HIGHLIGHTS

Nikko's World Heritage site of Toshogu Shrine - Hiking through the Oze Marshlands - joining the pilgrims to climb the three sacred peaks of Dewa - staying in temple lodgings - the mountainside temple complex at Yamadera - gentle cycling and walking in the Tono Valley - natural hot spring baths at Lake Tazawako - Samurai houses and castle at Kakunodate - ultra-modern Tokyo

Guide - Matt Malcomson

Matt travelled to Japan at the age of 18 and has been exploring the archipelago ever since. He lived in Nara, Miyazaki, and Tokyo for 10 years, working for an international magazine and leading outdoor trips. He is a travel writer. Matt has been based in the UK since 2005.

Style of tour
European leader, small-group walking and hiking. Accommodation in traditional ryokan, hotels, mountain lodge.

Dates
Sunday 21 September - Friday 3 October 2008

Price for 2008
£1,850

Duration
13 days

Hiking days
6 days

Grade
Moderate

Group size
Maximum: 8 Clients Minimum: 5 Client

Includes:
All domestic transport, accommodation, entrance fees, breakfasts. 10 evening meals are included.

Does not include:
International Flights, drinks with meals, lunches and evening meals in Tokyo.

Booking

www.hikejapan.com

info@hikejapan.com

Hike Japan Ltd.
Registered office
89 Fleet Street London EC4Y 1DH

Phone:

Japan : ++81 (0)3 5226 1169 (tel & fax)
              ++81 (0)80 3445 1130 (mob)

UK :       ++44 (0)207 353 2363

North America :

INTRODUCTION

Tokyo • Nikko • Oze Marshland • Dewa Sanzan • Yamadera • Tono Valley • Lake Tazawako • Kakunodate

Our journey will take us north from Tokyo into a landscape steeped in spirituality and tradition. Though off the established tourist circuit, the sights of northern Japan can rival anywhere in the country in their beauty and atmospheric grandeur.

The Japanese poet Matsuo Basho traveled through this region in the 17 th century, a journey subsequently published as The Narrow Road to the Deep North. We will visit several of the places he stopped and penned his famous haiku poems.

After two days in Tokyo we will head to Nikko , a UNESCO World Heritage site where the Tokugawa shoguns were enshrined in ornate colourful tombs. We will have a guided tour through the shrine complex which sits deep amongst the trees.

From Nikko our journey will take us to the Oze, a beautiful marshland area high in the mountains formed when the nearby Mount Hiuchi erupted and blocked the outflow of local rivers. Part of the Nikko National Park, Oze is a haven for wildflowers and plants. Our wooden lodge next to the lake will provide a tranquil setting to relax and take an evening stroll.

One of the great pleasures of traveling in Japan is to sample the various onsen – natural hot spring baths. At the small mountain village of Tochio , reached by bus and lake ferry, we will stay in a lovely traditional ryokan (travelers inn) with its own outdoor baths next to the river, and dine on the local fresh fish and seasonal vegetables.

Continuing north by train along the stunning Japan Sea coast, we will reach the Dewa Sanzan area – the three sacred peaks of Dewa. A centre of religious practice for over a thousand years, and known for the yamabushi mountain ascetics who still practice there, we will stay at a shukubo – traditional pilgrims lodging, atop Mount Haguro-san . With spacious tatami-mat rooms looking out onto a forest of tall cypress trees, and a dinner of shojin-ryori – vegetarian Buddhist cuisine – this will certainly be a restful night!

We will join the pilgrims for a climb up Mount Gas-san to the shrine on its summit, where we will receive the priest's blessing and drink the sacred saké. In the surrounding area we will visit a Zen temple and garden to enjoy the tea ceremony, and later a temple which contains the mummified body of a priest who is said to have become a living Buddha.

During the Heian-period, when Kyoto was Japan 's capital and feudal lords ruled Japan , Hiraizumi was the seat of the Fujiwara clan, and was said to have rivaled Kyoto in its splendour and sophistication. We will have a guided tour of the magnificent Konjiki-do (Golden hall) which is completely covered in gold.

At Tono, a rural farming community in Iwate Prefecture , great pride is taken in the traditional folklore. We will take gentle walks and rent bicycles to visit sites associated with some of the colourful tales, including that of the Kappa, small creatures with webbed hands and feet and a beaked-nose that lives near rivers. The Kappa love to pull unsuspecting humans into the rivers and do other mischief. The area is also famous for the traditional magariya L-shaped farmhouses, several of which we will visit.

In neighbouring Akita Prefecture the remote village of Nyuto Onsen is one of Japan 's most rustic hot springs , with old wooden ryokan which have been here for over 350 years; one of them used to have a private pavilion for the local feudal lord. There will be plenty of opportunities to soak in the various outdoor hot springs with their famous milky-white water. Afterwards we will dine on exquisitely-prepared local specialities.

