Best hiking season has started with 12 guests from nine countries!!

 

Date: October 7, 2013

The extreme heat has finally settled down in Tokyo and a pleasant autumn has just started. Today, we enjoyed hiking with 12 guests from 9 different countries. They are all excellent students studying for their master's degrees at prestigious universities in Japan.

 The cable car is always a delight for guests. Some admired the beautiful natural scenery, while others shot videos from inside the car. We took the cable car up to the midpoint of the mountain and then started our hike using the trail #1.

At Kiyotaki Station

At Takao-san Station

Hiking on the trail #1

"How lucky we are!"　Today we came upon a super special "Goma fire ritual," which takes place only twice a year. The ritual is a traditional one in Esoteric Buddhism in which monks incessantly chant mantras around the fire to burn away all the worldly desires ingrained in people's minds.

Goma fire ritual

After stopping by some of the highlights on the grounds of Yakuo-in Temple, we finally reached the summit a little after 2:00 pm. Unfortunately, we could not see Mt. Fuji, but we had a great time chatting and taking pictures there.

Top of the mountain

A route called “Fuji Trail” was our way down the mountain. We passed through a forest of Katsura trees with the smell of soy sauce crackers in the air, and got to the chair-lift station in the middle of the mountain. We returned to the foot of the mountain by the lift, enjoying the spectacular view before us.

On the chair-lift

We are sure they will make countless memories in Japan. We would be very happy if even a small part of the time spent today at Mt. Takao will remain in their memories.

Thank you for joining our tour!

Written by HIDE