Miracle day! Oct.7th, 2017

Previous day many weather forecasts bothered me, because I had to decide if we would carry out the Mt. Hiking tour on Oct.7^th, but according to the forecasts it would be rainy till 9:00am on Oct.7^th. I finally decided we would carry out like a gambler.

The rain stopped in the morning around Takaosanguchi station 

13 guests from ten countries (Ethiopia, Turk, Cambodia, Tanzania, Philippines, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Egypt and Japan) participated. 

The hiking course was below.

Start Cable car à Trail 1^st à Yakuoin à the summit and Launch (around noon)
For return we used Fuji-michi path, and Trail 1^st , and then got on chair lift.

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

One guide explained to them about Asagimadara-Chestnut tiger butterfly on the board. Later when they actually found Asagimadara around Trail #5, they were surprised, and delighted at the butterfly while saying we were lucky

Egyptians often took photos of green trees. Japanese thinks why they do that.

Green forest was out of common to Egyptian, because they do not have green forests in their country.

In the morning long-distance view was unclear, but around noon we could catch Tokyo Sky tree, Shinjuku and Yokohama skyscrapers, Sagami-bay and Enoshima island.

Today it was first day of three successive holidays, so usually Mt.Takao was huge crowded. However today we could be comfortable 

We really enjoyed !!

Tim

Report on the tour with Cognizant Japan held on 30th September, 2017

 Today, we welcomed the employees and their families of Cognizant Japan, IT and Business Consulting Company. The 18 guests are from India, China and Japan, including a 2-year-old energetic boy. 

 We started the tour at 10:30. For starters, Tengu staff briefly explained the statues of the Sweeper Boy and the Flying Squirrels, and the trails in Mt. Takao, and then we took the cable car. The gusts enjoyed seeing the beautiful scenery through the windows and the steepest slope in Japan.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　△In the Cable Car                                 

 When getting off the cable car, we moved to the observation deck called KASUMI-DAI, and took a group photo with the panoramic view in their background.

 

　　　　　　　　　△KASUMI-DAI

  We started to hike along the trail No.1, heading to the top of Mt. Takao. On the way, we dropped by several tourist spots where Tengu staff shared useful information and interesting stories with the guests.

△Octopus Tree 

 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　△Jinpen-Do Temple

　　　　　　　　　　　　△Men’s slope and Women’s slope

     　　　　　　　　　　　△Izuna-Gongen-Do Shrine

  Though there are some tough staircases on the way to the top, all of the members, including the little boy climbed them up vigorously.

△2-year-old boy

  We arrived at the top of the mountain around noon and took a lunch break. After having lunch, we took a group photo all together.

　　　　　　　　　　　　△On the top of Mt. Takao

 We left the top of the mountain at 13:30. Fortunately, we happened to see beautiful butterflies called “Asagimadara”, the chestnut tiger in English, flying gracefully. They are known as butterflies which travel more than 1000km, crossing the sea.

△A butterfly called Asagimadara, or the chestnut tiger.

  At the very end of the tour, we took the chair-lift, going down to the Kiyotake Station at the foot of the mountain.

  We got together again there at 15:00. We said “Good bye” one another, smiling ear to ear. All the guests looked satisfied with the tour. I hope it will become a good memory for them.

△Kiyotake Station

 Finally, “Thank you Cognizant Japan for joining our tour!” from all the 7 guides involved in Today’s tour. Cheers🍻!!

△Review Meeting after the tour

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　（Written by HIDE）

2017-09-17

Report on the TENGU Tour held on 8 September 2017

It rained heavily in a way I’d never experienced before, at least at Mt. Takao region.

Actually, it stopped operation of cable car, and we had to wait for more than half an hour at the upper cable car station.

On the plus side, when the rain fall started, we were already within tens of steps from the station, and eating one of the most popular sweets of this region called Tengu-Yaki.

Furthermore, when we finally got to the lower cable station to finalize the tour in a very fine weather, our guests Chelsea and Stephanie had still enough time to visit nearby “599 Natural Museum” and hot springs (Onsen) called “Takao san Gokurakuyu” by themselves.

