Conquering Mt Myogi
Mountain hiking with the visiting cousins!!!
February 2025
The train pulled away from the station. The windows were too small and the lighting not on my side. Where were they seated? I couldn’t see. But it was too late now anyway. The train didn’t wait for me.
Goodbye dear family.
My heart ached. Sadness stabbed. A sure sign that our time together had been wonderful.
The train grew smaller as it disappeared into the tunnel. The wind whipped my hair. My vest shielded my back from its cold.
I turned.
Back to my ordinary life. My Japanese life.
Just three days earlier I’d come to the same station, with completely different emotions.
Anticipation, excitement, joy.
My cousin, Lizzy, and her family were visiting from Australia and had made time in their short holiday schedule to hang out with us for the weekend. For the last few months we had been thinking of where to take them, what to see, what to eat, what to do together. Now the time had finally come!
The kids had stepped off the train first. Slightly disorientated, my son, Bob, and I had hurried down the platform, yelling out greetings to let them know we were there.
It had been a few years since we’d seen each other. The kids held back. Understandable. But with my cousin, Lizzy, and her husband, Hanson, the amount of years between seeing each other meant nothing. We all stepped in for the bear hugs!
And thus began our weekend of adventure!
First up was dinner at our home. Masato’s eyes had almost popped out of his head when I had told him there were five coming for dinner. I guess my brother in-law hadn’t seen that many extras in our house very often, if at all. Okasan kept forgetting who was visiting and how many, and each time I told her there was a “first time hearing this” surprised reaction, and a look around the space, wondering how on earth would we fit everyone into our house-built-for-two! I reminded her they were only eating dinner with us, they weren’t sleeping here. It didn’t relax the clogs from turning!
We squished in, somehow managing to find enough floor space in the tatami room for everyone. Australian’s are generally pretty happy to sit on the floor, thankfully, as we only have one chair to fight over!
The scent of Japanese curry was in the air and it wasn’t long before the rich, steamy goodness was ladled into bowls and passed around. I was grateful that the four younger kids had bonded very quickly and were happy to take their curry into the kids’ bedroom so the adults could enjoy conversation and actually hear each other! But before they disappeared, Lizzy held out her hand, “AirTags please!”
Brilliant!! Haha!!
The family had been traveling a few days already and I guess the parents wanted to keep tabs on their kids in crowded places. But here, out in the “country”, it felt safer. Her three children proceeded to pull out their AirTags from their pockets and hand them to their mum.
Masato either had to work back late, or purposefully dawdled. By the time he got home, dinner was over, our bellies were more than full and we’d taken Lizzy and her family to their accommodation.
We’d booked a cabin at a local campground, not having any motels near us. Shujin drove them there. Before he had returned back home, Lizzy was texting me. No kitchenware. Could they please borrow our picnic set tomorrow morning so they could eat breakfast?
What?! I guess we forgot to check those details!!
The next morning I got another text. No towels.
What?! Could they please borrow some?
I guess we forgot to check those details too!
Once showering and breakfast was sorted the next morning, we piled into the cars and headed to Mt Myogi. Unlike the usual ridge lines on the Japanese mountains, Mt Myogi is uniquely jagged but well loved by locals. We had recently discovered some hiking trails there and were confident our visitors would love them too.
The hike starts at Nakanotake Shrine. It looks tame enough, until you approach the torii gate and there before you looms 120 something very steep steps. The mountain air was wonderfully fresh and surprisingly not bitterly cold for a mid February day! As though the freshness of the morning spurred them on, the kids practically raced up the stairs to see who could reach the top first. I was still enjoying the bottom when they’d ascended the lot!
For me, mountain hiking isn’t about reaching the end as much as it’s about enjoying the journey!
I started on the stairs. Who made these so high with such little depth??!!
I stopped part way. Turning around, it almost felt like the stairs would pull me back down them! I held the rail, defying it.
Tall cypress pines held their ground. How many years had they witnessed? The buildings below had significantly shrunk. More people were making their way up the stairs. I turned and resumed the ascent.
At the top my lungs hurt, the cold air making it even harder to catch one’s breath. The cypress trees caused scattered sunlight. People stood before the shrine, their hands placed together in prayer, and bowed as they prayed. Standing back upright, they clapped twice before turning and going on their way.
All the kids were already on their way down the hiking trail. It was deceptively flat for a few hundred meters, then another ascent began. Steps. Lots of steps. Lizzy and I brought up the rear, Chase lingered back, just to tease his mum I think for he surely had the capacity to be up front!
Chase, so quiet and reserved. But when something sparked his interest, those pale blue eyes would light up. I watched him being a little mischievous and cheeky to his mum, those blue eyes dancing, that cheeky smile. He’s going to be a heart-breaker one day soon no doubt!
As we neared the top I could hear the shouts of the kids. Oh to have that much energy! I was using all mine just to put one foot in front of the other and up onto the next step!
The view from the top was stunning. It was an unusually warm February day, a promise of Spring to come. The sun shone bright and clear and I thanked God for such glorious weather so we could share this experience with Lizzy and her family. And also because I had no plan B for bad weather options!!
We continued on a little further, walking under one of the 4 natural rock arches that can be found along this hike. I awed over how this arch had withstood all the earthquakes that had threatened to bring it down!
We found a place to eat lunch, perched on rocks with a view to boot. Shujin passed around the packets of corn chips and instructed how to open them: turn the packet sideways and then rip the pack open longways.
Now you had an instant bowl with chips inside and then the beans, cheese and salad came out and were passed around, everyone filling their “bowls”. Lastly, chopsticks. Yes, eating salad nachos with chopsticks whilst hiking was the best!!
It was a totally scrumptious lunch and everyone loved it! Except some found the chopsticks a little hard. Oops! Hehe!! (We did bring back-up forks!)
My kids, having done this hike before, were biting at the bit to get going after lunch. The really fun stuff was just up ahead! Right before us was an outcrop of rocks, and in order to get to the top, you had to climb up a rock face using the provided chains to assist you.
Once again, the kids were off like rockets and I was only too glad that the dads could keep up with them! The chains were only a few meters in length, so it wasn’t much climbing, but once you ascended and stood on the top of the rocks that were jutting out of the mountain, you were quite high indeed!
Reaching the top could feel quite hairy for those who were afraid of heights. And then going back down, when you’ve already got jelly legs, was not the easiest! It was almost like abseiling but without a harness. Thankfully it was only a few metres!
The exhilaration of conquering such a feat spurred us all on. My kids eagerly told everyone that there were more sections with chains and off they bounded again, headed for the next thrill.
It was all downhill now, the the ascent now behind us.
I did have concerns about bringing Lizzy’s family on this hike. Her daughter, Aspen, had poor vision. She couldn’t clearly see the ground her own feet stood on, even with glasses. The mountain track wasn’t a neatly sealed path with no trip hazards. Lizzy had assured us that it would be fine, and explained that going up wouldn’t be a problem for Aspen (spot on!), she’d just take a little longer going down.
So on the way down, Aspen joined Lizzy and I as we brought up the rear. Any lack of vision that Aspen had was certainly made up for with words, and her enthusiasm for life. No sooner had we caught up with the others that she was off again, loving life and letting nothing hold her back.
Japan has an abundance of mountains and our family had started to enjoy hiking some of the local trails. Seeing how much everyone had really enjoyed this hike confirmed that this trail was a winner! Not too long, great views, fun sections, and challenging but doable.
It was now mid-afternoon but we still had a few items on the agenda before the day was out. I hoped our next stop would be appreciated just as much as this one was…
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