the wrap up. It was so nice weather today.

Sorry for the visitors that we had to carry the garbage back home because of the no garbage campaign in this mountain. “Keep Clean!” Thanks for all. 

                                                                                                         ( Miguel)  

Regular Monthly Tour on May 15

Regular monthly tour of May was held on 15th. We got a foreign guest from Singapore and  6 Japanese guests. We started at 9:30 then arrived at summit of Mt. Takao at 12:30. On this time vegetation began to appear. We saw white beech, black beech and nikko maple or "長者の木”.
After lunch we enjoyed picture story show.

 

We went back to Sanjo-station of chair lift, then breaked up in good weather and memories.

                                                                          (Comson)

 

    

 

日本人見学希望者の皆様へ

日本人の見学希望者の皆様へ

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高尾山英語ボランティアガイドクラブ

TENGU's new website.

We have renewed our website!! 
Please check them. I hope you enjoy it! 

If you find any mistakes, let us know so that we can fix it. Thank you!
http://www.takaotengu.com/

(Cat)

Spring misty rain welcomes us

On Apr 24th Sunday, we greeted eight students from Australia, France, Spain, Switzerland, UK, USA and Japanese professor. Meeting up at the exit of Takaosan-guchi station of Keio Line, we took cable car to midway, then went along Trail no-1. Arriving at Yakuo-in Temple, unfortunately, we were caught in the misty rain. Giving up to go to the summit of Mt.Takao, we got back to Kasumi-dai, then took lunch.

On the way back, we saw beatiful Shaga(Iris Japonica) are growing in colonies.

In my heart, I thanked unaffected nature of Mt. Takao and Japan has four distinct seasons.
                                                                                                  (Comson)