On a beautiful March weekend six people attended a monitor tour to Hachioji. We represented Canada, Australia, England, Germany, France, and the U.S. I must admit other than hiking Mt Takao my travels had not crossed paths with Hachioji. The tour changed that. Okada-san known affectionately as Okie provided excellent translation and story-telling during our tour.
It is amazing how many remote interesting and fun places can be found throughout Japan and this one is so close to home.
Hachioji offers a wide variety of attractions for all ages and it is only a short 34-kilometer trip from Tokyo.
One is the food. We dined at two very good Japanese style restaurants that included locally grown veggies, with their famous burdock root, and the Ayu fish (type of smelt), which is cooked on a stick over a fire. Although I could not tell you the names of what I ate, it was all very tasty. The burdock was cooked in various sauces mixed with vegetables that made for a variety of flavors.
The first meal was dinner at the city owned resort Akigawa Valley Seotono Yu and the next day we ate lunch in a little village at Kurojaya Tea House. Both were valued at around 5000 yen each and are well worth the price. The atmosphere at Kurojaya was old-style Japan.
If you're an outdoors adventurer there are 437 running routes, 298 cycling courses, and of course all the hiking trails you can dream of.
On Saturday we used public transportation and visited the Textile Association building and learned a little about fabric weaving. We tried our hand at making a sample cloth using the traditional weaving equipment. This particular operation has been in business since 1928.
We then boarded a bus and headed to Takiyamajo Castle ruins. We hiked around the park while receiving an interesting history lesson about the castle and how they protected themselves from invasion. There was an opportunity to try on armor along with handling various weapons from the Samurai era. After winning several battles, I headed to Akigawa Valley Seotono Yu resort via a train and two public buses. We hiked a trail up to the resort, across a small valley bridge.
The rooms consist of comfortable cabins with kitchens and a porch overlooking the river.
The next day after a traditional Japanese breakfast our group split up, one headed out for a morning of fishing and my group for a Zazen Meditation experience. Since moving to Japan I had never sat still cross-legged for 20 minutes. There is a first time for everything. I enjoyed the peaceful quiet environment, except for the stick-whacking by the head monk.
Next, a taxi trip to Itsukaichi to visit a nice historic house with a thatched roof and a regional museum that displayed many artifacts from the area. Both were interesting and well worth the trip.
This was just a small taste of the attractions available in Hachioji. There are several good parks, museums, amusement park, a ropeway to Mt Takao, hiking trails, rock climbing, fishing, the black wall, and Hachioji Geisha Girls just to mention a few. In the small towns there are interesting shops featuring items from the Hachioji area, Sake, Soy Sauce and of course the fish.
Hachioji has something for every age and interest. It is ripe for discovery and I plan on exploring it again in the near future.