Our journey will end where it started, in the ultra-modern Tokyo , after a journey aboard the famous bullet train.

DAY-BY-DAY ITINERAY

DAY 1 MEET IN TOKYO

Meet at Narita International Airport and transfer by train to Tokyo . There will be a leisurely walk around central Tokyo , and later a welcome dinner at a restaurant in the centre of the city. Overnight at hotel.

DAY 2 SIGHTSEEING IN TOKYO

Our first full day in Japan will be spent on a walking tour of Tokyo , visiting Asakusa, the old residential shitamachi neighbourhood around Yanaka, and taking a cruise on boat along the Sumida river to the Hamarikyu gardens. We will also visit the Meiji shrine and its nearby gardens before finishing in Shinjuku – the ultra-modern neon-soaked symbol of modern Japan . Dinner will be at a sushi restaurant.

DAY 3 TRANSFER TO NIKKO (Walking 3.5 miles: 2 hours 270 metres ascent, 260 metres descent)

We will board a train this morning for the journey out of Tokyo to Nikko , two hours to the north. The forests and mountains of Nikko have been sacred to the Japanese for 1,200 years, and it was here that in 1617 the Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu had himself enshrined at Tosho-gu. These extravagantly ornate buildings are now on the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites and we will take a guided walking tour of the main shrine buildings. Afterwards, there will be a short walk in the surrounding hills and a chance to stop for green tea and cakes before we head to our lodgings for tonight.

DAY 4 DRIVE TO OZE MARSHLAND (Walking 9 miles: 4 hours, 550 metres ascent, 158 metres descent)

After breakfast our baggage will be collected and sent on by courier to our lodgings in the Dewa Sanzan area. For the next few days we will carry just a daypack with a change of clothes and other essential items. We will travel by road for two hours by a series of mountain roads to the start of our walk into Oze Marshland.

After which a two-hour hike will bring us to the marshland high in the mountains of the Nikko National Park , this beautiful area is a haven for wild flowers and plants. We will stay at a friendly mountain lodge next to the Oze-numa lake.

DAY 5 HIKING IN OZE (10 miles walking: approximately 5 hours, 400 metres ascent, 550 metres descent)

After an early breakfast, we hike through the Oze Marshland to the Oze-ga-hara area where boardwalks are laid out amongst the marshes. We will stop for a picnic lunch of onigiri (rice balls flavoured with Japanese pickles), and then continue to the northern edge of the marsh, where a bus will take us through a long valley to the Okutadani lake and a boat ride to the opposite side. Another short bus ride will bring us to Tochio hot spring, where we will stay for the night in a lovely traditional ryokan , enjoying a dip or two in the open-air hot spring baths.

DAY 6 TRANSFER TO DEWA SANZAN (2 miles walking: approximately 1.5 hours, 290 metres ascent, 65 metres descent)

After breakfast and perhaps another quick soak in the hot spring, we will take a bus to the nearby town of Koide , transferring to the shinkansen (Bullet train) for our journey north, following the picturesque Japan Sea coast for part of the way. Our destination is the Dewa Sanzan (literally ‘three peaks of Dewa') area, which refers to the three sacred peaks of Haguro-san, Gas-san, and Yudono-san. The lowest of the three, Haguro-san (414 metres) is the spiritual home of the Shugendo sect, a mixture of the native Shinto belief and Buddhism involving some rather arduous forms of mountain worship. Mountain ascetics known as yamabushi can still be seen with their conch shells which are used to call the spirits. The 17 th century poet Basho came this way on his famed journey through northern Japan and penned the following praise:

How cool it is
A pale crescent shining
Above the dark hollow
Of Mount Haguro

The summit of Haguro-san is reached by a staircase of 2,446 stone steps surrounded by a forest of giant cedars. At the top the pilgrims in their white coats head for the Dewa Sanzan shrine with its massive thatched roof. Connected to the shrine by a covered walkway is the lovely shukubo (pilgrims lodgings) where we stay tonight. Our baggage sent from Nikko will be waiting for us when we arrive. For dinner we will enjoy a meal of shojin-ryori , vegetarian Buddhist cuisine.

DAY 7 CLIMB GAS-SAN (6 miles walking: approximately 4.5 hours, 665 metres ascent, 665 metres descent)

In the morning we will have an early breakfast, and take the bus to the start of our hike on Mount Gas-san.

The highest of the three sacred mountains, Gas-san (the name means ‘moon mountain') is covered in deep snow for much of the year – up to 5 or 6 metres. The mountain is officially ‘opened' each year with a ceremony at the Shinto shrine at the summit, which we will reach following a two and half hour climb. Along the way there are lovely small ponds formed by the melting snow and an abundance of alpine flowers.

