in S o ^ GIFT OF HORACE W. CARPENTO xtf ileasant ■ surjirise- — The "newwoman" of Japan — A laggard rogue — Curious contrasts — A princely peasant — Ascent of the -'Eed Eock Moun- tain" — Alpine storms — A lonely bivouoc — Polite police — The Bezoar stone — Eustic hospitality —A dieadful apiiarition- — Un- expected good cheer — The Fujikawa rapids ..... 97 CHAPTER YII. A mountain railway — ZenkOji — A polite stranger — "Wayfarers in distress — Cmious chimneys — Palatial accommodation — Unex- pected gratitude — Interested visitors— The Harinoki Pass— A lonely bivoxxac — Eomantic route — The hot springs of Eyuzanjita . 117 CHAPTER YIII. The ••Beacon Moimtain " — A famous moitntaineer— A wonderful stone — Feminine temerity— An interesting summit — Eemarkable sol- fataras — ''The Great Hell"- — An odd introduction — A wild ravine — I'rimitive bridges — Tovama . . . . . . .142 CONTENTS. CIIAPTEIJ IX. PAGE Uuwolcome visitors— A cheery coolie — The Abo-toge again — The ••cohl shoulder " — Hashiba and Matsumoto — A. wonderful hotel — The Spartans of Asia — The lover's stratagem — Ilodakayama — A grand scramble — Black currants — A waspi' nest — Exorcism — The village barber — The blind shampooor — English as she is Japped . . 16(5 CHAPTER X. The "Matchless Mountain '"—Up the Nakasendo— Collapse of the haslia — Xnkatsugawa — Ena San — "Over the hills and far away" — Tokimata — The Tenryugawa — X. typhoon on Fuji — Over the mountain — The policeman and the passports — An ingenious device — Eeadinff otu' own obituarv notices . . . . . .19'.; CHAPTER XL The Alps from end to end— Earth(|uakos— Across Japan — Xaoetsu — A landslip— The boatmen of Itoigawa— " Not knowing children nor parents " — A curious inscription — A hospitable headman— An obliging policeman — Pnmitive bathing-houses — ' • The I^otus Peak" 219 CHAPTER XII. Perseverance does it — A narrow shave — Renewed hospitalities — Eepulsed— Light at last— A friend in need — The hunters and their chieftain — A grand scramble— The third time pays for all — Dismal prospects — A race against night— Kegretful farewells— Exploring a new pass— Matsumoto again — "English as she is Japped" — Chiistianity and its spread — A kindly headman— Jonendake— A tiring scramble— Romantic bivouac— Strange legends— A glorious panorama— Getting into hot water .241 CHAI'TEU XIII. On the Nakasendn again— The peripatetic cobbler— Japanese Alpine Clubs— Off to Ontake— An obliging official— Ascetic mountaineers — Lady climbers — The new "Excelsior" — A night in a "club hut " — A warlike priest— Dawn on the summit — ^N'eird worship at CONTEIVTS. PAGE sunrise— " Briuging do-wn the god " — Descent of tlie mountain — A pathetic scene — Jajianese patriotism — A Spartan mother — The Japanese " Eed Cross Society" — Kobe once more — Snydnara to the Alps of Japan 268 CHAPTER XIV. The origin of •' Koini-oroshi'' — Kubo Daishi and Chinese Buddhism — The root of the matter — A private sea /^ce — Government prohibitions — Go-0, the crows and the crops — The " fox-possession " . . 294 CHAPTER XY. " Possession " and " Exorcism " 308 CHAPTER XYI. Hiiits on outfit, pi'ovisions, etc. ........ 317 Appendix A 327 Appea'dix B 330 IXDEX 341 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE The Daibutsu at the Temple of Nofukuji, HyogO . Tu face '6 'jr. 29 42 59 83 92 HODAKA-YAMA (MyOJIX-BAKE) ElDGE S. OF YaRIGATAKE Diploma of the Tokyo GEOGRAPniCAL Society . Kobe, from the "West Bath-houses of Siiirahoxe Oxsen, at the foot of Norikura ,, Yarigataice, from the N.E Matsumoto Castle 96 Fudo-Sama 124 EOOFS AT OmAOIII, LOOKIXG towards THE IIaKIXOKI-TOGE To fiicf 125 Daruma 128 ' The Mid-day Meal ' 15."} Pole-bridge at the foot of the Abo-Toge . . . To /'(«r 168 ZOsui-Bashi, a Bridge at IIashiba , 175 Hodakayama, from the 8.E ,, 178 The 'Thcxuer God,' at the Mausolkum of Iemitsf, AT NiKKu , i,s;j Street Scene in Japan ., 189 SniRAITO-NO-TAKI, AT THE W. BASE OF FuJI-SaN . . ., 194 Fuji-San, with Cloud Cap, from the South-west . ,, 209 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Oyasiiir.vdzu, the Northern Point of the Japanese Alps To face On the Hea oy Japan Bath-houses at Renge Onsen .... Yukikuhadake, prom above the Eenge Onsen The Hunter Chieftain of Nakao .... Bear-hunters of Nakao Irrigating Wheels in the Eice-fields House of the ' Head-man ' of Iwahara . Fukushima, on the Nakasendo .... A PiLGRiii Band on Ontake The Shrine on the Summit of Ontake . Diagrams of Kuji-go-ShimpO and In-Musubi, from an Illus- trated Manual FuKAN Eeijin, a Pioneer of the Japanese Alps . To fact In the 'Paradise of Babies' — where "Children never cry" ,, 'True till Death' — the Bugler Shirakami Genjiro, at the Battle of Song-hwan Wounded Chinese Prisoners brought into a Japanese Field- HOSPITAL DURING THE WaR . . .... PAGE '2'21 . . '225 Tofdce 229 282 244 2dj 2J7 2o8 271 272 279 281 283 288 289 291 MAPS. THE CENTRAL JAPANESE ALPS GENERAL MAP OF JAPAN At end of Volume, MOUNTAINEERING AND EXPLORATION IN THE JAPANESE ALPS. CHAPTER I. Books aud bookmakers — Pleasant surprises — A parable in bronze — A terra incognita— A. curious tramway — Kariiisawa — A terrible eruption — Ascent of a famous volcano — Noisy neighboiu-s — George and Louisa — Companions in misfortune. In liis delightful little encyclopsedia of " Things Japanese," my friend Professor Chambej^'lain has shown that "Of making many books there is no end" is a dictum pre-eminently true of works of travel in Japan. And a curious fact is that the space of time dealt with by each succeedino- visitor to the "Land of .the . Kisiusf . Su.n " has been oTowino- oraduallv less, frpni '"'Niiie' Year.^ in Xi})on" to "Three AVceks in Japaii';'' -'so-' tli'at' ;\v(i' '.niiay not, after all, despair of reaching the Ultima Tliule in this respect l)efore the })ublicatiou of that great work with which 1 have heard the public threatened — " Five Minutes in Japan," in two vols. So frequently do tliese books appear that writers almost MOUNTAIXEERING IN THE JAPANESE ALPS. stiimljle ou each other's heels iu the literary race ; certainly they usually succeed, metaphorically speaking, in treading on each other's toes. A Japanese writer has, not without justice, somewhat Intterly complained of the numbers of foreign tourists who come to his country, and after rushing through it "at tlie rate of forty miles an hour" (though the average speed of the express trains is only about half that pace), then hurry home to record their impressions and pose as authorities on what they have only glanced at by the way. The present writer wishes to steer clear of these reproaches. The notes of travel and observation detailed in the following pages are only offered after some six seasons of exploration and research in what are almost the least known, though in many respects the most interesting regions in Japan. For there, where the mainland attains its greatest width, the mountain ranges reach their grandest proportions, and the inliabitants are often