時差ぼけである私
Back "Home" in Japan
After getting back to Japan on Thursday, I've been suffering from some majorly intense jetlag. This morning I woke up at 5:00 am - after only sleeping about two hours. After mucking around in my little dorm room for about an hour, I passed some time watching the documentary "OUTFOXED: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism" until the sun came out about an hour later. Then I decided to go hiking, in an effort to live up to my new year's resolution of getting more exercise on a regular basis. The hiking was also my attempt to thoroughly fatigue myself by inhaling lots of fresh mountain air so that maybe I might sleep better tonight.
(Incidentally, OUTFOXED is a must-see for anyone interested in better understanding why the FOX "news" channel is bashed all the time as a "right wing" pundit and the ruin of contemporary journalism. My favorite line in the whole movie was something like this: "I don't condemn Fox as a bastion of ultra conservativism. What I DO condem it for is for touting itself fraudulently as the source of 'fair and balanced' news.")
Finally around 8 am, I was ready to catch the hourly bus out of here, down to Zushi. I chose my destination, the highest peak in the Miura Peninsula with the help of an old book I keep around,Day walks Near Tokyo by Gary D'A. Walters (what a great middle initial!). Although I took Mr. Walters' advice (for Tokyoites) and started my journey to hiking trail from Shin-Zushi Station, I learned in retrospect that I could have saved about an hours' time by simply walking to the bottom of my neighborhood in Shonan International Village. Little did I know that the start of the trail at Maedabashi bus stop, was actually just right down the hill from me, just past Koyasu Village and a several blocks past the Kuruwa bus stop. As this map I lifted from the Shonan International Village website shows, the Kuruwa bus stop is just down the road, and Mount Ohgusa is just adjacent to Shonan Village! (The Maedabashi Stop is three stops past, or about a leisurely 15-minute walk away.)
Anyways, the bus rides gave me a chance to warm up while the sun came out. Finally when I got out of the bus at Maedabashi Stop, (on the Keihin Kyuhkou Buses #4,5,6,7, or 8 - this is different from Walters' explanation which has become a little bit outdated), the entrance to the hiking trail was clearly marked. As Walters writes, there is a lane to the left, just past the bus stop and a map sign board. After following this path straight for about 10 minutes, I was finally on the trail, which soon made a steep ascent toward the mountain top.
The highlight of the hike was reaching the summit, where there is a 360 degree panoramic view of the entire Miura Peninsula. One of the most exciting things for me was being able to see my own village, Shonan Kokusai Mura, in the distance. For the first time since living here, I was catching a glimpse of my own mountain-top residence from above! Now that I was finally there, I could also get a really great view of the Hayama Golf Course. I was also near a radio observation tower that I had viewed many times from afar, at Sokendai. I had always wondered how/if I might ever find that radio tower.
Once I got there, I read on a sign next to the radio tower that it is operated by the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (国土通行省), the national bureaucratic arm that, among other things, administers drivers and pilots licenses.
At the summit there are a number of concrete tables and benches and a special observation tower which one can climb to get an unobstructed view of the peninsula. Fortunately for me, just below the observation tower, there was also a small little concession stand selling drinks and providing maps of other hikes around Miura, especially in Yokosuka City. During my roughly 70-minute walk to the summit, I had encountered only a handful of other Japanese. But finally, when I reached the observation area, there was a small crowd of roughly a dozen, relaxing, eating snacks and taking in the view.??
(Incidentally, OUTFOXED is a must-see for anyone interested in better understanding why the FOX "news" channel is bashed all the time as a "right wing" pundit and the ruin of contemporary journalism. My favorite line in the whole movie was something like this: "I don't condemn Fox as a bastion of ultra conservativism. What I DO condem it for is for touting itself fraudulently as the source of 'fair and balanced' news.")
Finally around 8 am, I was ready to catch the hourly bus out of here, down to Zushi. I chose my destination, the highest peak in the Miura Peninsula with the help of an old book I keep around,Day walks Near Tokyo by Gary D'A. Walters (what a great middle initial!). Although I took Mr. Walters' advice (for Tokyoites) and started my journey to hiking trail from Shin-Zushi Station, I learned in retrospect that I could have saved about an hours' time by simply walking to the bottom of my neighborhood in Shonan International Village. Little did I know that the start of the trail at Maedabashi bus stop, was actually just right down the hill from me, just past Koyasu Village and a several blocks past the Kuruwa bus stop. As this map I lifted from the Shonan International Village website shows, the Kuruwa bus stop is just down the road, and Mount Ohgusa is just adjacent to Shonan Village! (The Maedabashi Stop is three stops past, or about a leisurely 15-minute walk away.)Shonan International Village From Mount Ohgusa
Anyways, the bus rides gave me a chance to warm up while the sun came out. Finally when I got out of the bus at Maedabashi Stop, (on the Keihin Kyuhkou Buses #4,5,6,7, or 8 - this is different from Walters' explanation which has become a little bit outdated), the entrance to the hiking trail was clearly marked. As Walters writes, there is a lane to the left, just past the bus stop and a map sign board. After following this path straight for about 10 minutes, I was finally on the trail, which soon made a steep ascent toward the mountain top. Radio Tower near the Summit
The highlight of the hike was reaching the summit, where there is a 360 degree panoramic view of the entire Miura Peninsula. One of the most exciting things for me was being able to see my own village, Shonan Kokusai Mura, in the distance. For the first time since living here, I was catching a glimpse of my own mountain-top residence from above! Now that I was finally there, I could also get a really great view of the Hayama Golf Course. I was also near a radio observation tower that I had viewed many times from afar, at Sokendai. I had always wondered how/if I might ever find that radio tower. Once I got there, I read on a sign next to the radio tower that it is operated by the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (国土通行省), the national bureaucratic arm that, among other things, administers drivers and pilots licenses.
The Ohgusa Observation Deck
At the summit there are a number of concrete tables and benches and a special observation tower which one can climb to get an unobstructed view of the peninsula. Fortunately for me, just below the observation tower, there was also a small little concession stand selling drinks and providing maps of other hikes around Miura, especially in Yokosuka City. During my roughly 70-minute walk to the summit, I had encountered only a handful of other Japanese. But finally, when I reached the observation area, there was a small crowd of roughly a dozen, relaxing, eating snacks and taking in the view.??Looking down at other hikers from observation deck
posted by annmerry at 5:21 PM
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