Noteworthy is that they were unknown to each other, and just applied to our Private Tour program for the same day.

But, they are from the same country, the same city, and similar age (It’s just to my eye of old man).
And they really looked like long-standing intimate friends in the eyes of three aged guides.        (By Sumo)

                                          A short break on the way up.


                                        

                         Purifying their body with sacred water in turn before making a prayer

                             

                                           At the summit. With my colleagues, Sally and Nabe

                                             Enjoying Tengu-Yaki

Report on the tour with JICA held on 5th August, 2017

Today’s guests were 9 of them, from Argentina, East Timor, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico and Myanmar. We decided to make the tour in two groups with 3 guides for each group. 

We started the tour as usual with the explanation of the statues of Sweeper Boy and Giant Flying Squirrel in front of Kiyotaki station. Then we took the cable car up to Takaosan station. The tour seemed to have started smoothly until when we found in the cable car that one of the guests was missing. Arriving at the Takaosan station, one of our guides was almost taking the return cable car down back to Kiyotaki Station to look for the missing guest, when the guest appeared to our great relief from no-where. As the fact that he was right there with us was important, no one asked him where he had been but we all wondered.

From the Takaosan station, we took the trail no.1 heading to Yakuoin temple and to the top of the Mt. Takao. On the way, we visited and made explanation on various spots including Kasumidai scenic point, Monkey Park, Takosugi, 2 different climate zones with different types of trees, Josinmon, etc.

At the fork of the trail, we had an option to go via challenging Otokozaka(men’s slope) or gentle Onnazaka(women’s slope). Otokozaka has 108 steps and this number of 108 has special meaning in Buddhism, namely it is the number of worldly desires that every human has.

We explained that it is said that by climbing up these 108 steps, one could be purified and freed from those 108 worldly desires. Probably because they were already pure enough, all ladies in one of the two groups chose Onnazaka, or it could be that they were just tired. 

We visited Bussharito (stupa) and explained about the stupa as well as the stone engraving showing Buddha’s life in 4 phases. We thank for interesting supplementary information and explanation given there by an Indian guest who knew well about Buddhism. 

When we arrived at Yakuoin temple, Goma fire ritual was going on and we could see the ritual and the procession of the Priests going back to their quarter after the ritual. The guests seemed to be impressed with the ritual as well as costume of the priests and the sound of trumpet shells they blew. 

We arrived at the top of the mountain around noon and went to the usual place for lunch. But the place was a bit too wet because of the recent rain, so we went back to the open space under the shade at the top. After the lunch, Chiko san, one of our guides, gave all the guests Orizuru (folded paper crane) that she had prepared for them. The guests are all very pleased and thanked her. 

After taking photo of us all together on the top, we started going down. We took the chair-lift that proved to be very popular among the guests. As they enjoyed the ride with the beautiful scenery all around, many of them bought the photos of themselves sitting on the chair. We arrived back at the Kiyotaki station around 2:pm. 

Though we could not see Mt.Fuji today, we, guides and guests, thoroughly enjoyed the tour - natural beauty, history and conversations/communications.

We thank all the guests for this good day and we hope today’s tour would be a part of their good memories in Japan.

 Written by Nori

Report on the TENGU Tour held on 16 July 2017

It was another terribly hot day!  I suspect that the rainy season has been over whatever the Japan Meteorological Agency may say.  The weather was reasonably good while it was not good enough for a clearer view of Tokyo Skytree and high rise buildings in the central Tokyo from Kasumi-mae Observation Deck on the way and on the way back either.

Our guest was a girl from Frankfurt in Germany who is staying in the city of Kodaira, Tokyo for the next 10 months or longer on a working holiday.  Her objective of staying in Tokyo this time is to study Japanese.  She came to Tokyo last Monday.

On the way, we took a cable car leaving at 9:45 am from Kiyotaki Station and then as usual followed Trail No. 1 which is the front approach to Yakuo-in Temple. 

When we started the tour, we did not see many visitors at the foot of the mountain.  Trail No. 1 was not so crowded either.  So, we spent more time than usual in guiding our guest. 

