November 17, 2024

 The beautiful autumn foliage and the beautiful sunny day made Mt Takao very crowded. We started at 9:30am but had to wait for the cable car for 20 minutes. Today’s guests are two Singaporean guys and a Myanmar lady with two Japanese guys as observers who are interested in TENGU activities and considering to join the club. From TENGU, Nori and Masa joined as guides.

Masa started the tour with the explanation of the “Fudo-in” temple near the entrance of Mt. Takao, in which the famous Kobo-Daishi is enshrined. Masa explained, in front of the statue of Kobo-Daishi, that the Buddhist rosary he is holding in his left hand has 108 beads. The figure 108 has a special meaning in Buddhism and it will be explained later when it appears in another place.

Artwork depicting the four seasons and traditional Japanese events displayed on a tree stump at the roadside of the Trail no.1 past the Octopus cedar tree. The contrast between the red of Hozuki（ ground cherry） and the green leaves is very beautiful. Thank you very much for the local artist for his (her?) creation.

Now, after climbing the 108 steps of Otoko-Zaka, meaning men’s slope, we have come to the Kunuke-mon, literally the Gate of Getting Out of Sufferings. One of the guests asked me, “Are there really 108 steps?”. The answer is “exactly!” The number 108 is frequently referred to in Buddhism as the variety of worldly sins or desires people have, and going through this gate can mitigate the feeling of suffering from afflictions related to these 108 sins or desires.

 

At the Joyful Garden

With clear blue sky in the background, stands the stupa in which the ashes of Buddha are enshrined 

At the Joyful Garden

 Nori-san seems to be enjoying the conversation! Perhaps the lady guest was taking the talk about Buddhism more seriously because she is from Myanmar.

 Though the autumn tint is not yet at its peak, it is beautiful nevertheless.

At Shitenno-mon, “the Gate of Four Heavenly king”

 

In front of the main hall of Yakuo-in temple

With incense smoke, she was purifying her body and mind. We wish her prayers will be heard!

At Gongen-do

Autumn leaves are really beautiful.

At Gongen-do

Telling the story about the figure in the mural. He is a Chinese legendary hermit, 

who lost his body while his spirit was traveling to the other world.

 If you want to hear the story, join our tour!

At the top

 It was as congested as expected in this season with maybe more than a few hundreds of visitors.

Lunch at the summit

Miraculously, there was one vacant table available for our lunch, so we could enjoy lunch and conversation, feeling relaxed and free.                 The Singaporean guests told us about the eye-popping high cost of owning a car in Singapore. Saying they need a certificate to buy a car, they showed us the calculator on their cell phones. If I am not mistaken, it exceeded 10 million yen! Unbelievable! In addition, a car itself is as expensive as the certificate!

Luckily we could see the glimpse of Mt. Fuji when we were leaving, which had been totally hidden in the cloud when we had arrived there.

We climbed down via trail no.4 and took the photo on the way at the popular suspension bridge.

At the chair-lift station

Look at this huge and long queue for the chair-lift!  It took about 50minutes before we could ride on the lift.  But Masa and all others took advantage of this waiting time to have a chat over drinks and snacks they bought there.

  

A healthy young lady has a healthy appetite, enjoying skewered sausage.

the tour ended with smiles

 After a 12 minute chair-lift ride, we safely arrived at Kiyotaki station. Though the tour took longer than we had planned because of the chair-lift waiting, all of us were happy and smiling. The guests and the observers were really nice, kind and cheerful. We thank you very much for your cooperation that made the tour really enjoyable for all of us. To the guests, Enjoy your stay in Japan !!!

 

Written by Masa

Private tour on November８th

 We met up at Takaosan-guchi station at 9:30.  There was a little bit clouds but we could see clear blue sky among them.

Our guest was a young lady from Hong Kong. She is very cheerful, friendly and likes talking. After brief introduction, she gave us Chinese tea as souvenir. 

 She has visited to Japan for sightseeing many times. But she seems not used to be hiking mountain well.

As she said that she is acrophobia, and no experience of chair lift but she was so curious that she accepted our proposal to challenge it with us. 

On chair lift

She is interested in meaning of number which is lucky or not.  She questioned us about “8” at Tako Cedar (the place we can see the huge tree) and “Shichigosan~3,5,7” (a ceremony to pray for the health and growth of children) at the paper craft spot called Japanese Banksy decoration. 

Why odd numbers are fortune, and even numbers are misfortune. Because even number means separate or divided ,so it means bad. Why “8~八” and “9〜九“ don’t match with the theory.

 We explained “8” is like shape of a skirt spreading widely which means increasing lucky things.

 “9”pronunce “ku”means struggle, after going through Kunuke gate means over come “struggle”. She said meaning“8” is same as in Chinese culture.

