It was
very chilly in the morning but perfect weather to see gracefully snow-covered
Mt. Fuji from the top of Mt. Takao !.Our guests today were a very nice family of
six from Singapore. They were in the middle of their first journey in Japan. So,
we very much appreciated that they were interested in Mt.Takao and chose our
tour in such their precious time. In addition to the family, we had four people from TENGU, so we
started our tour as a group of ten around 9:40 at Takaosanguchi station.
After
quick briefing in front of the statue of Sweeper Boy,(briefing in front of statue of Sweeper
Boy)
we got on the cable car to go halfway up Mt.
Takao, then enjoyed taste of popular baked confection “Tenguyaki” and amazingly
clear view from Kasumidai observation deck as the first thing in the tour
(tasting popular TENGUYAKI”)(clear view from Kasumidai observation
deck)
From Kasumidai, we walked on Trail No. 1
talking about monkey park, octopus cedar tree, Joshinmon gate, Chestnut tiger butterfly
and 108 worldly desires etc.,(talking about Chestnut tiger butterflies)
After walking up the 108 steps of
Otoko-saka, we reached to Kunuke-mon, which is believed to mitigate feeling of
suffering caused by endless cycle of reincarnation.
(in front of Kunuke-mon)
Then we reached to Yuki-en (Joyful Garden) where
a white beautiful stupa was welcoming us. In the Thailand style stupa, cremated
remains of Budda are housed.
(in front of beautiful white stupa)
From Yuki-en, we continued walking on Trail
No.1 talking about legend of Tengu, guardians of the compass points at gate of
Four Heavenly King, history of Yakuo-in temple, and statues along the trail
(in front of four heavenly king gate)
(purifying hands before worshipping)
then arrived at the peak of Mt. Takao
around 12:30 and enjoyed beautiful view of Mt. Fuji.
(at the top of Mt.Takao)(with beautiful Mt,Fuji)
Nearby the peak of Mt.Takao, we took lunch
break at a soba (Japanese buckwheat noodle)
restaurant and chatted about their plan for the rest of days in Japan,
(at Soba
restaurant)
After the lunch break, we started going
down the mountain thru Trail No.4 where we could enjoy breath of nature and
popular green covered suspension bridge, then back to Trail No.1.
(at suspension bridge on Trail No.4)
When we arrived at Sanjo station of chair lift,
we recognized that the chair lift system was out of service for maintenance, so
we decided to walk down all the way to the foot of Mt. Takao. It was unplanned
happening, but we could reach to the Takaosanguchi station safely around 15:30,
then took final group photo in front of the station.
(walking down all the way to the foot of
Mt.Takao) (in front of Takaosanguchi station)Thanks to the family, we wish all the best for
them. By Shin
