Some of the crowds at Mt. Takao taking photos with the autumn leaves
スコットランド（イギリスでも同じかな）の山を登ったことある？子供の時に私はよく家族と山を登っていた。いつも誰もいない、道なんてない（あれば羊が作ったような泥の）、一日中歩きづらい山だった。寒くて、風が強く、雨が降っている。そういう思い出は多い。そう言ったら、あまり楽しくなさそうね。でも、いい天気があったら、まあなくっても、景色はすごい。自然派の私にぴったりだった。または、山頂に着いたのアドレナリンと「やったなぁ」の気分も良い。
だらか、友達に一緒に高尾山を登ろうのように言われたときに、そういう感じだと思ってしまった。実際はまったく違った。
11月になると日本人は紅葉を見に行くのが好きらしい。それで、東京辺り、紅葉で人気がるスポットの一つは高尾山だ。そこの紅葉はちょー綺麗だった。木の葉の色は明るくて、強い赤と緑のコントラストは良かった。そのせいで、ものすごく混んでいた。スコットランドの山がそんなに混んでいるときはないとは言えないけど、私は見たことない。ちっちゃい子供を連れてきた家族、カップル、おじいちゃん、おばあちゃんなど、幅広い人がいた。驚いたことに、ピンヒールを入ったまま山を登っていた女性も一人見た！
または、ちゃんとした道があった以上、レストランと自動販売機が信じられないぐらいあっちこっちあって、ケーブルカーも。まるでスキーレソートみたかった。私が慣れたハイキングと全然違う雰囲気がした。
それ以外、高尾山はパワースポットで、天狗がそこに住んでいるとおもわれている。天狗というのは日本の民間信仰の中で神様や妖怪、両方とも言われている鼻が長い少しゴブリンみたいな生き物だ。それで、天狗の像など、信仰的なものがどこでもあった。薬王院という大きい寺院もある。山を登りながら、こういうものを見つけるのを想像しなかったので、面白くて、冒険してるような気がして、楽しかった。
日光
もう一つの紅葉で有名な所に行った。ホストファミリーと日光に行ってきた。一日だけだったし、連休日だったからすっごく混んでいて、行きと帰り、両方渋滞があったし、時間が少なかったが、それでも、有名な東照宮に行けて、鳴き龍も見えた。
東照宮は徳川家康と関係があるそうだった。特別な徳川コーラの瓶も見たし。徳川家康は1603年ぐらいに日本の将軍になって、江戸時代を始まった人だ。彼から、徳川家が1868年ぐらいの明治維新まで日本を司っていたから、日本の歴史での重要な人で、日本に大きい影響をさせた。それで、彼は東照宮で東照大権現として祭られているらしい。
紅葉
そこで、二つ有名なものを見えた。まずは寝てる猫の像。小さくて、扉の上だったし、混んでいたから、よく見えなかったけど、可愛かった。でも、なんで有名かわからない。次、鳴き龍を見に行った。鳴き声の龍はすごかった。本地堂の天井に大きい龍が描かれていた。黒で描いて、恐ろしい顔している龍を見るだけですごいと感じた。だが、ただの絵だけじゃなくて、その龍の頭の下で何かを打つと龍が鳴いているような音が聞こえる。明るいお坊さんがデモをしてくれた。頭の下で打ったらライオンがガオーと吠えたと似てる鳴き声が聞こえた。他の所にやったら、普通と同じで、その打つの音しか聞こえなかった。なぜそこだけかを結構気になったから、ネットで少し調べた結果で、天井は平たいじゃなくて、わざと凹面に作ったそうだ。それはその部屋の音響に影響があるらしい。つまり、チャンスじゃない。どうやってそれをわかるようになったかな。
日光はとてもきれいだった。どうして日光は紅葉で人気があるのかをはっきりわかった。車から、紅葉している森を見えて、東照宮に着いてからも、紅葉している木はたくさんあった。すごくいい景色だった。
みんなと一緒に紅葉を楽しめられて、うれしい。子供たちと遊んだり、美味しいご飯を食べてり、美しい景色を見たりしてて最高だった。
The Nikko Bridge
ENGLISH:
Mt. Takao
Have you ever climbed a Scottish mountain? (Maybe any in the U.K. would be the same?) When I was younger, I used to go hill walking often with my family. There was never any other people, or proper path (if there was a path it was a mud one like those made by sheep), climbing was tough and would take all day. Cold, windy, rainy. I have a lot of those kind of memories. When put like that it doesn’t sound very fun, does it? But if there was good weather, or even when there wasn’t, the scenery was stunning. It was perfect for someone, like me, who prefers to be in nature. Also the rush of adrenaline once reaching the top, and the sense of having achieved something made it enjoyable.
