Main tourist area is the flat top of Hachimantai mountains with alpine plants and panoramic view around the tourist road named Hachimantai Aspite Line. The mountains are volcano formed by lava with low viscosity. That is why the top is flat. > > read more about volcano story
The origin of the name is told to come from God of battle luck ‘Hachiman-sama’. ‘Hachiman’ is a symbolic icon related to ‘Genji’ that created the first samurai society in Japan.
There are many hot springs in Machimantai volcano. Matsukawa hot spring village, very attractive one of them, is located in the south of Hachimantai and it seems to be floating on the forest sea, especially autumn colors sea. The big truss structure bridge, 5 mins abover the village, has been left due to the cancelation of the traverse road construction plan reflecting natural environment movement and now it fortunately became a great view point !
Panorama View from the bridge (click photo)
panorama left
panorama center
panorama right
Left: toward the flat peak of Mt.Hachimantai
Center: Matsukawa valley (Matsukawa Hot Spring)
Right: toward Mt.Iwate
Matsukawa Hot Spring watching autumn colorsexplanation on the way
A walking tour with a guide (no charge) is held every morning at the hotel ‘Kyounso’ where we stayed at Matsukawa Hot Spring of Hachimantai. Extensive explanation and stories over one hour before breakfast made us feel rich nature of Hachimantai. The following stories, for example, are very attractive !
find water passage on the beech tree surface
<Story 1> (photo 14)
Each beech tree is stored 8-tone water under the ground through the mechanism of the shape of a leaf and water passage on a trunk . So landslide or wildfires do not occur in the beech forest, and they are naturally digested even if they are bonfired or left in the forest. It would be an overstatement to not extinguish the bonfire.
<Story2>
Why is the beech tree growing straight and thick, but not suitable for building materials? It has the property that it cannot grow easily because it is covered with bamboo grass when it is small, and it grows all at once when the bamboo grass dies in about 50 years. As a result, the beech grows straight and large, creating a genuine beech forest like the Shirakami Mountains. Therefore, the center of the annual ring is dense (that is, hard), and the outside of the annual ring is sparse (that is, soft), so it is not suitable as a building material. It is the only building material used in the main hall of Yamadera, Rissyaku-Temple, in Yamagata Prefecture, so be sure to take a closer look before heading to the summit if you go there.
walking 9 Mori-Utsuri
<Story3> (photo 9)
The raw material for Japanese paper is said to be Kozo-mitsumata, but glue is required to bond the fibers. It can be collected from the tree “Nori Utsuri”(see photo 9 below), as the name literary “glue transfer”.
walking 10 Kuromoji
<Story4> (photo 10)
The “Kuro-moji” tree (see photo 10 below) is a material for high-class toothpicks used when eating Japanese sweets in the tea ceremony. Kuro-moji tree is a relaxing fragrant tree and is said to relieve the tension of the tea ceremony.
<Story 5> (photo 13)
A maple designed for Canadian flag colors the forest as autumn leaves. The size of leaves in Japan are small and the Japanese name ‘KAEDE’ came from a flog(‘KAERU’)’s hand(‘TE’), ‘KAEru-no-T(D)E’.
walking 17 Honoki
<Story6> (photo 17)
“Honoki” (see photo 17 below) is a material that is neither hard nor soft. Therefore, it is used as a material for cutting boards that do not lack the teeth of kitchen knives and clogs (wooden shoes) with good cushioning.
I was told a lot of plant names and useful stories, but I couldn’t remember them because of the capacity of my brain.
Is there something like this? Even thought it’s the highlight of the tourist spot ! But few tourists and the roof of trees as an umbrella made us refreshing.
oirase valley waterfall here and there
Surprisingly a few person walk* from Ishigedo to Choshi-Ohtaki for 4 hours. Walking road almost goes along the Oirase river and is flat like the flow. Let’s watch slowly calm flow and attractive waterfalls here and there. Choshi-Ohtaki(big waterfall) flown from Lake Towada welcome you at the goal. Coincidentally we saw the moment when part of the waterfall wall collapsed with explosive sound. I’m sure the wallrock broke along the columnar joints.
choshi big waterfall
*)You can pick up a bus almost every hour at several bus stops on the way. If you use a rental car, it would be difficult to find out your parking space at Ishigedo in high season, especially weekend.
At Ishigedo, the cup of coffee using Oirase flesh water after long walk was full of bliss !
Highlight from Ishigedo to Choshi-Ohtaki(click photo)
Many photographers visit Tsuta swamp for the bright red autumn leaves illuminated by the morning sun. Therefore, general vehicles are restricted from early morning except for the shuttle bus during this period. You’ll have to choose between booking the historical hotel near here or giving up on the relaxing breakfast at other hotels to get a shuttle bus. Fortunately or unfortunately, we enjoyed a calm and fresh walk in the light rain. The hotel will lend you an umbrella and boots.
tsuta swamp
tsuta swamp right
The bathtub of Tsuta Hot Spring is deep and is filled with overwhelming hot water. And don’t forget that there is a fresh hot spring right under the bathtub. You can directly receive the blessings of the earth with delicious dinner.
The origin of the name Hakkoda Mountains seems to be that there are many shell-shaped peaks and marshes. Therefore, it is a very complicated terrain. So the next tragedy may have been born.