We were still, however, able to arrive at the main hall of Yakuo-in Temple around 11:25 am.  So, we thought that we should have been in time to witness the procession of Buddhist monks on the way back from their third performance of Buddhist fire ritual called “Goma Fire Ritual” of today which usually starts at 11:00 am and lasts about 30 minutes.  In fact, we failed to see their procession.  Looks like they terminated their ritual earlier than usual.  We were a little bit disappointed but it was probably due to a little too poor working conditions of monks inside the main hall in front of the fire altar which may be like a burning hell.  It was terribly hot today even without “Goma Fire”!   At this time of year, we must be tolerant of their shorter working time.

Just before we arrived at Izuna Gongen-do Hall, our guest suddenly sank weakly into a sitting position saying that she was feeling a little dizzy.  We took some rest there in the shade and waited for her recovery.  I’m afraid that she was a little too patient to listen to the explanation of our members under a blazing sun without wearing a hat.  Moreover, looks like she was still in the process of cancelling jet lag.

As she said definitely that she would like to go up to the peak of Mount Takao, we continued the tour.

Unfortunately, we were not be able to see Mount Fuji from the peak of the mountain.  After having lunch there, we took photos together with our guest.

We left the peak of the mountain around 1:00 pm.  On the way back, we took a different route by following Trail No. 4 going through a suspension bridge called "Miyama-bashi Bridge", which was the highlight on that route where we took photos with our guest again, and then came back to Trail No. 1.

Mainly because our guest had bought a round trip ticket for cable car or chairlift and partly because she was not in great shape being in the process of cancelling jet lag, we decided to take a chairlift on the way back.

We came back to the foot of the mountain a little earlier than 2:30 pm and took photos with our guest again in front of the cable car station.  Then, we said “good-bye” to her, which was the end of the tour.

I hope that she should come back and join our tour again for autumn leaves at Mount Takao, which appears to be her tentative plan.

Written by Shiro

Dated: 16 July 2017

Report on the TENGU Tour held on 4 July 2017

It was cloudy today while we had no rain during the tour irrespective of Typhoon No. 3 approaching the Kanto area, which was fortunate.

Our guest was a lady from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia who is staying in a room of a private house in Hachioji City that is rented out by the owner to her under the system called Minpaku services.  

She was just back from a 2 day 1 night Mount Fuji climbing tour.  She is very tough, isn’t she? 

Fortunately, we didn’t see many visitors to Mount Takao today unlike on Saturdays and Sundays 

On the way, we took a cable car leaving at 9:45 am from Kiyotaki Station and then as usual followed Trail No. 1 which is the front approach to Yakuo-in Temple.   

Although we spent a lot of time in guiding her on the way taking advantage of much less crowded mountain trails, we arrived at the grounds of Yakuo-in Temple early enough to see a group of Buddhist priests march in procession on the way back to their living quarters after finishing the Goma Fire Rituals, which was around 11:30 am. The procession was led by a group of junior priests in the costume of mountain priest blowing trumpet shells which was a good subject for our guest’s smartphone camera.

Our guest is a Buddhist.  So, she is very familiar with the various Buddhist concepts we explained during the tour.

As you can imagine, we were not able to see Mount Fuji from the peak of the mountain which was unfortunate.  We were in the middle of the rainy season anyway.  We showed our guest some photos of Mount Fuji taken in fine weather at the peak of Mount Takao instead.  We took photos together with our guest there.

Today, we had no difficulty in finding vacant stone benches at the peak of the mountain where we had lunch.  We had a longer lunch time there talking about various topics including her family.  

We left the peak of the mountain around 1:30 pm.  On the way back, we took a different route by following Iroha no Mori Trail, and then switching to Trail No. 4 going through a suspension bridge called "Miyama-bashi Bridge", which was the highlight on that route where we took photos with our guest again, and then came back to Trail No. 1.

At the Kasumidai Observation Deck, we changed our route from Trail No. 1 into Jataki Waterfall Trail heading for Takao Komagino Garden which features picturesque Japanese gardens.  