the mo.li the veojetation beins^ buried several feet deep under the matter thrown out from the voleano. Our innkeeper having provided us with a guide (said, by those who got a, premium for recommending him, to Ije good), we started at 9 A.M. for our peak, the rain having hindered us from getting off earlier. A ^\•alk of two hours over gently rising meadow land brought us into a narrow valley leading up to a sort of coJ between the main peak and Ko Asama (" the baby Asama "), an excrescence on its N.E. shoulder. Near this our " guide," who had previously twice lost his way in the forest of larches and pines, again went hopelessly wrong, and was consequently dismissed to the rear of the caravan, as in that ignominious position we found he was capable of less harm. At an altitude of about G,000 feet we emerged from the now thinnino- forest on to the cinders and loose aslies of the bare cone, whose inclination now steepens to a1)out 35°. Over this a faint track, marked out by little cairns, leads us to the edge of the outermost and oldest crater lip. The busy hum proceeding from a swarm of hornets tliat had made their nest in a hole auKUigst the cinders here induced us to quicken our pace. As we overtopped the ridge a keen wind from tlie N.E. drove us to take shelter in a deep ditch rent in the lava on the other side. 8 MOUNTAINEERING lA THE JAPANESE ALPS. From here an easy walk of fifteen minutes landed us at one o'clock on the edge of the mighty crater, from whose honeycombed sides vast volumes of sulphurous steam roll up with a roar that rises and falls with awful weirdness. In the distance it resembles a great waterfall, or the thundering of the Ijreakers on the Pacific shore, heard in the stillness of night. The circumference of the crater is about 1,300 yards, l)ut its yet unfathomed depth is probably greater still. Those wiio have made the ascent of the volcano, as I have since done, Ijy night, and looked down into the cavernous abyss at the fires below, will never forget the unearthly scene. Tlie dense curtain of clouds that rolled around the summit of our peak shut ofi* all but an occasional glimpse of distant scenes. Far ofi" to the south the dark cone of Fuji San appeared for a second as if suspended between heaven and earth, and again through a sudden rift in the mist westwards, the dark wall of the Japanese Alps loomed up imposingly. On turning to descend, we saw the clouds had now gathered so dense as to entirely shut out all traces of our downward way. Having paid no particular attention to landmarks in our excitement at the strange scene as we were nearing the crater edge, we found ourselves simply standing on the circumference of a circle of puzzling same- ness, and all appeals to our " guide " only drew forth the AN INCOMPETENT GUIDE. admission that lie was lost, as lie only knew the wa}' in fine weather ! " That," however, " miyht be the right direction,'" he ventured, pointing to a great precipice of lava that formed one side of a great chasm, now visil)le for a moment through the mist. A few minutes more spent in wandering about in the vain search for signs of a track showed that our coolie was really worse than useless, and at length an appeal was made to the compass, with the result that we were soon, though off all traces of a path, at any rate getting down somehow^ Follow^ing the edge of a deep-cut chasm on the east slope of the cone, a rough descent over the bare lava and cinders led us at last out of the chilly clouds into the warm brightness of the summer sun, and soon we saw stretchino- below us the fresh oreen expanse of the meadows that deck the volcano's lower slopes. All inconveniences then were forgotten in the delightful tramp through the long grass, gay with flowers of every hue. At a height of some 1,100 feet above Oiwake, the village to which w^e were now descending, on the side of Asama-yama, we passed a curious waterfall hidden among the trees, the reddish tint of the water and of the underlying rock giving it among the natives the name of " the blood cascade." At Oiwake, half a dozen miles west of Karuisawa, we struck the famous Nakasendo, the " middle of the moun- tains road." Oiwake was once a place of some importance, lo MOUNTAINEERING IN THE JAPANESE ALPS. but it is now, like many other A'illages in this neighbour- hood, nearly ruined by the railway between Karuisawa and Naoetsu, which has diverted traffic almost entirely from the A\ell-knowii highway. After our first day's training tram]), Avith the prospect of a long journey on the morrow, we were naturally anxious to get a good night's rest at our inn, and so weut early to futon. But no sooner had we lain down upon the piles of soft cotton-stuifed quilts that in Japanese inns do duty for beds, than a hideous uproar begau in the adjoining room. We knew quite well what it meant, and our hearts sank within us. A native dinner party was on, and with only a thin paper partition between ourselves and tlie half-dozen revellers and their attendant musicians, the chorus of hand- clapping to the rhythm of the songs, mingled with the tuneless strumming of the i^amiseii (the Japanese banjo), our sufferings were complete. For the native inn ensures but little of privacy or cj^uiet to travellers sharing adjacent rooms. If your next-door neighbour happens to be curious about you and your belongings, he has only to rub a little hole in the thin paper panes of the shoji that separate you from him, and apply his eye to the hole, to 1je able to see as much as if he were sharing the apartment with you. Or if he merely cares to listen to your conversation, he can hear with perfect ease, so long as he only keeps quiet himself Hapj^ily, however, when he is A SLEEPLESS NLGHT. not alone, the cliances of his acting as eavesdropper are usually very remote, for unless a man's companion Le either deaf or dumb, the conversation never flags. One can never think of the extraordinary loquacity of this vivacious people without recalling the ungallant but cuttino- sarcasm of a certain French writer : "la lang-ue des femmes est leur ep(''e, et elles nt la lalsscut pas rouiller!'' Happily for our Japanese friends, however, they are able to sleep, apparently under all circumstances. Moreover their childlike lack of self-consciousness spares them much of the annoyance from which we English so often suffer, and consequently the broadest hints from the other side of a paper partition too often pass unheeded. In the case of my companion and myself, luduippily, remonstrances witli our fellow guests proved fruitless. The landlord, on being appealed to, comforted us with the assurance that if we could only hold out until twelve o'clock, we should have peace, as at tliat hour a police regulation would compel the carousals to come to an end. And so at last tlie howling and handclapping began to grow less distracting, and shortly after midnight quiet was restored. But only to be once more broken. This time