Japanese Banksy paper craft.

Kunuke stone gate

She was surprised that butterfly Asagimadara fly through 2000km from Taiwan to Japan. And she was interested in the butterfly’s habit that they eat poisonous leaf Kijoran for getting immunity protecting themselves from enemies.

 This is the egg of Asagimadara laid on the underside of the leaf of Kijoran. I saw it last week.

the egg of Asagimadara laid on underside of kijoran leaf

We had a lunch at back of the summit. Before this she treated us kurogoma amazake. At lunch time our topics were about the difference of food between Hongkong and Japan. 

She said fishes and fruits in Japan are very delicious. She brought onigiri bought in convenience store, I brought onigiri I made. 

She is little bit curious and seemed a bit admire of my onigiri. Even though it is very plain ordinary food but looking back I would have liked offer her a bit split my onigiri.

On the way back we took No.4 trail crossing suspension bridge. As she did wear flat shoes and had a shoulder bag and she sometimes seemed a bit scary with so many wooden steps were there, carefully walked not to be caught by spreading roots on ground and narrow paths on muddy clay soil. 

But she enjoyed it very much and even sometimes cared about me. After that we took No 1trail road down to Kiyotaki station all walking. We arrived at Kiyotaki station 4:05 pm. 

We enjoyed very much this tour with such a cheerful, gentle and kind young lady, it was a wonderful memory.

Trail no.4

 

Written by Rie

Report on TENGU Tour held on 6 November 2024

 

It was mostly cloudy and a little chilly day.  Unfortunately, it was still a little too early for the beautiful autumn foliage. Our guests were a family from Singapore consisting of a lady who applied for a private tour and her parents in the early 60s.

 TENGU guides included Sally-san, Nabe-san and myself as a tour leader.  In addition, one observer as a potential future TENGU member jointed the tour.

 As I was explained by the daughter in advance that her parents may need her assistance as interpreter for our guiding, I started my briefing in Chinese language partly for the purpose of icebreaker. 

 Having said that, it turned out that we didn’t have to worry about the issue too much as we were able to communicate with her parents without too much problem.

 In fact, the arrival of our guests was delayed by tens of minutes. 

 So, it was eventually 10:45 am when took a cable car leaving Kiyotaki Station and we then followed Trail 1 heading for the Yakuo-in Temple as usual.

At Sumika-mae Observation Deck

Touching the Statue of Lucky Octopus for diving blessing

 In due course, we found that our guests are all Buddhists and that among the three (3) the mother is most devoted to Buddhism.  

 Looks like she damaged her toes on previous day wearing a pair of sandals instead of sneakers or trekking shoes, which meant that we would have to move very slowly and our tour should take a much longer time than usual.

 So, I lent a pair of trekking poles to her to mitigate her problem.

At the Tori-i gate called the Gate of Purified Heart

Consequently, it was after noon when we arrived at Yuki-en (Joyful Garden) where we can see the photogenic white Thai style stupa.

In front of the white Thai style stupa

 Surprisingly, the mother together with her daughter made a pilgrimage to all the One Hundred Holy Places of Kannon (Guanyin) Bodhisattva (Avalokitesvara) that was re-created in miniature around the white Thai style stupa by enshrining the pebbles the then head priest of Yakuo-in Temple collected at each of the One Hundred Holy Places of Kannon (Guanyin) Bodhisattva in Japan back in 2001.

Making a pilgrimage to all the One Hundred Holy Places of Kannon

 

After guiding our guests about other items in Yuki-en, we had lunch together sitting on the benches around the statue of boy scout there.

A Happy Lunch Time!

 It was 1:30 pm when we got to the grounds of Yakuo-in Temple.

In front of Shitenno-mon (the Gate of Four Heavenly Kings)

In front of Tengu statues

After some guiding, restroom break and shopping at the lowest level of the grounds of Yakuo-in Temple, skipping other main guiding points, we started moving on slowly towards the peak of the mountain around 1:45 pm by following Fuji Michi which is a gentle enough upward slope for the mother.

Following Fuji Michi slowly

We managed to get to the peak of Mt. Takao around 2:30 pm. Unfortunately, there were a little too many unwanted clouds to see the graceful figure of Mt. Fuji.  

We took a group photo at the peak of the mountain and left there around 2:50 pm.

At the peak of Mt. Takao

As we understood that the preference of our guests was to revisit Yakuo-in Temple to pray for divine blessing, we followed Trail 1 down to the grounds of Yakuo-in Temple.

 Needless to say, our guests offered prayers at Fuji Sengen-sha Shrine, Okuno-in Fudo-do, Izuna Gongen-do Hall, and finally Main Hall of Yakuo-in Temple.

