Aokigahara-jukai

Aokigahara-jukai is the forest area that spreads out on the foot of Mt. Fuji

It is located on the way of Mt. Fuji mountain road, and being a famous tourist spot, this area is always busy with the tourists. There is very big parking lot.

There is a camping ground and a park near this place, and a walking trail has been provided to go through Aokigahara-jukai. This is one of the best places for leisure activities.

The scenery formed by the lake and Mt. Fuji is beautiful.

This place can be easily reached from Tokyo, and is a popular sightseeing spot.
On the other hand, this is a deep forest with lot of trees and bushes, and hence even if you go little off from the walking trail it would be very difficult to return to the original spot.

The surface of the area other than the walking trail has uneven and rough dents of various sizes because it was created by the eruption of lava, and hence there is a chance of injury due to slippage.

There is a real saying from the past the “You cannot come out once you enter” and it also has another face of being a famous suicide spot. The chances of finding the remains of some of the corpses, not so far from the walking trail, is high.

The problem is when someone enters the forest by leaving the walking trail, and if they don’t see the walking trail or guide signboard, they will find that the area is surrounded by similar type of straight trees over 360 degrees, and the same scenery without any specific features to distinguish will continue. They will be trapped into the paralysis of direction sense because there is no prominent landmark either.
Keeping the foothold steady becomes a problem, does not let to proceed straight, and makes it impossible to return to the original place.
There are lot of cases of death due to the fact that they were unable to return to the original place after stepping out of the walking trail out of interest, and not with the intention of suicide.
This place is so dangerous that the police used to patrol the parking lot to see if there are any cars parked in the parking lot without attention late in the evening.

Mt. Fuji Hill climb

Climbing of Mt. Fuji with the road bike.

Mt. Fuji Hill climb is the climbing of the Mt. Fuji mountain road (trail) once in a year.
It is a course of climbing from Fujihokuroku Park ~ Mr. Fuji 5th station, total length is 24km, and difference of elevation is 1,255m.
Slope: Average 5.3%, and Maximum 7.8%

This year
Number of person who took the course was 6,165 people (Race entry rate: 98.3%)
Number of person who finished course was 6,067 people (Completion rate: 98.4%)

In the history of the rally, this was the first time that the number of persons who finished that race exceeded 6000 people.

Though it is said as the race, everyone will climbs the Mt. Fuji by their own pace.

I think it will surely be an experience that you will not forget the Mt.Fuji in your lifetime.

Do you wish to participate in the event that will also be held the next year?
From now on, I will be giving lot of information about the road bike travel in Japan.

I think it is exceptional to travel and see the beautiful scenery of Japan by riding the road bike.
http://www.fujihc.jp/english.html

Please visit Japan by combining this rally day the next year.

Okage Yokocho (Ise Jingu)

The street that crosses over the entrance of the Ise Jingu Shrine is called as Okage Yokocho.
You may like to check the blog on Ise Jingu Shrine in the below link.
http://japanindiacart.blogspot.in/2014/04/ise-jingu.html

http://www.okageyokocho.co.jp/
Here, a lot of souvenir that will remind you of Japan, and delicious foods of Ise special product are available.

There are lot of tourists visiting here at the same time of visiting the Ise Jingu shrine for worship.

The food items that I would like you to have is Akafuku and it can be purchased at HONTEN.

Kindly buy one box of Akafuku first as a take-home item.
However, you have to eat it before the next day because the “best if eaten by this date” is only until the next day.

You can eat the Akafuku at the shop, but there are some Akafuku that can be eaten only at the shop. It is the “Zenzai” and the warm seasonal “Akafuku Kouri”. Please try these two without fail.

Akafuku kept inside the ice is very delicious.

Akafuku in ice

Then, it is Ise Udon.

Ise Udon

There are lot of Ise Udon shops, and you can try it in any shop.

Ise Udon is a type of noodle in which the black and dense broth added to the stock of the fish and the seaweed in soy sauce, is mixed with the thick noodles and eaten.
The Ise Udon is only available at Ise, and hence when you visit here try this without fail.

You can eat the food that has a history of being consumed by the shrine visitors from the Edo period (AD 1603–1867). I think it is the suitable menu to serve the crowd customers visiting Ise.

This is the innermost entrance of Okage Yokocho to Ise Jingu.

Ise Jingu

"Ise Jingu" is a shinto shrine located at Ise City in Mie Prefecture.

The Ise Jingu shrine expressed as the spiritual home of the Japanese people, has tradition and history, and is famous as the best power spot of Japan.

Ise Jingu is the shrine that the people during the Edo period (1603-1868 CE) wished to come and worship at least once in their lifetime.
It is said that the population of Japan at that time was nearly 30 million people, and there is a record of maximum people visited during a year as 5 million people, and this means that one in six Japanese visited and worshipped the temple.
For a one-way trip to the Ise Jingu shrine, it takes 15 days from Tokyo, 5 days from Osaka, 3 days from Nagoya, and pilgrims have visited the Ise Jingu shrine even from Tohoku and Kyushu by walk.
It is said that takes 100 days to reach the Ise Jingu shrine from Kamaishi city in Iwate prefecture.

Initially, the comparatively affluent people save money as a group and their representative will go to visit the shrine. The aspiration for the pilgrimage of Ise Jingu keeps getting strong among the people who know the grace of the god in Ise Jingu. In the course of time, even the woman and the children from each region of the entire country assembled and had the aim to visit Ise Jingu
During the Edo period, the travel of the people was strictly limited, and no one would complaint if it is for Ise Jingu worship. If any of the employee says suddenly on a day that he is visiting Ise Jingu, it seems that the shop employer cannot stop him.
Perhaps they would have thought that stopping someone from visiting Ise Jingu would lead to the punishment of the self by the God.
Ironically, they might be in a convenient period before starting the travel.

Time has passed, and even at present, the belief to Japanese people towards the Ise Jingu shrine is strong, and if you would like to visit the most famous God in Japan, then the Ise Jingu shrine is recommended.