the disturl)ance proceeded from without, and was due to the unexpected arrival of two American tourists travelling en grand seigneur with an interpreter. They had made the ascent of Asama-yama, we were afterwards told, from 12 MOUNTAINEERING IN THE JAPANESE ALPS. the opposite side to ourselves, l)ut had met with n similar iiiid even worse fate, liaving, with the assistance of their local guide, completely lost their way, and ^\■andered down the mountain to i^omoro on the Nakasendo. Here, late in tlie evening they took the ti'ain for I\aruisawa, i;5,-, miles distant, but that too ])roke down, and it was not until towards 1 a.m. that they i-eaclictl tlicii' destination. CHAPTER II. "Are tlierc any railwaj's in Japan !' " — Goinl-bye to civilisaticjii — Tln' Ilofukuji Pass — A glorions jianmaina — Matsunioto — Tlio landloiil — "Foreij^n food" — Yarigatakc, "the Matterhoni of Jai)an " — Jlashiba and tho Ix-ar hnntor.s — "Matchless for the complexion" — Silk fila- tures — A lovelj'' vallej' — Night quarters — Unvvelconio conii)anions — The Tokugo Pass — A grand route — Bad weather — Deserted bj- the guides — Benighted . Tiii<] growing popularity of Karuisawn as a summer resort for foreign residents, with its cool (•liuiatc iiud vnrird walks in the hills that cneh'ch' ihc pleasant plain, has indueed enterprising n;itive shopda'cpers to establish stores for the sale of foj-eign provisions. At one of these Me were able to stock our small canteen 1)y way of su])- plenienting the flimsy diet we knew we should get at the native country inns. A railway journey of tive-aiid- twenty nules on the Naoetsu line took us to the old castle town of Ueda, where, as we saw our train slowly steaming out of the station on its way to the wesrcirn coast, we knew we had said good-bye to such traces of civilisation for the rest of our Avandcrings. It is odd, now that one is again at home, to hear the question, ''And are there any railways in Japan?" For 14 MOUNTAINEERING IN THE JAPANESE ALPS. only tlie other day, after replying to it for the tenth time, an interesting handbook to railway and steamboat tra.velling in Japan, kindly presented to me by Hayashi Gonsuke, Esq., H.LJ.M.'s Consul-General in London, stated that at the end of 1895, no less than 2,248 miles of rail- Avay were open, shared by twenty-nine companies. And I may add, moreover, that besides being able to cross the main island at its widest part by rail, one can get a much longer railway journey in one continuous direction in Japan, than is possible between John o' Groats and Land's End. Under the patient tuition of able English engineers, a knowledo;e of the science of railway construction has been rapidly acquired, and most creditable results have been achieved, for Japan is a country where many diffi- culties have to be overcome, owing partly to the hilly nature of the OTound, and also to the liability to iuun- dation in many of the })lains through which the main lines pass. Generally speaking, the travelling accommo- dation is inferior to that on English railways, but much less so than the difference in fares would imply. The charges per mile arc only about one, two, and three farthings for third, second, and first classes respectively. Shortly after 1 p.m. found us trundling in jinrikislia across the mountain-guarded vale in which L'j'eda lies, along the path which passes westwards over the Hofukuji- too-e towards Matsumoto. The broad stream of the Chiku- ROADS AND ROADS. I5 magawa is crossed by an ugly irou bridge with staring white painted girders where once a picturesque bridge of boats joined the banks. After the cool air of Karuisawa's elevated jilatcau, the fierce heat in the gradually narrow- ing valley was almost stilling. But a capitally made road, in the freshness of its youth, eiialjled our sturdy pairs of runners to spin along with ease as far as Urano, where the seven miles they had traversed justified a halt for the everlasting ippuku (" one wliift' "') in which the soul of the coolie so delio'hts. As we looked backwards from the shady verandah of the neat wayside cliaija (" teadiouse ") down the sunlit vale, the far-off Avails of the old castle keep of Uyeda gleamed white against the dark trees of the hills beyond the river, the astonishing clearness of the air almost annihilatino; the distance between us and them. From Urano the face of the road, here wrinkled with age and worn by the small torrents that are formed l)y every downpour of rain, grew uncomfortably rough, and the jinriLisha jolted with such ditficulty over the big stones washed bare of soil, tliat we determined to lighten the work of our coolies and to lessen our own sufferings by walking to the top of the pass. For fourteen miles the steep pathway climbed over almost treeless hills, winding in and out of l^ald grassy slopes formed of volcanic scoriae and exposed to the full blaze of the afternoon sun. At 1 6 MOUNTAINEERING IN THE JAPANESE ALPS. f) o'clock the summit, 4,500 feet, was reached, and then from a little knoll on the left of a gap in the ridge, we suddenly found ourselves for the first time in full view of the great mountain range on which our hearts were set. Coming unexpectedly as the prospect did, we were almost startled by its magnificence. Tlie whole of the central and southern part of the chain rose up before us westwards like a great barrier between the broad plain of Matsumoto that lay at our feet, and the lonely province of Hida beyond. Snow-seamed ridges and noble peaks of 10,000 feet and more in height stand up in dark sharp outline against the opalescent sky of the dying day. Yarigatake, the " Spear Peak,'*' the Matterhorn of Japan ; Jonendake, with its graceful triangular form, that recalls in miniature the Weisshorn, queen of the Pennine Alps ; and further southward the massive double-topjDcd Norikura, the " Saddle mountain," each arrests the eye with a characteristic profile. Afternoon soon faded away into night as we feasted our gaze on the splendid panorama, for there is little twilight in these low latitudes, even at high altitudes, and day dies suddenly and young. A rough descent down the steep stony track by the side of a mountain torrent that rose near the summit of the pass on its western side, brought us under cover of darkness through the (juaint hamlet of ,: . . OUR MATSUMOTO LANDLORD. . . ... 