Weekend in Hakone

Hakone is affectionately known as "Tokyo's Playground".  It is about an hour outside the big city, and Tokyoites flock here to relax in the onsen (hot springs) and enjoy breathtaking views of Mt. Fuji.

This is one of the busiest travel periods of the year, and Tarynn and I waited a little too long (like the night before) to book our train to Hakone, so the only seats left were in the Green Car (first class). 

Here we are riding in style!

KG has arrived in Hakone and is ready to see the sights!

River in Hakone

Exhibit #...  well, I've lost count, but Japan still needs swimming pools so people aren't forced to cool off in rivers and streams.

We have arrived at Lake Ashi for a sightseeing cruise, but this port is closed because of low-lying clouds and rough water.

The water is a little high, too!

Ancient Cedar Avenue, which was planted in 1618, along the Tokaido highway in order to provide comfort for the foot travelers from the hot sun of summer and the snow of winter.

KG certainly enjoys the shade on this hot summer day :)

Path less traveled... Tarynn and Kerri found a small portion of the Avenue without cars passing constantly.

Hakone Sekisho

Checkpoint for all travelers in Japan back in the Tokugawa era (since 1618).  The Tokaido highway was the main passage and it was nearly impossible for someone to get from Tokyo to Kyoto with passing through this area.  It was known as the biggest and most important checkpoint in Japan.

The main purpose was to control weapons entering Edo area and women attempting to leave Edo!!  LOL.  Hakone Sekisho was notorious for its strictness and primary responsibility of keeping women from escaping!  Can you imagine?!

Special Arms Room:

Filled with guns and bows with the main purpose of intimidating travelers!

Arresting Implements:

Tools used to catch criminals!

Hakone area is also known for its special "black eggs".  They are regular chicken eggs, but cooked in one of the numerous volcano geysers (which also produce the hot springs) in order to turn them black.

You can bet I wasn't eating one of those black eggs, but I did buy a souvenirs plastic black egg from a kid's toy machine!

We moved on to the next port of Lake Ashi, but by the time we got there that tour was also cancelled due to the low clouds and poor visibility. 

I was upset because I wanted to ride this sweet boat!

See the rolling clouds... this pic was taken right after I walked off the dock. 

The visibility was unbelievably poor.

Since the boats were shut down, everyone had to leave by bus!!

After a couple of buses and trains, we finally made it to our hotel.  Since we were a little late planning this trip, we booked the only hotel room (2 days before we left) that we could find available.  As it turned out it was a "Single" with a twin bed...

That's all part of the adventure, right?!  Since the town (including restaurants, bars, and gift shops) closed at 7pm, I read a novel and then went bathing in the hotel onsen before trying to get snug and cozy in our tiny bed ;)

Hopefully tomorrow brings clear skies and calm weather!

Mitsui Forest

This weekend I had the pleasure of participating in a CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) event for Mitsui.  I knew it was an all-day trip to the Mitsui Forest, but I didn't really have a clear understanding what we were going to be doing there. 

We met just before 8am (which is incredibly early for Japan) and took a 2-hour train ride to Kii-nagashima in Mie Prefecture (a neighboring state).

Mitsui owns the third largest forest area in Japan (based on private companies only), and they started the business over 100 years ago.  They have 73 locations in Japan, and 80% are located on the northern island of Hokkaido.  The total area is over 100,000 acres.  Originally, the forest area was acquired to support for the Lumber division of Mitsui, but in the early 1980's the price of lumber fell and the business was no longer commercially feasible. 

Now Mitsui maintains their Forests for 4 reasons:

1. 
   
   Conservation - water, nature, and wildlife
2. 
   
   Replenishment - oxygen and natural resources
3. 
   
   Education - programs for employees and school children
4. 
   
   Recreation! 

We have arrived at the picturesque Mitsui Forest.

 The center area which is devoid of trees was actually caused by a landslide.  This is the rainiest area of Japan, with an annual rainfall of 157 inches.  (Nagoya gets an average of 59 inches, and Michigan gets only 32 inches per year.)  They are particularly prone to typhoons, which can erode the land.

Here's some construction to prevent more landslides.

 Mesh fences were up all over the place.  The purpose is to keep the rising deer population from grazing on the young trees.  I couldn't help thinking that if Mitsui needs help "thinning the herd", Dad and his cronies would be happy to take a trip over here and reduce the deer population for them...

There are also plenty of bears and monkeys that live in the forest, but they are not as much of pests to the young trees.

After they clear one section of the forest, new trees are planted immediately to start the root growth and prevent landslides.

Breathtaking views every where I looked!

 

 One thing I keep forgetting about Japan is that it's rarely flat, so I had to climb a bunch of mountains to explore the forest :(  At least they took a lot of breaks to lecture us, so I could rest.  The lectures were in Japanese, so I relied on others to translate for me, or I just took in the grand beauty.

 This is the third year for this employee program, but the first time they've eaten lunch in the forest.  They asked everyone to pick a stump and use their 5 senses... taste, see, smell, hear, and touch!!

 Our bento (lunchbox) and green tea.

 Kerri in her required uniform: long pants, long sleeves, hat, hiking shoes, and nylons (for the women) to prevent bloodsuckers from getting you!!  Yes, they are super paranoid about leeches here, and I was warned about them at least 12 times during the day!

 The group after our lecture and lunch! 

On to our next adventure of learning to "thin" the forest!  Periodically, they have to cut down the small trees that are not getting enough sunlight or that are curving in order to reach the sunlight.  This allows more room for growth for the healthy trees.

We were split into small groups, equipped with gear (do-rag, hard hat, gloves, and saw), and sent to find some trees to hack down!  The guys in green hats are the Mitsui Forest professionals, while all of the amateurs are wearing the yellow hats.

First, they mark in the direction they want the tree to fall, and we cut out a large piece there.

I was assigned to a group with the Director of the Nagoya office, Mr. Hanagata.  He likes to test out my progress with the Japanese language by talking to me in the elevators and hallways at work.  Thankfully, he talked to me mostly in English today and even did a bit of translating during the multiple lectures for me. 

My friend Ema goes next.

 

Everyone gets a turns.  (Even me, but I don't have any pictures of me on my camera!)

Do you see how she is now sawing from the back of the tree?

Being a lumberjack is hard work.  The men were much better at this than the women.

Four of us pulled on the rope attached high in the tree, and it finally fell over!!  What a cool feeling :)

My crew is proud of our forestry skills!!  Or maybe just tired... I'm the only one who looks happy to be there!

Next we measure the fallen tree, and cut it into pieces each 2 meters long.  The first tree was over 50 feet tall, and we did 2 more, which were even larger!!

Here are the shoes worn by the real lumberjacks.  They are traditional Japanese tabi shoes, and even the guys who pull the rickshaws wear them.  I have a hard time believing they are comfortable and protective, but both of these hard-working professions wear them, so I guess they know something I don't...

At the end of our session, the professionals cut each of us a slice of the fallen cedar tree as omiyage (souvenir) to take with us.  (It smelled really fresh and was damp!) 

One last look at the Mitsui Forest before it got dark, and we had to head home.

They even had plenty of streams and waterfalls.

It was a really great educational CSR program, and we had excellent weather for it!  Each participant had to pay $22, but that was relatively cheap considering the train tickets alone were $116 and we had lunch provided and were transported to & from the forest by a chartered bus.  I will be sure to brag to my co-workers in the office who didn't join the event!