Day Seven
Tsumago, Kiso, Fukushima (14.9 miles) Day Eight
Kiso, Fukushima, Kaida Plateau (8.7 miles)
Next morning it was raining buckets. Our group had
walked Scotland, so we were game to go, but Giorgio
announced there were washouts, landslides, churning
rivers and general mayhem and we would be taking the
train that day.
Our response: “Well, if you insist.” Wisdom comes
with age.
We escaped the rain at the Nakazen Sake Brewery in
Kiso-Fukushima. One really hasn’t tasted sake until the
experience of fresh sake in Japan. The brewery’s sake
master opened a beautiful lacquered box and poured
sake into a glass inside the box just until it began to spill
over. It’s a sign of generosity, Giorgio told us, and one that
definitely impresses the tourists. We visited a historic samurai checkpoint, which once
served to screen travelers and prevent a coup d’etat by the
ruler’s enemies.
The 328-foot-high Karasawa-notaki waterfall marked the
start of our climb over Jizo Pass and down onto the plateau
known as Kaida Kogen. The views of snowy Mt. Ontake and
the Japanese Alps in the distance were awesome. Mt. Ontake
is an active volcano, considered sacred by some Buddhists.
We saw Japan’s sturdy Kaida horses, and traveled on
through alpine forests and across another mountain pass. In
the distance, we could see our day’s destination, an inn with
onsen (natural) hot springs. Giorgio joked, “It looks far, but
it is not that close.”
104
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
april/may 2019
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