Magnificent Japanese Alps

Relief from the city came in the magnificent 3000 metre high Japanese Alps. Not that I dislike the city, but at last we could be outside, hug a tree, park our car out the front, have a BBQ without upsetting the neighbours because of the fumes and flavours and best of all escape the humidity of the city. The temperature has been as low as 22C, just bliss. So here we are in the Japanese ski resort of Hakuba, there are not many foreigners around, so we overdo the konnichiwas and are warmly welcomed. We have leased a Japanese cottage in the forest owned by a Scottish expat who has been here for twenty years, he has furnished the house with western conveniences and Japanese characteristics. Oliver and Sophia fold out their futons each day and pretend to be locals. Our neighbours of a few days generously bestow veggies upon us; perfect specimens of okra, zucchini, lettuce, tomatoes, eggplant and corn. Their garden has not a single weed, the soil is chocolate brown, water is plentiful, running through the fibrous, rich temperate rain forest bed.

We head for the bilingual Evergreen outdoors company and book into rafting, downhill mountain biking, canyoning and a firefly canoe trip. We have adopted the" let's try it while we can approach".

Whilst not in a tour guided pursuit, we collect a multitude of fliers all in Japanese and try to work out what the tourists are doing. Where is everyone going? The whole village has a gentle buzz of adventure and fun-Japanese style. 

A narrow dirt road leads us to a remote village and a Japanese potter, we explain how we cannot understand anything much in Japanese and although he cannot speak one word of English manage a lesson in pottery. Mimasu, we will watch.
We are also curious about a place we drive past, so many young families happily venturing forth with nets and insect cages.We decide to mark it on our car navi as a "good spot", but enter the button with just the letters for "goo", so from now on this place is called "goo". Goo turned out to be a child's dream destination. Completely run by volunteers, our kids spent the day, running form one activity to the next. They caught fish from the stream in their bare hands and had them barbecued for a snack. They rafted on a few planks of wood in a pond, they collected tadpoles and frogs, swung from flying foxes, weaved a basket Japanese style and the highlight; spent hours carving and gluing fine-detailed creations from local woods and plants collected by the elderly volunteers.

We managed a trip to a wasabe farm where most of the world's wasabe is grown and indulged in a wasabe ice cream-Oishii! We drove to Togakushi, walked the pilgrims path through the ancient cypress grove and by contrast got stuck in a Ninja house.

All of these day trip were so enjoyable but the most outstanding moments for Mark and myself were the walks we took at the top of the gondaras, (please note deliberate spelling error). Climbing high into the alps, where summer flowers grow and silver birch enjoy a constant flow of water. Where black bears hide behind crevices, more noticeable in the winter against the winter snow, the magnificent Japanese Alps.