Over Hiei-zan to Biwa-ko

Just over the Higashiyama range from Kyoto lies Lake Biwa. Lured by the forecast of good hiking weather, Hideyo and I set out last Sunday to walk from Shugakuin to Biwa-ko, via Mount Hiei.

Kyoto on the left, Lake Biwa on the right, and the Higashiyama mountains in between. Click here for an interactive googlesat page

The weather turned out to be a mixture of rain with some sun, and definitely cold. It almost felt like November. However, armed with a new (and waterproof!) topo map, we set out from Shugakuin around noon. The first part of the hike followed a route familiar to me from my very first hike here in Kyoto, although the foliage now (the beginnings of fall colours) was quite different from then (early leaves and cherry blossoms).

The now-familiar first part of the route.
Click here for a slight sense of deja vu.

It felt almost like... November!

Despite the rainshowers, on the ascent we managed to get some great views of the Kyoto valley below us. The rainy weather made for so-so visibility, but even so we could see all the way to Osaka (50km away!) and through my little binoculars I could discern buildings in Osaka's downtown and ocean-going ships in its harbour. Imagine what the views must be like the weather is clear and sunny!

During a break in the weather:
Kyoto Imperial Palace - the large rectangular green park - is in the centre of the image. The smaller green area behind it is Nijo Castle, while the long and skinny green area to the lower right of the Imperial Palace is the Shimo-gamo shrine which is nestled in the fork formed by the Kamo and Takano rivers. Kyodai is just to the right of the small green hill that protrudes from the left edge of the picture, and my home in Shugakuin is in the lower right of the image, partially obscured by the foreground flora.

We got to the summit after about 3 hours of walking. The summit was a rather uninspiring place, surrounded by trees and with a large water storage tank on one side, but, nevertheless, we briefly paused for the obligatory picture. It was there that we experienced, if only briefly, this winter's first snowflakes!

At the summit.

We had "done" all the famous Hiei-zan temples just two weeks ago, when the ryoshin were here, so we felt we could bypass them without significant danger to our mortal souls (or to our chances of enlightenment, or whatever...). This seemed to be the right decision, as the weather kami smiled on us (though this perhaps just to spite the Buddhas of the Tendai temples) and so our descent towards Biwa-ko was accompanied by improving weather and fantastic views.

On the eastern slopes the weather improves!

The view towards Biwa-ko. Click on the image for a larger version

Although we have chosen to avoid the main touristy temples of Hiei-zan, we nevertheless were frequently reminded of the holiness of the place as we made our way downhill.

Indeed, one of the great pleasures of hiking in Japan is the sense of history that permeates almost every hill. These places have been inhabited - and indeed civilized - for thousands of years. You simply don't get this kind of experience in the Americas, for while parts of the New World - Mexico or Peru - undisputably have ancient ruins, that's all they are: ruins of long-gone civilizations. But here, in Japan, it is a living, on-going history, as we were reminded not only by all these working temples, but especially by our encounter with a young monk taking his brand-new puppy for its very first evening walk.

The quality of the experience here - for me, a European by birth - is also very different than the one one gets when traveling in Europe. Europe is unarguably soaked-through with history, but it is a familiar history of a familiar civilization. Here, in Japan, the civilization is ancient, living, and alien, all at the same time.

We were often reminded that Hiei-zan is a holy place

A small Hiei-zan temple.
And below it, the downtown of modern Otsu City at the southern tip of Biwa-ko.

Temple steps and autumn colours

The days are quickly getting shorter with the coming winter, and we were yet again reminded of that fact when darkness started to fall around us with still another hour of walking left. But Hideyo bravely stared down the night forest kami around us and we were soon taking the little local train to Otsu city for a splendid meal at a hole-in-the-wall yakitori-ya.

Evening lights of southern Lake Biwa

Over Hiei-zan to Biwa-ko

Just over the Higashiyama range from Kyoto lies Lake Biwa. Lured by the forecast of good hiking weather, Hideyo and I set out last Sunday to walk from Shugakuin to Biwa-ko, via Mount Hiei.

Kyoto on the left, Lake Biwa on the right, and the Higashiyama mountains in between. Click here for an interactive googlesat page

The weather turned out to be a mixture of rain with some sun, and definitely cold. It almost felt like November. However, armed with a new (and waterproof!) topo map, we set out from Shugakuin around noon. The first part of the hike followed a route familiar to me from my very first hike here in Kyoto, although the foliage now (the beginnings of fall colours) was quite different from then (early leaves and cherry blossoms).

The now-familiar first part of the route.
Click here for a slight sense of deja vu.

It felt almost like... November!

Despite the rainshowers, on the ascent we managed to get some great views of the Kyoto valley below us. The rainy weather made for so-so visibility, but even so we could see all the way to Osaka (50km away!) and through my little binoculars I could discern buildings in Osaka's downtown and ocean-going ships in its harbour. Imagine what the views must be like the weather is clear and sunny!

During a break in the weather:
Kyoto Imperial Palace - the large rectangular green park - is in the centre of the image. The smaller green area behind it is Nijo Castle, while the long and skinny green area to the lower right of the Imperial Palace is the Shimo-gamo shrine which is nestled in the fork formed by the Kamo and Takano rivers. Kyodai is just to the right of the small green hill that protrudes from the left edge of the picture, and my home in Shugakuin is in the lower right of the image, partially obscured by the foreground flora.

We got to the summit after about 3 hours of walking. The summit was a rather uninspiring place, surrounded by trees and with a large water storage tank on one side, but, nevertheless, we briefly paused for the obligatory picture. It was there that we experienced, if only briefly, this winter's first snowflakes!

At the summit.

We had "done" all the famous Hiei-zan temples just two weeks ago, when the ryoshin were here, so we felt we could bypass them without significant danger to our mortal souls (or to our chances of enlightenment, or whatever...). This seemed to be the right decision, as the weather kami smiled on us (though this perhaps just to spite the Buddhas of the Tendai temples) and so our descent towards Biwa-ko was accompanied by improving weather and fantastic views.

On the eastern slopes the weather improves!

The view towards Biwa-ko. Click on the image for a larger version

Although we have chosen to avoid the main touristy temples of Hiei-zan, we nevertheless were frequently reminded of the holiness of the place as we made our way downhill.

Indeed, one of the great pleasures of hiking in Japan is the sense of history that permeates almost every hill. These places have been inhabited - and indeed civilized - for thousands of years. You simply don't get this kind of experience in the Americas, for while parts of the New World - Mexico or Peru - undisputably have ancient ruins, that's all they are: ruins of long-gone civilizations. But here, in Japan, it is a living, on-going history, as we were reminded not only by all these working temples, but especially by our encounter with a young monk taking his brand-new puppy for its very first evening walk.

The quality of the experience here - for me, a European by birth - is also very different than the one one gets when traveling in Europe. Europe is unarguably soaked-through with history, but it is a familiar history of a familiar civilization. Here, in Japan, the civilization is ancient, living, and alien, all at the same time.

We were often reminded that Hiei-zan is a holy place

A small Hiei-zan temple.
And below it, the downtown of modern Otsu City at the southern tip of Biwa-ko.

Temple steps and autumn colours

The days are quickly getting shorter with the coming winter, and we were yet again reminded of that fact when darkness started to fall around us with still another hour of walking left. But Hideyo bravely stared down the night forest kami around us and we were soon taking the little local train to Otsu city for a splendid meal at a hole-in-the-wall yakitori-ya.

Evening lights of southern Lake Biwa