The Autumn Leaves of Japan

Saturday, 3rd November 2007
Tojo Town, Taishaku National Park, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan
広島県東城町国定公園帝釈峡


With beautiful weather and perfect timing for viewing of the kouyou (autumn leaves) we set off for Taishakukyo a popular national park (luckily only 12km west of where I live) which attracts hundreds of people from all around Japan at this time of the year to do some medium level mountain walking and enjoy the colours of autumn!

Starting from Upper Taishaku we walked along the flowing creek to Onbashi (which I have written about in a previous post) which is an easy 25 minute walk. The sun was hidden behind the mountain so it was a little dark. From Onbashi it's a few minutes walk on before the path narrows and you begin to climb up the mountain which is pretty steep for almost a kilometre. The path eventually levels and you walk through some neighbouring homes alongside rice paddy's which gives you the feeling you took a wrong turn which Naomi and I did a couple of years ago! We managed to find out where we went wrong though this time!
Once again you go down the mountain which is just as steep. After walking almost 4km we finally arrived at Shinryuko 神龍湖　which is a spectacular sight! You can take a short boat trip on the river or stand on the bridge like we did waving at the boat from above and enjoy the scenery. It was a long walk and worth it and all we had left to do was walk 4km back to the car!! We managed to walk back in 1 hour and 15 minutes non-stop walking at a relatively fast pace.

Shinryuko from the bridge, Lower Taishaku

Naomi and Shinryuko in the background



Walking up the steep mountain through the colourful surroundings



Momiji, a particularly famous tree in Japan which the leaves turn into a beautiful deep red colour



Momiji, this time turning a vivid green and yellow colour

Fishing for fish!

Sunday, 23rd September 2007
Midori Town, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan
広島県美土里町

me concentrating on catching a fish!

This morning Naomi's family and I drove to a small fishing pond up in the mountains in Midori town where you pay a flat fee for a fishing rod and bait and catch as many fish as you can for an hour! It sounds like fun and it is but I did have difficulty trying to catch one! This was my third time to fish this way but I think I was worse this time than the last! Naomi and I shared a rod and we caught a mere 7 of the small Yamame fish. Naomi's dad caught a whopping 36 in the hour! When we returned the rod to the pond owner he was shocked that I only caught 7 and he went and scooped a few more out of the pond with a bucket for us because he felt bad! We ate the fish for dinner which were delicious.

Naomi's dad on the left catching a fish every 2 minutes and me 1 every 10!

finally caught one!

so many fish but hard to catch (for me!)

COSMOS flower now blooming

Rice Harvesting Time Is Here!!!

22nd September 2007

Almost 5 months since the planting season has passed and this is what the rice crop looks like!

A close up of the rice grains

A last minute decision by the neighbours and Naomi's family on this hot and humid supposedly autumn morning to harvest the rice was made and I jumped in the car and drove 75km from where I live in Tojo to help out! Check out the photos to see how the harvesting is done!

The above picture shows the nifty machine that is used to harvest the rice. It is capable of cutting two rows of rice crops at once. Once each crop is cut at the base the machine then rotates it to its side on a conveyer belt as you can see below which it then somehow threshes the grains one by one placing them into a bag which holds around 25kg of the small grains.

I wasn't able to have a go controlling the machine just in case I destroyed a years supply of rice but I did get to try cutting the crops the old fashioned way by hand! I was pretty much doing what the machine does except I didn't have to thresh the grains off the crop, instead, I collected a few bundles, tied them together ready to be put through the machine manually. It was fun for a while until I realised that it would take a very very long time to harvest the whole crop this way!

After it bucketed down with rain and blew a gale in the afternoon causing us to briefly retire for about 30 minutes, the guy on the machine working his way in from the outside in circles all day harvested the last row of rice! Naomi and carried the last 25kg bag in a wheelbarrow up to where we stacked the other 75 or so bags and wiping off the dripping sweat on our necks the pros came to transport the harvested rice to the rice centre where each grain will be dried and the outside layer peeled off and put into bags which will supply Naomi's family with their staple food for another year! Stay tuned for a photo of the first rice!

The machine sweeps up the last standing rice crop

and the brings this years harvesting to an end!

A Walk through Taishakukyo!

Saturday, 16th June 2007
Onbashi, Taishakukyo, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan
広島県帝釈峡雄橋（おんばし）

10km west of Tojo Town, where I am living now, is the northern gateway to the Taishaku Gorge National Park. From the carpark, a refreshing 20 minute walk through the beautiful greenery along the running river takes you to the naturally formed rock formation called 'Onbashi' literally meaning male bridge. The formation is said to have formed from water running from up above gradually weakening the underlaying rock and collapsing to form what now remains a bridge like structure. It is 90 metres long, 40 metres high and 19 metres in breadth.

Wakunaga Seiyaku Gardens

Saturday, 9th June 2007
Wakunaga Seiyaku Gardens, Koda Town, Akitakata City, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan
湧永製薬公園・広島県安芸高田市甲田町

After lazing at home all day waiting for rain, the clouds cleared up and the sun came out from behind and thought we should make the most of the beautiful weather before the rainy season kicks in this month. We went to the Wakunaga Seiyaku Gardens which is about a 10km drive from Naomi's house. The Garden is named after a man called Mr Wakunaga who created the gardens for the townspeople and for the research and development of herbs and flora to discover new medinces. The Garden is very well kept and is open most of the year with different floral exhibitions in each season. The roses are in full bloom at the moment which we got to enjoy.