On the way to Jataki Waterfall, we saw a snake (a tiger keelback which is a little poisonous one) catching a frog (a Japanese toad).  As a matter of course, we observed strictly one of the rules at Mount Takao, which is “Don’t disturb wildlife or plant! What you can take here are just their pictures.” so that the snake could take time in having its meal.  Our guest also strictly observed the rule and just took a picture of the snake with a leg of the frog in its mouth.

Before we arrive at Takao Komagino Garden, we found that our guest had a pain in the toe due to blisters created during her descent from Mount Fuji.  We gave her an emergency adhesive plaster and a bandage we had in our emergency medical kit for the first aid treatment to mitigate her pain. 

At Takao Kogagino Garden, we enjoyed a pond strolling garden.  We took a picture again with our guest there.  We enjoyed watching Japanese colored carp swimming in the pond, lotus flowers starting to be in bloom, a good collection of ‘bonsai’, a potted tree that has been dwarfed and shaped by such methods as pruning and wiring in order to create particularly aesthetic shapes.  We also tried ‘water harp cave’, which is a garden ornament and musical device creating a pleasant splashing sound.  We spent about one hour there.

Our guest kindly bought each of us a cup of coffee at the tearoom there while we were waiting for a bus for Takao Station.  At first, we planned to take a walk back to Takao Station but decided to change our plan considering the injured toe of our guest.

We arrived at the north exit of Takao Station around 4:00 pm.  Then, we took a walk to the area on the side of the south exit of Takao Station so that our guest can take another bus to go back to the house of her host family.  Then, we said “good-bye” to her there, which was the end of the tour.

We had another enjoyable day!

Written by Shiro

Dated: 4 July 2017 

Report on the TENGU Tour held on 1 July 2017

We are now in the rainy season.  It was hot and humid today! 

In fact, it started to rain when our guests, who are a group of the JICA trainees from overseas (and one Japanese lady who is a friend of one of them), and TENGU members met in front of Takaosanguchi Station this morning, which was far from a great start of the tour.

Having said that, when we finished the meeting for introducing ourselves to each other and going over a little bit of housekeeping, the rain eased up. 

Fifteen of our guests from overseas are from Indonesia, Egypt, Iraq, Zambia, Bhutan, Georgia, Mozambique, Afghanistan, Mauritius, Philippines, Uzbekistan and Tadzhikistan.  There was one no-show while there was one new guest.  We divided our guests into two groups.  Each group was guided by five TENGU members, respectively.

According to our guest from Zambia, this tour was his very first mountain climbing experience.  He said that Zambia is so flat.  

On the way, we took a cable car leaving at 10:15 from Kiyotaki Station and then followed Trail No. 1 which is the front approach to Yakuo-in Temple, the main religious structure in Mount Takao.   

As more or less expected, we were not able to see either Tokyo Skytree or high rise buildings in the central Tokyo from Kashmi-mae Observation Deck.

Thanks to the bad weather, however, Mount Takao was much less crowed than usual and we could spend more time in guiding our guests.  So, our group arrived at the peak of the mountain around 12:45 much later than usual to find the other group had already finished their lunch.  By the lunch time, it had stopped raining.  

Although it was still too difficult to see Mount Fuji from the peak of the mountain then, we could occupy roofed benches for having lunch, which should have never been available in better weather conditions.

After having lunch, we took pictures with our guests at the peak of the mountain and then started going down around 13:40.  We chose a different (but easier) route on the way back.  

Fortunately, the fog cleared up by that time and we could see Tokyo Skytree, high buildings in Shinjuku, etc.  Our guests were very much excited to see them.

For a change, we took a chairlift on the way back.  Looks like taking a chairlift was another highlight in this tour for our guests.  In fact, at first, one lady from Egypt was not so keen on the idea of taking a chairlift on the way back saying that it sounded a little bit scary.  Eventually, she found it safe and exciting and liked it, which was very good.

We came back to the foot of the mountain around 14:30 and took photos with our guests again in front of the cable car station.  Then, we said “good-bye” to them, which was the end of the tour.

It was fortunate that the weather was not so bad as the weather forecast had said.

Written by Shiro

Dated: 1 July 2017