Cobble stones and waterfalls make up an ancient path, the Nakasedo Trail, connecting Kyoto to Tokyo. It is a trail through the mountains, a path for the “feudal lords and samurai” and a fitting place to spend a few days seeing the beautiful Japanese countryside.
I thought about naming this blog entry, “the kindness of strangers” as our days have been filled with a rainbow of people taking us in making us a part of their community.
Bullet trains and local buses landed us in the town of Magome and the lovely home of Keiko. This lovely Airbnb host opened her home and heart to us. We enjoyed the most amazing Japanese dishes at her house, some even prepared with the girls help. We had the fortune of staying two nights at her place, leaving us time to explore the garden, the surrounding town, old paths and even the local public bath where we bathed nude outside in the rock garden except the traditional hats provided to keep the sun off of our faces.
The next morning found us up early and walked pass Keiko’s son’s exceptional coffee house. We used the local postal service to transport our bags to the next town. The girls hiked together while Traverse and I discussed life and politics as we crossed over the Magome pass along the ancient trail enjoying the history and beauty with a few hundred school kids who seems to be out on an all-day field trip in uniform.
The next evening in Tsumago was beautiful and quiet under the full moon. The sleepy town shuts it doors around four. The pictures of the town today look almost identical to the ones in the 1930’s you can see in the local museum. That night, on the porch of the ancient inn, looking out into the dark under the full moon, with the background noise of crickets and the creek, I gave a national webinar about the opioid crisis to some 600 people. It was this odd moment speaking by myself and yet so many in the quiet of the night. I reflected on these paths through history and the communities we build. The quote by Jonan Hari rang true, “the opposite of addiction is not sobriety. The opposite of addiction is connection.” It is the connection of home, of our family both immediate and far and the new connections from this year that brings the greatest meaning to the paths we walk.
Our lovely host who trully made us feel at home.
Teaching the girls origami
The stunning ancient trail.
Not a bad walk to our new home.
Birds, butterflies everywhere, rice fields full of tadpole. The Japanese country side was breathtakingly beautiful.
Exploring hidden trails
walking to the train station.
I loved these old roads.
it was amazing how you would just stumble on history as you walked along the trail.
enjoying the waterfall along the way
the forest was beautiful
The old town, essentially unchanged in the last 100 years.
these small beautiful stones were everywhere
and then in the woods you would see these guys, all with their red knit hats and scarfs
He has been sitting here for a long time
Our Airbnb home.
A local shop selling an impressive array of snacks that were wonderful
Onions drying in the house down the road.
Almost every home had a set fo flowers
My view under the full moon where I gave a presentation to 600 people. It was an odd sense of how interconnected the world is now
making our way up the trail
the following spring
A tour boat in our next stop, Lake Ashi.
Hiking near Hakone we were again treated to ancient history.
Totally off the beaten track, we took a different trail and saw these guys. The history, culture and nature here have been stunning.