The thing I probably love the most about Tokyo is its blend of neon bling and quiet green. Within an hour (give or take) you can in the middle of crowd walking across one of the busiest crosswalks in the world or you can be virtually alone at the top of a mountain. The ease with which this takes place just blows my mind - it's just a matter of choosing which direction to travel in on the train. This fact particularly hit home
when I decided to hit Mitake - a mountain village that boasts one of the oldest temples in Japan. The view from my window gradually changed from residential houses and department stores to rice fields and open land to a wall of solid green trees. I was at the top of a moutain within two hours of stepping out of my apartment door and getting there included train, bus, cable car and a somewhat confusing uphill hike through the winding narrow streets of the village at the base of the temple.
The highlight of the day for me was hiking towards a lookout area just beyond and below the temple. At one point I found myself on this ridge of sorts where looking to either my right or left I found stunning views of green mountains. It was breathtakingly beautiful. Having just experienced the wonder of the Japanese Alps I was yet again in awe of what Japan has to offer. Now, I come from a big beautiful country that has it's own set of wonders - the Rocky Mountains, the Cabot Trail, Niagara Falls but to experience these you have to travel thousands of kilometres. However, within an hour of travel in the Kanto region you can see such incredible geographical diversity - you can see the rugged coastline of the Miura Peninsula or the moutains of the Okutama region not to mention all of the city and countryside in between.
The thing I probably love the most about Tokyo is its blend of neon bling and quiet green. Within an hour (give or take) you can in the middle of crowd walking across one of the busiest crosswalks in the world or you can be virtually alone at the top of a mountain. The ease with which this takes place just blows my mind - it's just a matter of choosing which direction to travel in on the train. This fact particularly hit home 
when I decided to hit Mitake - a mountain village that boasts one of the oldest temples in Japan. The view from my window gradually changed from residential houses and department stores to rice fields and open land to a wall of solid green trees. I was at the top of a moutain within two hours of stepping out of my apartment door and getting there included train, bus, cable car and a somewhat confusing uphill hike through the winding narrow streets of the village at the base of the temple.
The highlight of the day for me was hiking towards a lookout area just beyond and below the temple. At one point I found myself on this ridge of sorts where looking to either my right or left I found stunning views of green mountains. It was breathtakingly beautiful. Having just experienced the wonder of the Japanese Alps I was yet again in awe of what Japan has to offer. Now, I come from a big beautiful country that has it's own set of wonders - the Rocky Mountains, the Cabot Trail, Niagara Falls but to experience these you have to travel thousands of kilometres. However, within an hour of travel in the Kanto region you can see such incredible geographical diversity - you can see the rugged coastline of the Miura Peninsula or the moutains of the Okutama region not to mention all of the city and countryside in between. 
5 comments:
Miura Peninsula? I've heard of that!
No way! You have?
J
Will you be taking us to Mitake? Please. It looks so amazing! Arron and I have set up a blog too, for when we're in Tokyo! I'll give you more details later...xo jen
Give the fans what they want.
Amusingly, I find that my fans don't realise these places are two a penny. i.e. just within the 23 cities you could construct two entirely different one month intineraries which would each be World Class and they would have absolutely no overlap whatsoever.
I challenge anyone else to do the same for any other city on the planet.
Thought so.
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