Offering prayers in front of Main Hall of Yakuo-in Temple

 We took the time to walk down to the cable car station following Trail 1.

Around the Kamumidai Observation Deck, however, we were informed that the daughter would like to take a cable car rather than a chairlift as she has acrophobia while her parents would like to take a chairlift.

 So, both Nabe-san and Sally-san took a cable car with the daughter and the observer and I took a chairlift together with her parents.

Looks like the parents enjoyed a 12-minute open air travel very much

A happy couple who are enjoying a 12-minute open air travel

 We came back to the foot of the mountain around 4:50 pm and then took a group photo in front of the cable car Kiyotaki Station, which was the end of the tour.

In front of the cable car station

 Dated: 7 November 2024

Written by Shiro

 

Private tour on October 30th, 2024

This tour consists of three guests from Australia, Peter, Ian and Fay. Our guests are fellow walkers, and despite their advanced ages, they are very hardy walkers and have been hiking in the mountains in Australia. They have traveled mountains in Europe and Mt Everest. This time, they chose the anytime tour and wanted to take a long trail from Mt Kagenobu. Unfortunately, Fay was unable to accompany us due to bad conditions, so we split into two groups (Group A and Group B) for a less burdensome route.

 [GroupA]

Peter, Ian, veteran guide Nosan and newcomer Masa met at Takao Station at 9:00 a.m. After brief self-introductions, we were transferred by bus to Kobotoke. On the way to Kobotoke bus stop, when Nosan explained the view from the bus window, Peter became interested in “Yuzu” and searched for it on his smartphone. In the meantime, we arrived at the Kagenobu trailhead at 10:00 a.m. Departure in light rain.

 We arrived at the entrance of the trailhead, listening to the explanation of yams and lacquer trees growing near the paved road. By this time, the rain stopped and the sun was shining brightly. Everyone went from long-sleeved clothes to short sleeves.

It took about 40 minutes to climb steeply, taking care not to get muddy. At the junction. They still look like a piece of cake. We took out the bear bell in a hurry when we saw a sign warning of bears.

Arrived at Mt. Kagenobu at around 11:20a.m. While enjoying the distant view through the clearing clouds, we had lunch. Peter showed me many photos of his hikes in Australia, and I was greatly impressed by the vivid colors of sea and mountains, and koalas! I want to go to Australia someday.

We departed from Mt.Kagenobu and proceeded through a series of small ups and downs. On the way, two guests showed interest in the mushrooms growing all over the tree.

Two guests were surprised by the strong scent of Japanese pepper leaves and admired Aoki. I also caught a smiley face.

This is Aoki.

At 13:30, we arrived at Kobotoke Pass. The two guests cleared the slightly steep stairs with ease and light steps.

 On the way, we encountered a tree that appeared to have been struck by lightning and we took pictures of it.

At 13:30, we arrived at Mt.Kobotoke-Shiroyama and took a short break. Masa, a new guide, was very interested in the private life of the guests, including their family stories.

After crossing Icchou-daira and approaching the long stairway before Momiji-dai, even the guests looked a little tired. Now, we are almost there!

Perhaps as a final reward for our efforts, the very beautiful Asagimadara seemed to be cheering us on. It did not turn away even when we got very close to it for camera work.

We will soon be meeting up with Fay and Satomi from Group B. Here is a little recap  of Group B’s day as well.

[Group B]

We met at the hotel near JR Hachioji station.We took a walk from JR Takao station to Komakino garden.

Along the way to the garden,  Fay enjoyed greeting dogs on the walk.At the garden, we walked around and enjoyed bonsai, pond-garden and dry-garden as well as a Japanese house.

We took a shortcut from the garden to Takaosanguchi by walking, and at Kiyotaki St., I described a statue of a giant Japanese flying squirrel.

We had lunch break at cable car Takaosan st. and took the Fuji Michi route to the top of Mt. Takao, on the way, I briefly talked about  "Monkey park", "Tako Sugi(Octopus Cedar tree)”,  "Origami display".

While waiting for a gap, we had a look around the visitor center.

 [Group A/B]

At 15:00, we finally met up with Fay and Satomi from Group B at the summit of Mt.Takao. Ian and Fay are a married couple, and they will be reunited here. Satomi was TENGU’s first guide, and she did a great job. Fay and Satomi, thank you so much for your hard work.

From the observatory on the way down the mountain, we made one last memory with the beautiful sunset in the background.

After descending the mountain, our guests treated us to dinner in honor of our guides. The menu was pure Japanese style, including tempura, soba, tofu and sake. It was very tasty.

We also received cute koala clips as gifts from our guests.

It was truly a wonderful day.  Thank you very much.

Written by Masa and Satomi