The Glory of Point of Sale Selling/100 Famous Mountains' Swag

Welcome cave dwellers.  Let me tell you about the 100 Famous Mountains.  In Japanese 100 Famous Mountains is written 百名山 and pronounced "hyaku meizan".

In 1964, a mountaineer by the name of Kyuya Fukada wrote a book about what he determined were Japan's most famous 100 mountains.  The content has become a bucket list for many hikers.  The present emperor was hiking his way through all the mountains on the list until he had to give up hiking when he ascended the throne.  (I would have given up becoming emperor if I had to choose one or the other.)

I've climbed 9 of them.  That basically includes most of the ones I can get to for a day trip or, at most, a one-night stay.  I want credit for climbing more than 9 though.   Some of them I've climbed 5 or 6 times.  (Did I say 9?  It's 10.  Of all mountains to forget, I forgot to include Fuji among my list.)

Yesterday I returned to one of the 100, Mt Daibosatsurei.  The lodge at the Daibosatsurei Pass sells a lot of swag.  When I get the chance to do one of the 100 for the first time, I always buy some memento, usually a badge.  I wasn't planning to buy anything yesterday because I already had something.

Some of the things the lodge sells are banners and noren* which list the mountains.  Seeing this, I thought it would be a cool topic for a post and whipped out my iphone to take a picture.  *( Noren are traditional Japanese fabric dividers hung between rooms, on walls, in doorways, or in windows. They usually have one or more vertical slits cut from the bottom to nearly the top of the fabric, allowing for easier passage or viewing. )

When I pointed my phone at the noren, I encountered this sign:

I took the point well.  Since I put so much effort into posting my pictures on this blog, I'm a little sensitive to the idea of stealing images and don't want to do something similar to someone else.  (I hope they don't mind I took a picture of the sign.)

The sign worked.  I bought a banner.  I like it.

You can see each of the 100 listed with their elevations.

This is my badge for Mt. Daibosatsurei.

I get a kick out of the use of the word "EIKO" on this badge.  Eiko translates to glory.  It often makes me chuckle because Japanese like the word eiko and use it at times we probably wouldn't use glory. 

Up it has gone onto the wall of my second mancave.  (As you know, my real mancave is the mountains.)

That's probably my last post for a few weeks.  I can't go to the mountains again for another 15 (but who's counting?) days.  It's just as well.  My hiking boots are at the cobbler for some needed repairs.

Take care.  I hope you can enjoy something beautiful today.