Tour Report: May 14, 2016

Thank you for joining our tour! On that day, we welcomed 70 guests and divided into 6 groups. The weather was perfect and there was a nice breeze. I hope you all enjoyed the nice weather.

Bletilla striata are in full bloom at Ninomaru Japanese Garden. You can enjoy different flowers depending on the seasons there. Irises bloom between late May and Jun at their peak.

Joining a walking tour is a great opportunity to meet fellow travellers. For many, travelling alone is an exciting adventure with a great sense of freedom. However, it can also get lonely from time to time. Adventure into the unknown and make small talk with others on the tour traveling like yourself where many friendships can be made and travel partners found.  I’m always happy when I see that guests are interacting and sharing their trip experiences each other.

By the way, have you ever been to any World Natural Heritage Site in Japan? We have 4 natural sites, Shiretoko(Hokkaido), Shirakami-Sanchi(Aomori/Akita Prefecture), Ogasawara Islands(Tokyo) and Yakushima(Kagoshima Prefecture). Don’t be confused, the famous mountain Mt.Fuji is listed for “cultural” heritage site, rather than a natural heritage site. It is said Mt.Fuji has nurtured Japan’s unique art and culture as it has been depicted in “ukiyoe” woodblock prints and represents the tradition of mountain worship in Japan.

Anyway, today I’d like to share you the beauty of Yakushima. On this Golden Week holidays, I was traveling to Yakushima to enjoy an ancient forest which has a distinctive climate and unique wildlife. Yakushima is renowned for having “35 wet days a month”, as a Japanese saying goes, enjoys an incredible rainfall, which makes for superb waterfalls and rivers amid the misty, moss-clad peaks.

More than its 3,000 species of animals and 1,300 types of plants, Yakushima’s most memorable feature is those ancient cedars. You can see one of the world’s oldest trees, the Jomon-sugi, reputed to be 7,200 years old. It dates to the Jomon Period from which it gets its name. Height is about 30 meters and around the stem is about 45 meters. The hike to Jomon-sugi is not technically difficult but it is very long, 22km and 12 hours round trip…it was so challenging and I was super exhausted but so glad that I didn’t give up. It was one of the best trips in my life.

If you are looking for a place for enjoying nature, then this is it!

(Report by Chisako)

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