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| ADVERTORIAL |
The other day I found myself on an early morning train heading out of town to spend a few days exploring Nikko National Park. Nestled among the mountains and forests of northwest Tochigi, the easy, two hour trip from Tokyo was a great opportunity to get out into nature and take a break from the flashing lights and concrete jungles of the big city. This wasn't my first visit to Nikko, and like most visitors I had spent my time checking out the lavishly decorated Toshogu Shrine and taking in the sites around these spiritual power spots. But little did I realize back then that these cultural landmarks were just the tip of the iceberg to a vast and beautiful national park. This time around I planned to go beyond the well-travelled town area to discover what the wilder mountains had to offer, and as the train pulled into the station I couldn't help but get excited about the adventures that lay ahead.
Once off the train we boarded a bus and had barely sat down when we were off, immediately setting out for the winding mountain road to Oku-Nikko, the inner most areas of the park high up on the slopes above the shrines and temples of Nikko town. The forests along the way were punctuated by vibrant autumn colors glistening in the morning drizzle. Our timing could not have been better as we were presented with countless brilliant red, orange and yellow maples, larches and mizunara oak trees around every twist and turn in the road. Descending down from the Akechidaira Pass took us to a quaint little resort town along the shores of Lake Chuzenji, where European ambassadors of a bygone era would summer in their lakeside villas. The undeveloped forests around the lake beckoned to be hiked, but with the chilly weather, I had my sights firmly set on warming up in one of the hot springs that dot the town. And after a bit of searching we finally settled into the piping hot waters at one of the area hotels to relax and soak among the trees.
We spent the night camping at a nice little public campground along the lakeshore. It was dark when we arrived in the evening, and we hadn't yet ventured too far from the small circle of glowing tents that made up our encampment. So when we woke up in the morning and discovered that we had been just a stone's throw from the mist covered lake, it was like we had been transported to a whole new world in our sleep. A thick fog clung the surface of the lake all morning, and we had to wait until after breakfast to set out on boats to check out the autumn colors from a different perspective.
Later in the day we headed to the Kawamata area deep in the mountains of the national park. The region's remote, hard to access valleys were once the refuge of defeated warriors who fled 12th Century Kyoto to hide out in the mountains and live off the land. Their old traditions live on in the hunters and mountain men who remain around the valleys, and through their hospitality we were able to enjoy some of the local game, such as deer, bear, and copper pheasant, even salamander, with our dinner cooked over an open hearth on bamboo skewers.
On our last day in the park we headed out into the forest to learn about the traditions of Shugendo, a form of ancient mountain worship that is still practiced around parts of Japan. Nikko has long been a center of religious esteem, and its sacred mountains are believed to be imbued with a spiritual power that can help one achieve enlightenment. So we gathered at the trailhead dressed in white cotton robes, and were spiritually cleansed with incense, salt and sake before being led off into the forest to the base of a roaring waterfall. Here we would watch Takigyo waterfall meditation, performed by a Shugendo monk who approached the base of the falls, paused to shout at the gushing water, and then resolutely took up position under the frigid falls. His focus was admirable, and I was in awe and amazement with how he moved with deliberation and purpose despite the power of the water crashing over his body.
As we left the forests and headed back down the mountains, I took stock of the trip and realized that we had seen and done so much over the last few days, yet it seemed that we had still only scratched the surface of everything that there is to discover around the park.
After all these years, Japan's national parks still offer me something new yet to be discovered. Hopefully one day you'll come to Japan and explore some of these hidden beauties for yourself. I'm quite certain that you'll find something there that is unique; something that you can't find anywhere else.
Japanese tradition and culture are intrinsically linked to nature and the changing of the seasons, to the extent that it could be said that the four seasons are the bedrock of Japanese culture. The National Parks of Japan represent the essence of this cultural link to nature. "Japan National Park Expedition" has been set up to serve the aims of; spreading recognition of the National Parks of Japan to the world; attracting foreign tourists to visit the National Parks of Japan; examining methods to promote the National Parks of Japan. This project is carried out through the collaboration between local key persons and foreign directors.