17 Hofukuji, which owes its name to an ohl Buddhist temple now falling iuto decay. Another ascent beyond this, and then the path pierced its way through a damp dark tunnel in an intei-vening spur of the hills before graduall}' dropping down into the ]\Iatsumoto plain. Jumping into our jtnrll-islia when more level ground was reached we sped merrily on, our coolies gaining in pace and good spirits as we drew near our destination. The outsku'ts of the town of JMat.sumoto were reached at 10 P.M., the distance of thirty miles having taken 9 hours to traverse. The townsfolk still passing to and fro in the busy main street turned startled aside as we rattled u}) to the door of the Shinanoya inn, wliere we were received with the politest of welc()mes from Sasai Motoji, the young landlord whose acquaintance has, since that first meeting, been one of the most interesting features of my repeated visits to this neis^hbourhood. He is a curious character altoo;ether. His laroe hooked Jewish nose, so unusual for a Japanese, would have furnished a grand argument for that eccentric individual who lal)Oured so hard to prove that in the Japanese he liad discovered the "lost Ten Tribes." His business practices would have given even still more countenance to the theory, altliougli in fairness I can only add that he always took great interest in our plans. And though his charges sometimes a little startled us, his knowledge of the neighbourhood makes him an c 1 8 MOUNTAINEERING IN THE JAPANESE ALPS. invaluable ally when mountain expeditions are con- templated. For such expeditions no better starting point than Matsumoto can be chosen. A busy town of 20,000 inhabitants, it lies in the middle of a fertile plain on one of the main roads that connect the Nakasendo with the western coast of Japan, and various Ijy-paths lead to the passes that cross the main mountain mass near its southern end. The repeated attempts my companions and I have made to obtain bread, aided by personal instruction in the art of l)aking in "foreign style," have at last induced the local imnna (baker) to try his hand, and with fair success. Beef, of a muscular sort, beer, milk, and ice are to be had ; whilst at a native provision-store one can not only get a substance that is alleged to be butter, but I have also seen certain tins labelled with the inviting legend, " This apricots is very sweetest ! " Near the northern entrance to the town the pagoda-like tower of the ancient fortress rises from the wide expanse of rice-fields and mulberry orchards, like a castle on a mammoth chess-board. The white plaster of its walls is rapidly peeling off, but even in its decay the old keep is stately, and its topmost storey affords a grand near view of the tall peaks that rise abruptly beyond the western out- skirts of the plain. Monday, August 3rd, at 9 a.m., saw us at last fairly OFF TO THE ' SPEAR-PEAK: 19 launched on our expedition, viz., the third ascent of Yarigatake, the tip of whose " spear " is now seen peeping over the shoulder of Jonendake like the steeple of some distant church. In his polite anxiety on our behalf, our landlord insisted on accompanying us on the first stage of our journey, which took us a dozen miles south-west of Matsumoto to Hashiba, a hamlet that guards the approach to one of the most picturesque valleys in the Japanese Alps. Having sent on our baggage in advance by pack horse, we followed in jinrikislia, as the road is fairly passable for such vehicles for the first half-dozen miles. Near the hamlet of Murasaki, however, the track grows extremely rough, so we dismissed our coolies and proceeded on foot. Leaving behind us the mulberry orchards, for this plain is one of the great centres of silkworm culture, we plunged into the fateful shade of a dark forest of sweet-scented pines, which stretches for a distance of several miles until at length the pathway leaves it and passes along a hillside above the right bank of the Adzusagawa. The valley into which we have now entered gradually narrows, but on the opposite side the tall steep hills are cultivated almost to their summits with millet, daikon (the Japanese radish), &c. Soon the dark cottages of Hashiba appear ahead, and then we round a little rocky promontory that pushes itself out into the stream, and mount up the stony path that 2 MOUNTAINEERING IN THE JAPANESE ALPS. constitutes the only street of which the viUage boasts. Our Matsumoto landlord Jost no time in commending; us and our j)laiis to the interest of the host of the modest inn, the " Shimidzuya," and he, in his turn, at once set ahout the task of securing the services of local l)ear-hunters as guides upon our expedition. AVhilst these were being searched for, we were able to take stock of our sur- roundings. Hashiba, a hamlet of some sixty or seventy houses, is perched on the right bank of the swift Adzusa- gawa, at the entrance to whose pictures(|ue valley it stands, on the road that goes westwards over the main mountain chain, by the Nomugi Pass, to Takayama, the capital town of the secluded province of Hida. A tine ingeniously constructed wooden bridge, called Zosui-ljashi, connects Hashiba with Shimajima, a twin village on the opposite side of the stream. These two places are chiefly inhabited by thrifty peasants, whose main occupations are silkworm culture and charcoal burning, or by hardy hunters, who fish the neighbouring streams and chase the big game (bears, boars, deer, and chamois) that al)ound in the more inac- cessible mountain regions. After a little search, our new acquaintance, the landlord of the " Shimidzuya," succeeded in producing a couple of sturdy ryosld (hunters), who, in their turn, on hearing our plans, enlisted the services of a third, and so our party was completed. The eldest of the trio was a lithe, active fellow, RUSTIC CIVILITY who li;ul already twice climbed Yarigatake. hut for a Japanese he was unusually reticent. The other two were short, thick-set young fellows, who looked capable of carrying- work to any extent. Many were the good wishes that sped us on our way as we moved off from the village inn — " Please honourahly condescend to come back quickly ; "' " Deign to proceed at your august leisure ; " and so on, for even the country folk can make the politest of speeches, and intercourse with them soon teaches us that genuine refinement is the exclusive possession of no one class. The conventional phrases may often, it is true, mean a g-ood deal less than at first sound their literal meaning implies, but all the same this univei'sal courtesy helps to make the wheels of social intercourse run tbe more smoothly. It reminds one sometimes of the politeness of a certain politician of bygone days, of whom it was asserted that even the very tones in which he asked you for a pinch of snutf were more potent than the clearest logic. As we passed over the bridge, the hunters drew <»ur attention to the water of the stream, which they said had the remark- able property of rendering unusuall}' white the complexions of those who wash in it. 1 am inclined to tliiidc, however, from the faces of the men, that it can onlv l»e the gentler sex by whom it is used. During a delay on the part of our men to rearransje the bago'age, which included a small tent, camera, and canteen. Belcher and I were invited to 22 MOUNTAINEERING IN THE JAPANESE ALPS. Step into a wayside silk filature, such as we constantly meet with in these regions, to see the winders at their work. The simple machinery for winding off the silk from the cocoons is driven by water-power, and gives