Happy New Year!
明けましておめでとうございます!
(How do you say Happy New Year in your country? Please let me know.)
This morning I had the pleasure to go to a mountain called Hinode in a town called Hinode to see something special, the first Hinode (sunrise), of the year.
The moon gave a show first.
I--and the countless other hikers I met at the top--was treated to a roaringly beautiful start to this year of the tiger.
I was really surprised at how many people were there already when I got to the top. I only saw two people on the trail but there must have been hundreds up here.
I went into an overflow spot down below the summit to watch the fireworks.
A funny thing was that I was the only person who said "Banzai." On Fuji, at sunrise, everyone really shouted out banzai. Maybe they were too uptight because this mountain is in Tokyo. People are different outside Tokyo. An old (Japanese) guy a few feet away from me said "It's beautiful." in English so I replied, "Banzai." He laughed.
I watched the sunrise next to a couple from the other side of Tokyo. I thought I was a hero for leaving the house before 5. They had gotten up at 2:30! They were so nice. The girl gave me a piece of candy she'd brought from her hometown when we parted. This is the second treat I have received from a Japanese hiker in just the past few days. On my last hike of 2021, a guy gave me a Snicker's bar.
I'd say it really satisfied, but Snickers and I haven't come to an endorsement agreement yet.
The last picture and the next video are about 10~15 minutes below the summit. It probably would be an even better viewing spot than the top because there's nobody there and the view is unobstructed.
When I got back to my scooter, I saw the bird of luck had left me an auspicious present to help me greet the year ahead!
The route/getting there:
There are many ways to get to Hinode. The most common is to go via Mitake Shrine. For that, you take a bus from Mitake Station on the Ome Line. Then take a cable car to the trail that heads up to Mitake. It's very well-trafficked and is downright crowded on holidays because it is a fun outing without being too strenuous.
I took the sneakiest and easiest way. I took my scooter up onto a forest road (林道, "rindo") that starts just a hundred meters or so beyond the Tsurutsuru Onsen in Hinode. That forest road intersects with a few other roads at the Umenoki Pass (梅の木峠)**. I parked about a hundred meters up the trail toward Mt. Hinode from there. I had a hike of just over 1 km each way. Everyone else took a longer trail than I did. Many people used the Tsurutsuru onsen as their base and were returning there to go into the onsen after their hike. Indeed, when I drove by just before it opened at 8 there was a long line of people at the door. I was happy that I could be home in my own bath by about 8:30. :-)
**The network of 林道 here is really useful. I've used that road I took this morning many times on my bicycle to go over that pass from the Hinode side to the Ome City side. (And on the way, hike up to a mountaintop near the pass! Win-win.) The 林道 allow for a great workout and enable access to mountains and trails that trains, buses and even cars just can't reach. Caution needs to be exercised on these roads, however. They are not the #1 priority for maintenance and many of them are closed off after natural disasters for long periods until the crews get to them. For example, this one I used today is only open for cars to the point that I went to this morning. The roads it intersects are blocked by locked gates because repairs still haven't been completed since a massive typhoon in 2019. Bicycles can get through, but you need to exercise caution. You can check the local municipal offices or ranger stations to find out about the road conditions, but it is even harder than finding hiking trail conditions through the same avenues.
Here's to a great year. I hope the bird of luck has blessed you all as he has me.