A nice place to relax and enjoy the fresh air!

yellowish red rose

pale purple rose

Naomi's best shot!

A trip to Tottori Prefecture

The Hiroshima prefecture/Tottori prefecture border around 700m above sea level

広島県と鳥取県の県境　１８３号線

Saturday 5th May 2007

This was the the last couple of days of the Golden Week before returning to a regular week and Naomi and I planned to drive to Tottori Prefecture which is to the north west of Hiroshima Prefecture. Tottori City is at the far east end and is a good 3 1/2 hour drive from Mukaihara where Naomi lives through winding mountain roads up to 700 metres above sea level before going downhill again once reaching the border. We left at 6am to avoid traffic and to get the most out of the day. We eventually reached the half way point and saw through the haze the outline of one of the highest mountains in western Japan, Daisen which rises to 1729 metres. Daisen slowly disappeared as we continued on and had our first stop in a place called Kurayoshi where there are old Shoyu (Soy Sauce) production houses and some retro looking buildings and cafes. There is also a beautiful park where you can go for a walk. It encloses a small zoo which is free to enter and has a few types of animals including a couple peacocks where some guy was trying to scare them stamping his feet and clapping his hands loudly. We had morning tea in a small cafe behind the tourist information office which is run by a few university students before continuing out journey to Tottori City.

Utsufuki Park
打吹公園
Japanese style garden with this springs new green

Seaside Cafe for lunch on the Japan Sea coastline

Desert in Japan?
鳥取砂丘

Who would have thought that a land made up entirely of mountains would have a so called 'desert'?! Well in Tottori, a few kilometres to the east of the city there is a massive 10km strip of sand dunes. Some sections can be as wide as 2km and from the shoreline the dunes rise steeply before dropping back down to a basin type area. Having been in Japan for 4 years I was pretty impressed to see sand dunes of this size here! The weather was a little wet so the camels they have out on the dunes took a day off as it seems they don't like rain! We walked from the car park to an entrance to the sand dunes, took our shoes off and walked in damp sand all the way up the sand mountain top and back down to the shoreline to have a paddle in the Japan Sea! What amazed me the most was that about 95% of the tourists were walking on the dunes with either their own shoes on OR with shin high gumboots on which were for hire!

The path we took!

Naomi climbing the steep sand dune mountain!

Us at the highes point of the sand dunes with Tottori in the background


Paddling in the Japan Sea with the sand dunes in the background

Uradome Coastline
浦富海岸・山陰海岸国立公園

destination reached

A few kilometres to the east of the Tottori sand dunes is a strip of spectacular coastline part of the San-in Coast National Park. We parked at the Uradome-kaigan boat tour jetty and boat tickets for a half-hour long guide along the rugged headlands. The sea was a little rough so the boat was rocking from side to side making me feel a little queasy but I managed to take some photos of the naturally weathered rock formations and hidden beaches. Afterwards we drove to the top of the coastline, parked the car and went for a walk along the somewhat paved walkway to the hidden beaches. The walk wasn't an easy one with some very steep sections weaving in and out of the rocks down to the beaches and by the time we returned to the car 2 hours later we were both wringing wet through with sweat!

view from the boat

One of the hidden beaches

hidden beach with a hollow rock formation to the right

rock formation out at sea with palm trees growning out from all angles!

Rice Planting Experience!

Naomi's House in Mukaihara, Hiroshima Prefecture

4th May 2007

Today marked my first experience planting rice in Japan. Naomi's dad was up early at the crack of dawn before heading out into the rice field with the rice planting machine that can plant three rows at once. In the picture you can see that he has to walk with the machine to guide it in a straight line. Most modern day machines allow you to sit on it and let the machine do it for you planting up to 6 rows at once although I am sure there are bigger machines for bigger fields with bigger prices!

Naomi's dad with the rice planting machine

Most people plant the rice around the beginning of May and harvesting usually takes place in October. The rainy season that kicks in around June provides most of the water that the rice requires to grow.

Naomi's dad at the half way point!

Naomi's dad got the rice planted in around 3 hours (10:30am) followed by a cold beer and snacks before we all got in the field to carry out the rather tedious task of placing extra rice plant sprouts in places where the machine missed. As the rice field is just wet mud knee high I got to wear my own rice planting boots! As I took my first step into the field I almost fell in and after a few close calls I managed to get my balance and mastered how to walk in mud! At times my leg almost slipped out of the boot as I tried to pull my leg out from behind to take another step. We had baskets tied around our waists and with rice sprouts in one hand and bending down looking for spots that needed to be topped up we got on with the task.

Me passing a bunch of rice sprouts to be planted

It was definitely an interesting experience that does require a fair bit of energy but as Naomi said to me, it is rewarding at the dinner table when you know that what you are eating is what the family worked hard to make together not to mention it costing a whole lot less than buying it in the shop.

View from Naomi's house with their rice paddy and the Geibi Line that runs to central Hiroshima 45km away