employ- ment to a score of bright-faced girls, varying from twelve to twenty years of age. Their neat appearance helped us to credit the story about the river water, and tlie startled glances of shy curiosity as we suddenly entered the long narrow room told prettily how unusual was the sight of the face of a foreigner. To most, if not to all, it would be the first such experience, and w^ould furnish a topic of conver- sation for days to come. But I feel I am lingering by the way too long. Leaving behind us the filature and the quaint cottages of Shima- jima, we passed due west through a wide, well-cultivated vale, until this suddenly narrowed, and, turning more to the north, contracted into a wild and picturesque valley. All signs of human habitations had vanished. On the left tall precipices rise from the river brink, bearing here and there in the crevices in their sides bushes of azaleas, or creepers hanging in graceful festoons of vivid green over the f:ice of the rocks. On the right tower lofty hills to a height of 3,000 feet and more above the valley, clad from base to summit with forests of pines, interspersed with birch and other trees. Sometimes the track is cut in the face of the cliff, or, again, it has to be carried along narrow A MOUNTAIN SHELTER. 23 platforms of small fir logs lifted by struts of timber high above the stream. Occasionally it passes over the debris of a landslip, for here and there the hillside, denuded by wood-cutters of its timber, slides down, and every trace of a path is swept away. At a distance of some seven iniles from Shimajima our coolies suddenly halted. Pointing to a little loo; cal)in half hidden in the foliao'e on the left bank of the river, " There," they said, "is the ' Dashi-no-sawa koya ' [koija = hut), and the smoke you see coming out of the window shows the caretaker is inside." The hut in question turned out to be the property of tlie Noshomusho, the Imperial Board of Agriculture, which controls the con- struction of certain mountain roads, and also regulates timber-fellino; in districts where the forests are Government property. Here we were to put up for the night, so we crossed the stream by a curious bridge, formed of long pine poles inclined sideways at an angle of 30", and, on entering the hut, were received with a civil welcome by the guardian, who apologised for the " mcajiness of the accommodation," as his phrase put it, but lio[)ed that under the circumstances it would be excused. A wood fire was burning in an open space in the middle of the raised floor, and o-lad we were of its warmth, foi- thous-'h the altitude of the spot is but 3,700 feet, the valley is so shut in Ijy the hio-h mountains on either liand that little sunsliine can find an entrance. But though the fire was grateful and com- 24 MOUNTAINEERING IN THE JAPANESE ALPS. forting, the smoke was the reverse, for the volumes emitted from the freshly cut logs almost filled the small room, and, as no chimney gave it outlet, a good deal found its way into our eyes and nostrils, and the only way of getting relief was to lie on the Hoor face downwards, an ex- ceedingly inconvenient posture for hungry men with dinner waiting. However, the attractions of curried fowl (the inimitable Halford's), and Japanese rice, • supplemented with cocoa, marmalade, and the bread Ijought at Karuisawa, were too strong to be resisted, and the feast proceeded. Dinner over, we turned in, or, more strictly speaking, turned over, for the floor of the hut formed bedstead as well as chair. The caretaker kindly provided my friend and m}'self with a futon apiece to serve as mattress, whilst the knapsacks and tent rolled up formed our pillows. With heads close to the cracks in the walls of the hut, and feet to the fire, the company bade each other " Good-night I " — " yasumi nasal" (" honourably deign to rest "), and soon a chorus of snores burst forth. Unlike myself, my com- l)anions slept soundly, regardless of the presence of the small tormentors inseparable from every Japanese dwelling- place. For this hut, unhappily for me, not only gives shelter to at least eight persons, but also finds accommo- dation for fleas innumerable. As I invariably found that these creatures, when on the nightly war-path, skipped my . . LONGEVITY OF FLEAS. .25 friend to feed on nie, he endeavoured to console me with the flatterino- remark that thouo-h tlieir manners midit be bad tlieir taste was decidedly good, and he felt it an honour, not to say pleasure, to tra\'el with a companion so universal an ol)ject of attention. An old Japanese priest once tried to [irove to me the longevity of the species by stating that representatives of it, which had l)een left in a woodcutter's hut near tlie Nakasendo when the owner deserted it, were found G4 years afterwards still alive and active. Our start on Tuesday morning was delayed l)y a steady downpour until 9 "30, and then again, after a distance of a mde or so had been covered, fresh torrents drove us to take shelter in a woodcutter's shanty by the side of the torrent. At 2*30 P.M. we 1 'ft the occupants of this queer structure of branches and bark still smoking their diminutive pipes, and moved on up the ravine. At length we found our- selves at the foot of the pass, which now climbs the great forest-covered hillside that shuts in the head of the valley. Dense dwarf-b;imboo and tall stinQ-ino; nettles make the pull up the sinuous windings of the now fading track unusually stiff, and each step brings dowii fresh showers of moisture from the heavily laden leaves, lly 5 o'clock we were on the top of the Tokugo-toge (^oye^pass), 7,100 feet above the sea, which crosses between the summits of Nabekamuriyama on the north, and Kasumigadake on the MOUNTAINEERING IN THE JAPANESE ALPS. south. The view from near the highest point of the pass is one of the grandest in Japan, so entirely does it differ in character from the ordinary mountain landscapes with their rounded outlines and verdure-clad slopes. With the broad white pebbly bed of the Azusagawa sweeping round its southern foot, the tall form of Hodaka- yama (known also as Hodakadake) rises before us face to face. The highest granite peak in Japan, 10,150 feet above the sea, its towers and pinnacles, that spring from ridges seamed with snow, give it its picturesque name, "the mountain of the standino- ears of corn." North- wards a oreat arete connects it with Yario-atake, whose monolithic peak is yet hidden by intervening wooded heights, but as we descend a little to the left a fine view greets us of the pyramid of Jonendake standing due north of our pass and separated from it by Chogadake aud Nabekamuriyama (" the mountain of the cauldron upside- down"). From the summit of the pass a rough scramble down the loose broken rocks of a torrent bed took us in an hour and a half to a meadow borderino; on the left bank of the Adzusagawa, where amidst the trees we found another of the huts belonging to the Noshomusho. The only human being in the lonely valley was an old hunter whom we found by the river-side fishing for the trout in which these mountain streams abound. From him we purchased a NEW ROUTE TO YARIGATAKE. 