Wow Place #348: Mount Fugen-dake, Japan

 

By and large, I’m a “moderate” guy.  Moderate height. Moderate weight. Some might say moderate looks and intelligence.  😊

 

I like moderate portions in my food.  The spice level of my curry? Moderate!

 

So when I found a hike in Unzen-Amakusa National Park described in the guidebook as “moderately challenging,” I figured this was the trail for me.  3.9 miles.  One hour out, one hour back. How hard could it be?

 

As it turns out, remarkably hard!

 

You have to understand, for all its subtle, gentile art forms – ikebana (flower arranging), origami (paper folding), chanoyu (tea ceremony) and the like – Japan is a rather hearty country.   Nine times out of ten, your train station won’t have an elevator or escalator.   You want to catch a train…climb three sets of stairs first.

 

Hiking trails in Japan are at another level completely.   Expect long, uphill trails and rocky flights of steep steps, often covered in slippery, green moss.

 

In a volcanic park like Unzen-Amakusa, the name of the game is lava rock.  Or in Fugen-dake’s case, huge, toe-catching, knee-scraping, ankle-busting boulders – straight up, for miles and miles.

 

Do not take the guide book at its word.  Especially in the late May heat and humidity, this is a brutally-challenging hike.  Nothing moderate about it.

 

And yet, I can’t deny that the trail is breathtakingly lovely.  Southern Kyushu boasts a host of scenery like this: tropical flora, dense green forests, and in the springtime, ever-present pink azaleas that are a feast for the eyes.  The gorgeous views along my hike almost take my mind off the exhausting, often-perilous climb up the mountain.  Almost.

 

On more than one occasion I think about giving up and turning back.  But how can I when, upon rounding a turn, I come upon a group of ten Japanese elementary school students on a class excursion with their teachers.  To be precise, this precocious group of agile ten-year-olds are scurrying up the mountain like the Wicked Witch’s flying monkeys.   What a hearty country Japan is, sending school groups out on a killer hike like this as if it was an ordinary walk in the park!

 

I can’t give up now and let these kiddos beat me to the summit!

 

In the end, I make it up the mountain, hot and sweaty—and am rewarded with panoramic views of the coast and the active Heisei Shinzan volcano.  It’s a spectacular sight –well worth the effort.

 

The intrepid school kids arrive a few minutes later and quickly take a celebratory photo, followed by a lively picnic of artfully-packed school lunches.  Unlike me, clearly none of the students are thinking about the bone-crushing descent to follow.   It’s party time at the top of Fugen-dake.

 

After all, if you’re a Japanese, this is just a moderate hike on a moderate volcano.

 

Myself, I’ll be jumping into a moderately-hot bath that night for sure!

 

(The Buddhists frequently recommend taking the “middle path.”   Equanimity.  Mindfulness. Avoiding extremes.   It sounds like a great idea, doesn’t it? Not too high, not too low.  Moderate!   But can we achieve “great things” in our lives if we don’t occasionally go to an extreme?   Name any Olympic medalist you can think of and chances are that person was a bit obsessed with their exercise and training regime, at the expense of everything else. Same for great artists, great writers, great scientists.  Is “moderate” always the best way to go?   It’s a choice we all must make throughout out our lives.  Is this my season for doing great things?  Or my season of living a steady, balanced, domestic life?  It definitely merits a modest period of thought, wouldn’t you say?)