2:00 pm — TSH, day 15

The morning started with the sound of rain hitting a tent. I decided to wait for the rain to end and thus started to pack quite late, around 8am. The rain at the time was just a formality, so I quickly moved my belongings under the “kitchen” roof and started to wait for some visibility because clouds were really low and Takane-san was completely closed.

In an hour or so the dripping reduced to something insignificant while the clouds warmed up in the sun and went up, and I started moving back to the trail.

Halfway, the rain started to pour and I had to put on raincovers, yet I continued the hike.

When I got to a big cedar tree at the base of the mountain I was completely wet both outside and inside.

I like Japanese public toilets. They are everywhere and as soon as there is a water source nearby they are usually clean and cozy. The one I found at Takane-san slope was exactly like that. It was clean, dry, had a bench inside and provided me a shelter for more than an hour of waiting for the rain to stop. When the rain got weaker I continued the trail just to get into a real shower that was strong enough to hit through my raincover (fortunately the backpack raincover endured) and raindrops from the trees were not dropping but rather flowing in a continuous flow.

This way at the top of the mountain where I found the next shelter I was drenched from head to toes. Yet the rain stopped after a short wait there and I was able to take a picture of the surroundings. Before that I was moving in a rain within a cloud.

Mountain view with low clouds and village below
Mountains with clouds rolling through valleys
Mountain ridges with mist flowing through forest

3:30 pm — Going down

After Takane-san top the sun started to shine and I was walking through the beautiful green tea fields.

Green tea fields with small buildings and misty mountains
Tea field with forested mountains and clouds
Path winding through vivid green tea fields

4:00 pm — Random encounters

While walking through the road in the mountains I was not expecting to encounter any wild crabs…

Tiny orange crab on wet pavement beside a mossy stone wall
Narrow wooden suspension bridge through forest

6:30 pm — Lodgings

According to Google Maps there are two ryokans in Ieyama. Both of them declined me. After spending half an hour in the search for options the only one viable I could find was to take a train to the nearest city with lodgings. And thus I moved to a train station to Shimada. Looking at the clouds in the direction I came from, it is a right decision.

Btw, I like the way I’m making decisions at the end of the day. It is significantly more efficient than at the beginning of the adventure.

Sun setting through clouds over a suburban road with parked cars and low buildings
Crosswalk and town storefronts with a long band of cloud sitting on distant hills

7:00 pm — Doorbells

While I was looking for a ryokan in Ieyama I stumbled over one cultural difference. There was no doorbell at the entrance and since the door itself was made mostly from glass it was not something one can knock loudly. Thanks to the help of a local guy I discovered that here in Japan one simply opens the door, walks in and then inside starts to loudly call for the owner.

9:30 pm — Shimada

After all it might have been a good thing that I moved to Shimada. There was some kind of local festival at the temple and I’ve spent almost two hours walking around, eating yakisoba and takoyaki and shaved ice and so on. It was fun and the crowd was endurable since it consisted mostly of schoolers and with my height I was simply a head above most of them.

At some point of time, when I was sitting at the bench and eating my fresh yakisoba, the girls sitting next to me started to emotionally discuss their classmates and teachers and other school stuff. It’s a good thing I don’t understand a word in Japanese. Otherwise it could get somewhat embarrassing.

Crowded night festival with taiyaki food stall
Two girls walk down a lane of lit festival stalls selling karaage and churros at night