27 dozen fish, varying in weight from lialf a pound upwards, and when dinner was done, we spread our tent upon the floor, laid down our native straw rain-coats as mattresses, and so passed the night as before. A glorious sky greeted us as we left the hut at G*15 a.m., and made our way through the long grass of the meadow to the ri\'er's brink. A little careful search revealed a practicable ford, though the feat of stepping from boulder to boulder with the waist-deep current sweeping sideways with considerable force was none of the easiest. And yet without the least misgiving our sturdy companions invited us to *' mount up " and go across the swirling waters pick-a-back. For four or five miles beyond the ford we traversed the right bank, passing sometimes through the dense undergrowth in the forest that clothed the lower slopes of Hodakayama, or again amongst the smooth boulders in the bed of the river. At length the valley divided, and a counsel of ^^'ar was called to settle our route. *' The ravine on the riaht," said the oldest of the hunters, "is long, but the way is known, as the former parties who climbed Yarigatake both took that route. If, however, you want ' sport,' you will find the left, though probably shorter, more interesting, and the way we shall have to find for ourselves." '* The left let it be/' we said, and without further delay we turned our faces to the north-west and applied ourselves gaily to 28 MOUNTAINEERING JN THE JAPANESE ALPS. our task. Tluit the new route, up the Yoko-o-dani (" tani " or (hoii = Ya[\ey), was interesting we soon discovered. A strug-o-le for half a mile or so throuo;h the thick brush- Avood, and over tlie interlacing roots of trees near the bank of the wild torrent, landed us at a cave in the side of the ravine. Here we deposited the bulk of our l)aggage, as our hunters assured us we should easily get back before night- fall. After a o-ood meal we set out in lio-ht maTcliiuo^ order, taking with us food for " tiffin," a Cardigan jacket eacli, and Belcher's camera. Up the rough torrent bed we scrambled, leaping from boulder to boulder, ov(^r water tliat seethed and boiled as it dashed madly down its rocky channel. Occasionally we were compelled to wade through the icy-cold current from side to side, or to take to the rouoh banks and fio:ht oar wav with axe and knife throusfh the tangled mass of creepers and bushes that barred the way. At a height of 6, 930 feet the first snow was reached, and then, as the vegetation grew more sparse, the way grew easier, for it was possible to stick to dry land. Above us, on the left, rose the precipitous eastern ridge of Hodakayama, whose sides here hold slopes of glistening- snow scored l)y the volleys of stones that shoot down from the crao-s above. A o-rand bit of climbing was afforded as we reached the foot of a cliff over which a fine cascade tumbled with thunderous roar into its rocky Ijasin. On DEFECTION OF OUR GUIDES, surmouutiiig this we found ourselves on the edge of a wide snow-field, with white slopes hanging on the sides of the amphitheatre of wild and rugged peaks, luiin, however, now eame down once more, and almost completely shut out what must in many respects be the most striking view in the whole of Japan, and soon we were completely soaked. Up the slippery snow we went, and then, bearing to the; right, scrambled up broken rocks to a gap in the ridge beyond which we now knew our " Spear Peak " lay hidden, A\"ith our upward progress our spirits rose, and soon wc overtopped the arete and looked beyond to the left where the sharp top of Yarigatake loomed up dindy through the rain. How terribly distant, though, he seemed ! It was now '1 p.m., and evidently we had still plenty of work to do. Earing down the slopes of snow on the north side of the co/, we pushed our way through or over the Hat-topped masses of /o-iiO-ia(dsii ('•' five- needle- pine ") that fringed them, and then came out into a wilder- ness of rocks scattered about in the wildest confusion as they had been torn ott" l)y disintegration and hurled down from the cliffs above. In the middle of this desolation we found a curious sort of natural cave formed by huge stones leanins: ao-ainst each other, l)ut admitting- of entrance at either end. Here, our leader informed us, we had rejoined the original route u}) the mountain, and to celebrate that fact the trio sat down to smoke their pipes, and then 30 MOUNTAINEERING IN THE JAPANESE ALPS. began to make a fire of pine branches to cook their rice, evidently having no intention of moving on for some time. It was now 4 o'clock ; the wind whistled through the cavern in such a way that, wet and cold as we Avere, we felt it unwise to linger. On requesting the men to proceed, we met with a fiat refusal. It was too late in the afternoon, they said ; " we shall be benighted ; and besides, if we attempt the final peak, the wet condition of the steep rocks will make it impossible for us to scale them." They then suggested that we should stay where we were, and finish the ascent on the following morning. This motion, however, was negatived without a division, and as they declined to make any further proposal. Belcher and I left them smoking th^ir pipes and blowing their fire, and applied ourselves to the remainder of the climb alone. Hungry as we were, however, this was no easy matter. The little food w^e had we knew we must keep to last us until the morrow^, for it was quite plain we should not get within reach of the Yokoo-dani cave, where we had left our provisions, for many hours. However, we struggled on, clambering over the sharp hard rocks, whose smooth slippery surface under our hobnailed boots recalled unpleasantly the tiresome moraines of glaciers in the Alps. A more agreeable reminder, how- ever, was the Alpine bell, the Schizocodon soldanelloides, the Japanese kinsman of the SoldaneUa alpina, encircling DRIVEN BACK FROM THE SUMMIT. 