At the summit, we will be purified by the wave of a priest's shide (ceremonial wand) and finish our visit to the shrine with a drop of the sacred drink – saké.

After a picnic lunch, we will retrace our steps down the mountain and head by road to Gyokusenji temple. Said to have been founded in 1251 by the Zen monk Ryonen Homyo Zenji, the temple is complemented by a garden completed in the 1650s and now designated as a National Place of Scenic Beauty. We will take a peaceful moment to enjoy the view of the garden while participating in the tea ceremony.

From Gyokusenji we will return to our lodgings for dinner. Following dinner there will be an optional visit to a nearby natural hot spring.

DAY 8 TRAVEL TO YAMADERA

Leaving Haguro-san we will travel by road first to Churen-ii temple, where we will see a mummified priest, called an ‘instant Buddha'. In the Dewa-Sanzan area priests believe that one can attain a state of enlightenment within one's own lifetime. After many years of prayer and fasting, the priest was buried alive, seated in meditation. After death, because of what his body had undergone, it did not decompose, but mummified naturally. We will have a guided tour of the atmospheric temple to see some very surprising paintings.

From Churen-ji our journey will continue eastwards to Yamadera, where the Ryushaku-ji temple complex extends up the entire side of a hill to the Okuno-in (inner sanctum) which is bathed in incense.

Yamadera was also a stop on Basho's journey to the north and he wrote the following poem:

Stillness
Penetrating into the rocks
The cry of the cicada

We will have a guided tour of the temple and then check in to a small family-run pension. After dinner there will be an optional onsen (natural hot spring) visit. Overnight at Yamadera pension.

DAY 9 TRAVEL TO HIRAIZUMI AND TONO VALLEY (2 miles walking: approximately 1 hours, 50 metres ascent, 50 metres descent)

After breakfast we will leave Yamadera and travel by road to Hiraizumi. During the Heian Period (794-1185), Hiraizumi was the seat of the powerful Fujiwara warrior clan, and was a rival to Kyoto . After lunch we will have a guided tour of the splendid Konjiki-do (Golden Hall) which is completely covered in gold.

Afterwards, we will continue north by road to Tono, famous in Japan for its rich folklore.

This rural community set in a broad green valley takes great pride in its folk tales, which feature such characters as the Kappa, child-sized beings that live in or near rivers. We will take a gentle stroll to visit some of the sites associated with the tales, and also the distinctive local L-shaped farmhouses – magariya .

Our accommodation for the night will be in a restored magariya.

DAY 10 CYCLING IN TONO VALLEY / TRANSFER TO NYUTO HOT SPRING

In the morning we will rent bicycles to visit a collection of preserved magariya farmhouses, a small Shinto shrine devoted to the fertility deity. In the afternoon we will travel to Nyuto Hot Spring, and check in to our beautiful hot spring ryokan for the night. This 350-year old traditional ryokan was once used by the local daimyo (feudal lord) and has eight separate baths with milky white spring water. In the evening we will dine around the irori (traditional sunken hearth).

DAY 11 KAKUNODATE AND RETURN TO TOKYO

In the morning we will visit nearby Kakunodate, a former feudal town with well-preserved Samurai residences. We will walk through the former Samurai quarter before arriving at the bustling merchant's area, in time for lunch. If there is time, we will head to a nearby sake distillery for a tour and tasting, before heading back to Tokyo aboard the shinkansen (bullet train). Overnight in city-centre hotel.

DAY 12 TOKYO

There will be a free day today in Tokyo, for shopping, visiting a museum, or simply wandering through the city. In the evening there will be a farewell dinner.

DAY 13 TOUR ENDS

On our final day we say farewell. Your guide will help you transfer to Tokyo 's Narita airport for your flight home, or you may like to stay a few day's longer.

TRIP NOTES

Equipment & Clothing

When we receive your booking we send you a dossier, which contains a suggested gear and clothing list. If you have any queries at this initial stage do ring us and we will be pleased to offer advice.

Accommodation

TOKYO : Comfortable, modern, downtown hotels. NIKKO , TOCHIO, HAGURO, YAMADERA, TONO, NYUTO HOT SPRING: Traditional Japanese inns (ryokan and minshuku) OZE: Mountain lodge

Please note that single rooms are normally only available in hotels – where a single room supplement may apply.

Meal Plan

All breakfasts and 10 evening meals are included. In Tokyo , for reasons of choice and convenience, 2 evening meals are not included but your guide will be available to help with recommendations and ordering.

Important Notes

Every effort will be made to keep to the above itinerary, but we cannot make absolute guarantees! Changes to the itinerary will normally be made to introduce an improvement. Weather conditions, road and transport conditions, and the health of walkers can all contribute to changes. The guide will ensure that the trip runs according to plan, but an easy-going nature is an asset!