The view over Tokyo from Mt. Takao
So when my friend invited me to climb Mt, Takao, I was expecting that kind of experience. In reality it was nothing like that.
In November Japanese people seem to like going to see the autumn leaves. One of the famous spots for doing so, near Tokyo, is Mt. Takao. The autumn colours were really beautiful there. The bright leaves, especially the contrast between the strong red and green was amazing. But because of that it was insanely crowded. I can’t say that Scottish mountains are never that crowded, but I have never seen one like that before. There was a wide range of people there, including families with small kids, couples, and grannies and grandads. I even saw someone climbing the hill in stilettos.
Not only was there a proper path, but there were restaurants and vending machines all over the mountain too. As well as a cable car. It felt a little like a ski resort. The atmosphere was completely different from what I’m used to.
Walking in Nikko with my Host Brother
Aside from that, Mt. Takao is a spiritual place, and it is thought that Tengu live there. Tengu are creatures from Japanese folk tales and religion, which can be seen as either Gods or spirits, they are usually depicted as a kind of long nosed goblin. Therefore there was lots of spiritual things, for example statues of Tengu, all over the mountain. As well as Yakuōin temple. I never imagined finding these kind of things while hill walking so it was really interesting, and began to feel a little like a quest, which was fun.
Nikko
I went with my host family to one other place that is famous for autumn leaves. Nikko. It was only for one day, a public holiday as well, so it was super crowded, and we got stuck in traffic both going there and coming back, so there wasn’t much time. But despite that we managed to go to the famous Tōshōgū, and see the crying dragon.
Tōshōgū seemed to be connected to Tokugawa Ieyasu. There was even a special Tokugawa coke bottle. Tokugawa Ieyasu became the Shōgun of Japan in around 1603, and he started the Edo period. From him the Tokugawa family rule Japan up until the Meiji restoration in around 1868. So he is an important figure in Japanese history, and had a large influence on Japan. Now it seems he is enshrined at Tōshōgū and worshiped as Tōshōdaigongen or the Great Deity of the East Shinning Light.
People tied their bad fortunes to the trees here, so it wouldn’t follow them home.
While at Tōshōgū we saw two famous things. The first a figure of a sleeping cat. It was small, and placed above a door, and it was crowded, so I could get a good look at it, but it was cute. However, I’m not sure why it is famous. Then, we went to see the crying dragon. It was amazing. On the ceiling of the honjidō a large dragon was painted. It was black, and had an awe-inspiring face, so just seeing it made you feel impressed. However, it wasn’t just a painting, if you clapped something under the dragons head, you could hear a sound like the dragon was roaring. A cheerful monk demonstrated it for us. When he clapped under the dragons head, I heard a sound similar to that of a lion roaring. But clap anywhere else and there was no such effect. I was interested in why that effect was just in that spot so did some googling, and it seems that the ceiling of that room rather than being flat was made concaved, which has an influence on the acoustics of it. I.E. this effect was not a coincidence. I wonder how they worked out how to do it…
Nikko was stunningly beautiful. I can clearly see why it is a popular place to go see the autumn leaves. From the car we saw an amazing red forest, and even once we arrived at Tōshōgū there were autumn colours everywhere. The scenery was amazing.
I though the yellow leaves were pretty~
I am really happy I got to enjoy the autumn colours beauty with everyone. Playing with the kids, eating good food, seeing the beautiful surroundings, it was an epic day.