31 with its beautiful flowers the slopes of snow across which, from time to time, our line of ascent was directed. The Japanese species is both larger and lovelier than its western (congener, and as it is also found in the early spring at low altitudes it covers a more extensive zone. By 5 o'clock we had nearly reached the southern base of the final peak. On the west, steep cliffs fall abruptly to the valley of the Gamada-gawa, but the distant prospect was hidden in clouds. All we could see was the stony wilderness we had just traversed, with its dreary slopes of snow, the narrow jagged arete on which we stood, and, through the swathing mists, the lower portion of the great rock pinnacle that gives Yarigatake its expressive title. The smooth slabs of porphyry breccia of which the peak is chiefly built, sliowed that in their wet and slippery state they would need the greatest care, for a slip might readily prove fatal here, and going would l^e consequently slow. At length we reached an ugly gap in the arete, which had to be passed before the " spear " could be attacked, and just as we were stopping to discuss its crossing we were surprised to hear shrill shouts proceeding from below. Presently through the mists peered the excited face of our "leading guide." In almost agonizing tones he begged us not to persist in our attempt. " You have no idea," he protested, " of the inaccessible nature of those upper rocks," pointing vaguely into the clouds, " and in their 32 MOUNTAINEERING IN THE JAPANESE ALPS. present condition you are running a risk that is absolutely unjustifiable." ; 'Though not disposed to take tlie hunter's declaration without liberal discount, a few feet further scrambling induced us to reconsider our position and to climb down to where he stood gesticulating below, and then to return to the cave where the two younger men w^ere expectantly waiting. Tlieir rice they had cooked and eaten, but tlie ever-recurring /_^j>/ >?;/*: ?t ("one whiff") was still proceeding. Our main object was now to get down as quickly as possiljle to the spot at which tlie men told us we should find a '' '^Tand shelter " for the nii;ht, situated in a ravine parallel to and westward of the one up which we had ascended, and lying on the route taken by the parties who had made the previous ascents. Leavino- the cave shortly before 6 p.m., we hurried down the rocks and snow slopes with all speed, for we had far to go, and it was a case of racing against nightfiiU. In spite of the rain, the glissades were delightful, though the hunters, shod with straw sandals, gear quite unsuited for such a mode of progression, preferred to descend 1)y the rocks. The tame ptarmigan, that have their home in the low "' creeping pine " (as the (joijo- no-)iiatsu is sometimes called), peered curiously out of tlieir hiding places as we passed by, and then scurried back to wonder what the unwonted sight could mean. A LONELY BIVOUAC. 33 For 3,000 feet or so our descent was quick, but when tlie torrent was reached progress slackened, and it was not until after 7 o'clock that, soaking wet, we reached our wished-for o-oal. After the o-lowino; accounts o-jven of the attractions of the spot by our coolies, a rapid survey of the actual surroundings came upon us as somewhat of a surprise. We had not actually expected an hotel, nor yet a tea-house ; indeed, our wildest hopes did not aspire even to futon, or food. As a matter of fact, the Akasaka no huagoi/a (" the Red Cliff cave ") consisted simply of a huge wedge of rock some 25 feet long by 20 wide, and about 15 in height, lying on the left bank of the Adzusa-gawa, a mile or two below its source. On the opposite side of the stream a wide bare channel in the dark pine forest marked the track of a spring avalanche of snow, the white slope of which still lay gleaming through the tall trees below. One end of our wedge was tilted up at a sufficient ano;le to enal)le us to o-et a fair amount of shelter underneath, but the ground was wet, and the rain dripping from above made matters worse. However, darkness cpiickly came down, so we set to work to make the best of our situation. AVitli brushwood and pine-branches we soon succeeded in raising a cheerful blaze, but Belcher and I both a2;reed we liad never before realized how long wet garments took to dry, as one by one each separate article had its turn before 34 MOUNTAINEERING IN THE JAPANESE ALPS. the fire. At length we were outwardly comfortable enough to think of the claims of the inner man which by this time was sorely in need, for we had made no meal for over ten hours, and the day's Avork had been unusually trying. An inspection of the contents of the larder revealed a small tin of sausages, a morsel of bread, a l>it of kola chocolate (with the earthiest of flavours), aiid a little brandy which we had lirought in case of emergencies. Our coolies we were glad to find were well supplied with rice, and the clayey character of our chocolate they by no means despised. Dinner over, our surroundings took on a more cheerful aspect, and the mildest of jokes were received with uproarious merriment. Then we went to bed ; that is to say, each of us possessed himself of a flat piece of pine bark by way of mattress, and whilst Belcher once more made a pillow of his camera case, I laid my head peacefully on the softest piece of rock handy. The hunters themselves occupied three sides of the fire, wliilst we had to be content with one side between us. No sooner had we " gone to bark," than ni}' friend and I fell fast asleep, but after three hours of blissful slumber our cramped positions began to tell, and stiffened limbs asked to be stretched for relief. So oddly were we fixed thouo-h that this involved the thrustinc: of one's feet either into the fire or into the face of the iieidibourino- SUNSHINE AFTER STORM. 35 sleeper, so a compromise liad to be effected by the two of us changing phices and huddling up from time to time in varying postures — and so the night passed away. As soon as daylight had penetrated into our secluded v^alley we were ready to move, but the pouring rain delayed us several hours. The usual time spent in cooking break- fast and packing up was now not needed, for there was nothing to cook, and no baggage to pack. Our coolies, however, spared us a little of their rice, and as the narrow strip of clouds above the ravine l)egan to part, the blue sky appeared, and with the ceasing rain we began the descent of the torrent. The work was similar to that of the previous day, l)ut rather less arduous, though the recent rains had swollen the sti'eam, and in many places it had to be forded waist deep. By 10'45 we had rejoined our tracks of yesterday at the junction of the two valleys, and whilst two of the men went up to fetch the baggage we had left at the Yokoodani cave. Belcher and I stretched ourselves on the smooth warm stones on the edge of the river bed, basking in the bright sunshine, and watching with admi- ration the skill of our remaining hunter, as with a hastily improvised rod and line, he landed silvery trout from the clear stream close by. By the time we were again on the march after lunch our porters had a distinctly lighter load. On our way down to the Azusagawa ford we startled an eagle in the act of devouring its quarry in the shape of a 36 MOUNTAINEERING IN THE JAPANESE ALPS. ten [anglice marten), wbicli it dropped as we approached ; as the smoke from the gun of one of our hunters cleared away after an ineffective shot, we saw the magnificent creature circling high above the cliffs on the opposite side of the valley. Crossing the river once more, we passed throuoh the meadow near the Xoshoumsho hut, l)ut before we could reach the top of the Tokugo Pass, 2,000 feet above, we were again overtaken by the rain, which came chnvn in sheets, and soaked us through and tlirough. Our men were now getting tired, for they had worked well all through the day, and it was only by dint of a special spurt that we could hope to escape being benighted. As we Ijreasted the summit of the col and descended the steep slippery slopes of wet bamboo grass, we found the modest mountain streamlet had grown, through the heavy rain, into a roaring yellow torrent, and considerable steadiness was called for as in the deepening twilight we crossed the narrow pine poles that here and there did duty for a bridge. Shortly after dark we were under the welcome shelter of the hut at Dashi-no-sawa, discussino- over our trout the events of the })ast three days. The caretaker was delighted to receive the gift of the marten, which he promptly skinned, spitted on a stick, and roasted in the red-hot embers for his dinner. On the followii}g day we were once more in Hashiba, where we parted from our hunters, who were made happy by being paid off' at the AN UNEXPECTED CATASTROPHE. 