Day 9

Prayer Request: That God would provide funds and people to take care of Karuizawa Retreat Center, and praise for His providence in providing a place that missionaries can rest and have outreach opportunities!

I finally peeled a soft-boiled egg without breaking the white! Look how beautiful it is!

First Successful Peeling of Soft-Boiled Egg

Ok, now that that’s over: Today was our “free day” (at least until our train for Matsumoto at 3:47 pm), so Rett and I decided to go on a nearly 3-hour hike up a mountain with bears.

Bears!!! Oh my!

(Because that’s what we do on our day off, I guess.) We hiked up the Kyu-Usui Pass, which is part of the old Samurai Nakasendo trail that connected Kyoto to Old Edo (Tokyo). The pass was a little dirt path that wound over little rivers and streams as it climbed up the mountain through the forest.

Sign Post at the Beginning of the Kyu-Usui Pass

Beginning of the Kyu-Usui Pass

At the beginning of the trail: the path was paved and we crossed a picture-worthy suspension bridge.

Suspension Bridge

But, the higher up the trail we went, the more “rough” it became: we passed over little streams by way of wooden planks laid across the gap in the trail, and tree roots formed the rise of little steps.

Hmmm, I think this bridge needs some attention…

Fortunately, the trail was marked by little yellow and red stakes in the ground every so often, so we never had to worry that we had lost the trail. It did feel very much like we had gone back in time, or stepped into the movie “Princess Mononoke” by Studio Ghibli.

View from the Kyu-Usui Pass of the Nakasendo Trail

The top of the pass came out at the Sunset Point observation area we had visited on Wednesday. Rett and I walked up to the top, to see what was visible (or maybe to just say that we had hiked up to the top). The answer was: nothing. Saturday was a very misty day, as it had just stopped raining around 8 am that morning, and the mountain was pretty much inside a very dense cloud. We had suspected that this would be the case, so we just enjoyed getting to sit down for a moment, and relax in the quiet, misty morning air.

Top of the Pass

Rett and I soon set off to explore what the Sunset Point area had to eat. We walked past all four little restaurants and decided on one that had delicious pictures of Mochi outside the store (they also had reasonable prices). We ordered noodles and homemade mochi in sweet-walnut, sweet-soy (like edamame), and daikon (radish), and soy sauce flavors. We decided that the sweet walnut was the best, sweet-soy was delicious, and the daikon and soy sauce was interesting and very salty.

Window of the Tea Shop

Sweet Walnut Mochi

Sweet-Soy Mochi

Daikon-Soy Sauce Mochi

After lunch, Rett and I walked back down the mountain to KRC. We got to talk a lot more this time since we weren’t mildly out of breath from climbing. It was past noon when we arrived at our cabin, which gave us barely enough time to bike to the local convenience store for some baggies. This was the first time that Rett had biked in Japan, and I think he did a pretty good job not hitting the masses of people we were riding through!

The nearest 7/11 (yes, that is a major convenience store chain here), was next to the train station and had a little grocery store attached to it. They had itsy-bitsy little strawberries (that I was very impressed with), and “Ziploc” (literally the brand) baggies to pack our food in so we could take the food we bought with us to Matsumoto.

Itsy-Bitsy Strawberries

Rett and I biked back to KRC, barely managing not to get lost, and frantically packed all of our belongings just in time for Larry and Carolyn to drive us to the train station. We all said our goodbyes, promising to keep in touch and send pictures, before hurrying to our platform. I got to catch some pictures of the Shinkansen as it came into the station, and of the “countryside” as we rode to Matsumoto. So far as I have seen in central Japan, the “countryside” is still fairly urban. The houses end up all bunched together, instead of one house being spaced in the middle of every field, and the rice fields themselves are only maybe an acre or so in size.

The Country Side

Terrace Farming

It is actually a very nice area. Life seems more simple and laid back, but they still have many of the basic conveniences of city life. Grocery stores are only a short bike ride away, and there are a number of chain restaurants and shopping areas nearby. It was definitely different from what I was expecting.

We were met at the station by Chris, one of the TEAM missionaries who work with the church in Azumino, a smaller town just outside of Matsumoto. He helped us get checked in to our hotel, and then brought us to the youth group at the church. We got to meet Takeshi-san, who works as a pastor in the area, and were introduced to the youth group! It was movie night, but the Schlakes, and Rett, and I could barely keep our eyes open for the movie. We had had such an interesting and full day, that we were all excited to get back to the hotel and sleep!