What comes to mind at Hakkoda Mountains is the 1902 distress of 200 people during the snow march training of the Japanese Army. It seems preparing for the war against Russia. Meanwhile, another unit was also training at the same time, and it is said that it passed through the distress scene but was kept secret.
suiren swamp at hakkoda in autumn
Most travelers look at the rugs of autumn colors on the Hakkoda ropeway, but those who love the countryside want to immerse themselves in a quiet place. The route going through from Sukayu hot spring to Tsuta hot spring, which is opposite side of the distress, is one of my favorite driving roads. Stopping by at Suiren swamp is strongly recommended because Mt.Hakkoda mountains reflect on the surface of the swamp on a sunny day and in the silence, wild birds and toads ! (big frogs) echo their voices in the distance. Hell swamp with strong acid water near Sukayu hot spring, the photo of which is indicated on the top of this blog page, is also charming.
If you travel connecting Shirakami mountains and Hakkoda mountains or Lake Towada, going through Jougakura bridge is highly recommended especially in autumn season. The color around the bridge changes into red.
autumn leaves from bridge
You can walk on the bridge safely after parking at the edge of it. But strong winds on the bridge take away heat from the body.
center of bridge plate
Look down like a bird at the middle of the bridge ! Deep valley 122m below the bridge is trying to swallow you. The river is so acidic that no fish can live in it.
bird eyes
There is Sukayu Onsen(Hot Spring), the bath of which is made of Hiba wood and can accommodate 1,000 people at a time, but it is also strongly acidic and it makes you tingle when you take a bath, so be careful of people with sensitive skin. It is famous for mixed bathing, but there is a place to take it individually in the back.
On the way to Shirakami mountains (World Heritage), we drove through HIROSAKI city which is famous for apple production and Mt.Iwaki the shape of which is similar to Mt.Fuji.
The road connects many apple farms. Silver sheets under trees reflect sunlight and apples turn into red. The price of apples is rising due to typhoon damage nationwide, so be sure to buy fresh apples at the production area. It is said that “Apples don’t need a doctor.”
Mt.Iwaki (Tsugaru Fuji)
You can reach Shirakami mountains through this road seeing Mt.Iwaki named Mt.Tsugaru-Fuji with apple trees.
It is easy to approach the entrance to World Heritage, but places inside where a tourist could reach by himself were limited. Furthermore ‘Anmon Fall’* was closed due to typhoon damages. You should chose between to be satisfied with a glance or to spend all day. Next time I would like to challenge with a guide.
kumagera tapping the tree
*)There are many approach routes to the heart of Shirakami mountains. ’Twenty ponds walking course’ is easily accessible from the sea side with public transportation and you can feel variety of nature.
The remains of quarries are found all over Japan, but Takahata stone is a tuff made from volcanic ash accumulated and is easy to process and has a warm yellow color. It had been used in the horizontal-hole type mound tomb. Human power is great, because it cuts mountains vertically and excavates caves in a straight line and used to dig them by hand. The inside of the cave is kept at a low temperature, so I thought that it could be used as a storage for Takahata wine, which would lead to income for tourism.
Takahata stone2
Takahata stone1
groove dig
Former Takahata Station of the railroad, that used to transport agricultural products from Takahata Town, is preserved, but it was built with only warm Takahata stone. It has nothing to do with this, JR Takahata Station (called Taiyokan) looks like a fairy tale and has a day-trip hot spring facility inside, but I couldn’t understand what was the concept of these combination. Only the impression of strangeness remained.
Old Takahata station
Takahata train
Fairyland Takahata Station
Detour
Takahata Town is located on a large fan-shaped terrain. I learned at school that this terrain is well drained and suitable for fruit cultivation. That is exactly the case, and grape cultivation is particularly popular. I highly recommend tasting at the Takahata winery, but I bought something expensive. I realized that the technology of Japanese red wine has improved considerably.
Kameoka Monjyu-dou is one of Japan’s three major Monjyu Bodhisattva with wisdom.
Two heads are better than one.
There are similar expressions in each country, but in Japan, the three heads are said to be comparable to the Monjyu Bodhisattva. Is Monjyu Bodhisattva respected with three heads or is it lightly seen?
Abe Monjyu-in in Nara prefecture is the most famous and worth seeing as National treasure, but Kameoka’s is simple and friendly in the countryside. The sculptures of the monks studying along the approach of the tree lined with cedars welcomed us.
Kameoka sculpture2
Kameoka Monjyu in
Kameoka sub hall
Kameoka sculpture
I was surprised that there is a hierarchy in the world of Buddha. An enlightened person is called Nyorai as highest rank, and is usually accompanied by several Bodhisattva. Furthermore, there are many layers under the Bodhisattva. The world of Buddha is also tough.
No graffiti
By the way, Bonjyu Bodhisattva is a Buddha of wisdom who is an attendant of Shaka Nyorai. That’s why many examinees are visiting and the examination season is at the time of earning money at Kameoka Bonjyu-dou. Although I wasn’t in the examination season when I visited there, many children were worshiping in the hall with parents and I was impressed that it was a temple that blended into the area. On the other hand, the attention not to doodle on the Monjyu-dou was indicated, but “Your graffiti halves your wisdom”, or something that it should be written down on its attention with a little more wisdom ! When you go to the back of the hall, you will find water that gives you wisdom when you drink it. Drinking too much water halves your wisdom !
Akutsu Hachimangu1
In Takahata Town, there is another old shrine that should not be overlooked. From Akutsu Hachiman, I think it is a historical shrine of Genji.
There was a magnificent thatched main shrine at the back, but for some reason there was a triple-storied pagoda of Buddhist architecture at the shrine.