37 rate of a dollar (then worth S.s. 3c/.) a day apiece. We then retraced our steps to Matsumoto, finding the pathway by the river near Hashiha l)adly damaged by the recent rains. At ^Aliirasaki w^e ^Yere lucky enough to get jinriL-islia, in which we drove to the town. Just as we were entering one of the main streets I suddenly heard behind me a loud shout, followed by a crash, and, on glancing round, was greeted by the sight of Belcher standing on his liead in the road, and flourishing his heels to the astonishment of the startled bystanders, whilst the coolie lay sprawding under the skyward-pointing shafts of the jinriJcisluL It transpired that the man had abruptly, wdthout due warning, stopped to s^Dcak to a friend by the roadside, and as he unexpectedly lost control over the veliicle, this general toss-up backwards was the consequence. A cheery welcome greeted us as wq pulled up, this time with more deliberation, at the front of the Shinanoya inn, wdiere we learned from Sasai Motoji that he, too, had not been without his adventures since we parted. On his w^ay ba('k from Hashilja earlier in the week, he was riding a pack-horse on a path above the river, when the earth gave way, and hurled liimself and his horse into the swollen stream some twenty feet beneath. As w^e remembered the spot, it seemed a marvel tliat cither man or beast should have escaped, and that unharmed. CHAPTER III. The hnsha — On the Nakasendd — The Torii-tuge — Mythology and modern art — Fiiku.shima — Cimous customs— "■ The bed of awakening" — Agematsu — " The Express Company'" — Seventy miles in a fortnight — The crossing of Komagatake — A magnificent panorama — Hospitable reception — -The Japanese bath — Mountaineering accidents — Down the Ina-kaido— The rapids of the " Eiver of the Heavenly Dragon " — An exciting voyage — ^Civilisation and cyclones. Some forty miles south-west of IMatsumoto, on the east and west sides respectively of the valley of the famous Kisogawa, staud two commanding peaks — Komagatake ("the foal mountain"), in the province of Shiushu, the tallest member of the large family all known by that name —and Ontake (" the august mountain "), whose reputation as a sacred summit is second only to that of Fujisan herself. As l)oth of these can be ascended from Fukushima, a picturesque village on the Nakasendo, Saturday morning, at 7"15, saw us starting in unusual style for that place. " Style," on this occasion, was represented by a hasha, a native carriage of peculiar construction, drawn by a weedy undersized horse, whose driver was clad in blue cotton drawers, with a dilapidated hat and jacket of European pattern. Although the clatter made l.)y the hasha was far more than enouo-h to startle anv pedestrians we mif>;ht meet THE BASH A AND ITS TORMENTS. 39 Oil the roiul long l)efore reaching them, a small boy was added as " conductor," his duty Ijeing to blow a tin horn to warn persons from the way of our Juggernaut car. We soon found out that the thing is intimately connected with suffering, as, though its speed rarely exceeds four miles an hour, and is seldom dangerous to travellers on foot, the dis- comforts it inflicts on the passengers it carries are often considerable. To those who have never ridden in one it is difficult to give a fair idea of its peculiarities, but the nearest approach to it yet seen in England would seem to be the deer-cart which Hood describes in " Tlie Eppiiig Hunt :" " In shape like half a hearse, but not For corpses in the least." Its appearance has been compared to a cross between an ambulance waggon and a prison van, and certainly the feelings to which it conduces are often appropriate to either of those conveyances. Our oblio-ino; landlord ao'ain insisted on starting us off in true Japanese fashion, by Ijeaiing us company, as a sort of courier, on the first part of our journey. As we left the to'.vn, with wheels rattling, horn blowing, and driver whistling at his beast, and passed across the " moor of the Kikyo " (so called from the (quantities of the beautiful blui'ljell for which the locality is famed), a fine prospect greeted our view. On the east rise the hills, over which 40 MOUNTAINEERING IN THE JAPANESE ALPS. the Nakasendo comes from tlie celebrated Lake of Suwa, and far beyond which rise the l)kie outlines of the mountain-mass of Ivoshii. (Jn the west tower the o-veat peaks whose compan}^ we have lefr, with the sharp top of Yarigatake shooting up above the shoulder of Jonendake, and calling forth from one of us, at any rate, the resolu- tion to return another year to plant an iron heel upon the giant's head. Straight l)efore us stands the less lofty range that forms the watershed between the Saigawa, which flows northwards into the Sea of Japan, and the Kisogawa, which empties itself into the Pacific Ocean, Four miles out from Matsumoto, at the village of Murai, a stately grove of dark cryptomeria and Pinus Tliunhergi overshadows a small shrine dedicated to the two o-reat goddesses of far-off Ise. At Seba our road loses itself in the Xakasendo, famous above all highways in Japan for the beauty of its valleys and the wiklness of its deep-cut ravines. Eomantic brido-es lead us from side to side of the Saigawa, whose emerald waters now flash far belo\\' through some narrow defile, or, again, flow placidly at hand along some gradually opening vale. At Sakurazawa a wayside cottage displays for sale an assortment of bear- and chamois-skins, trophies of the chase from the neighbouring mountains. Beyond this a grandly- situated bridge marks the northern limit of the district of Kiso, which stretches for a distance of 50 miles down the A FAMOUS HIGHWAY. 41 Nakasendo, as far as Oeliiai. Tlie timber o-rowii on the forest-clad hill-sides throiio'hout its entire leno-th is amongst the finest in the country, and is known as " the five trees of Kiso " — viz., the beech, horse-chestnut, Spanish chestnut, maple, an