Hello Everyone,I know it has been a while since I have last written, but I have been a little busy. As of last Thursday (October 4th) I have officially been in Japan for one month. I am beginning to get used to the culture (food and way of life), but it is still quite foreign to me. Each day I face many challenges, but none of them are as daunting as not being able to read or speak the language. The language barrier is a huge obstacle I face everyday, from simply asking someone directions, to deciding what I want to eat, but I am getting by, picking up very basic, functional Japanese.
As I mentioned in my la
st post my plan for last Thursday or Friday was to venture to the mountains via a train from Isesaki. I had no real plans as to which day I wanted to go, but when I woke up Thursday morning the weather looked quite clear, so I hopped on a train from Isesaki to Maebashi. Maebashi is the capital of Gunma and about a 15 min train ride from Isesaki. I had read online that if I got to Maebashi station I could get on a bus that would take me to Mt. Akagi (image left). Mt. Akagi is one of the Jomo Three Mountains, located in the eastern part of Gumma, is the generic name for mountains including Mt. Kurobi-san and Mt. Jizo-dake. The inside area of the outer rim of the mountain is designated as Akagi Prefectural Park. Near the mountaintop, between the central crater and outer rim, there is a crater lake, called Ono.
st post my plan for last Thursday or Friday was to venture to the mountains via a train from Isesaki. I had no real plans as to which day I wanted to go, but when I woke up Thursday morning the weather looked quite clear, so I hopped on a train from Isesaki to Maebashi. Maebashi is the capital of Gunma and about a 15 min train ride from Isesaki. I had read online that if I got to Maebashi station I could get on a bus that would take me to Mt. Akagi (image left). Mt. Akagi is one of the Jomo Three Mountains, located in the eastern part of Gumma, is the generic name for mountains including Mt. Kurobi-san and Mt. Jizo-dake. The inside area of the outer rim of the mountain is designated as Akagi Prefectural Park. Near the mountaintop, between the central crater and outer rim, there is a crater lake, called Ono.I arrived at Maebashi Station (which incidentally is the same stop I got off at when I first arrived in Japan, and was lost) and began to look for the bus I was to ride to Mt. Akagi (according the Internet it was about a 30min ride). That is where quest for Mt. Akagi ended, at Maebashi Station. I was unable to find anyone who could help me figure out which bus to get on to go to the mountain, and none of the buses were labeled. I decided I would not waste my trip and decided to walk around Maebashi. In the course of walking around I found out the Maebashi is the capital of Gunma, it has the Prefectural Office, as well as, the Prefectural Library, quite interesting. So for about 3 hours I wandered the street of Maebashi simply exploring. I could see Mt. Akagi the entire time, but it was about 30km away from the city, so needless to say walking to Akagi was not an option.
After an unsuccessful attempt to get to Mt. Akagi I decided it was time to head back towards Isesaki. So I got on a train from Maebashi from Isesaki, the train was completely packed, it was about the time that many Japanese people go home from work and school. I certainly was not expecting the train in Gunma to be packed, but it was alright and interesting.
After my adventures on Thursday I didn't have a whole lot planned for Friday, the only thing I really needed to do 
was get some shampoo at the local grocery store. I left my house at about 1:00pm to realize that it was an absolutely beautiful day, about 70 degrees and sunny. I looked all around me and was able to see some mountains, so I began to ride bike toward the mountain which looked to be the closest, which it turns out was quite far away, at least 15 miles, but I was determined to make it to the mountains this time. I rode my bike in the direction of the mountains for about two straight hours (it was quite windy and my bike does not have any gears, thus it was quite a challenge) making what seemed like very minimal progress, but it didn't really bother me because it was such a great day for a bike ride. I continued to ride my bike taking in all the sights in Isesaki (or what I thought was Isesaki). It turned out that I rode through many little towns a
nd saw some interesting things along the way. Since Japan is such a small and cramped country they have grave sites and cemeteries in very random places. This one was simply on the side of the road next to some farm fields. It seems that many people have graveyards in their yards, much like families did in the past in the United States. Unlike the US many grave sites are very small with very few monuments.
was get some shampoo at the local grocery store. I left my house at about 1:00pm to realize that it was an absolutely beautiful day, about 70 degrees and sunny. I looked all around me and was able to see some mountains, so I began to ride bike toward the mountain which looked to be the closest, which it turns out was quite far away, at least 15 miles, but I was determined to make it to the mountains this time. I rode my bike in the direction of the mountains for about two straight hours (it was quite windy and my bike does not have any gears, thus it was quite a challenge) making what seemed like very minimal progress, but it didn't really bother me because it was such a great day for a bike ride. I continued to ride my bike taking in all the sights in Isesaki (or what I thought was Isesaki). It turned out that I rode through many little towns a
nd saw some interesting things along the way. Since Japan is such a small and cramped country they have grave sites and cemeteries in very random places. This one was simply on the side of the road next to some farm fields. It seems that many people have graveyards in their yards, much like families did in the past in the United States. Unlike the US many grave sites are very small with very few monuments.Enough about grave sites in Japan, I had some mountains to ride to. I continued along the road riding towards the mountains. After quite a long bit of riding I could tell I was getting close to the mountains because it stated to get quite hard to pedal my bike, but the mountains still looked quite far away, and I was really far away from home and not quite sure how to get back home. I soon learned that I had arrived in a small town call Ogo. I finally decided that my attempt to ride my bike to the mountains was futile.
Even if I was able to reach them, it would probably be dark by then (it gets dark in Japan around 5:30pm) and I would have no energy left in my legs to go climbing anyways. When I asked some of my co-workers where I was, none of them had any idea, all they knew is that it was nowhere close to Isesaki. This was about all the closer to the mountains I was able to get. This picture really doesn't do justice to how beautiful the mountains are, or how close I actually was to them. When it is clear (which has happened four times since I have arrived in Japan) I can see the mountains quite far in the distance while riding my bike to work, this only fuels my desire to visit them, and I am determined to do so before I leave Japan.
Even if I was able to reach them, it would probably be dark by then (it gets dark in Japan around 5:30pm) and I would have no energy left in my legs to go climbing anyways. When I asked some of my co-workers where I was, none of them had any idea, all they knew is that it was nowhere close to Isesaki. This was about all the closer to the mountains I was able to get. This picture really doesn't do justice to how beautiful the mountains are, or how close I actually was to them. When it is clear (which has happened four times since I have arrived in Japan) I can see the mountains quite far in the distance while riding my bike to work, this only fuels my desire to visit them, and I am determined to do so before I leave Japan.So now I realize that 1. I am not going to make it to the mountains today, and 2. In my ambition to get the mountains I had paid very little attention to where I was actually going - long story short I was lost - very lost. So began to ride back the way I thought I had come from, but I was sorely mistaken and after about 45min of riding I had no clue where I was, all I knew is that in about an hour and a half it was going to start getting dark, but I was not panicking, I just kept riding, hoping I would see something I recognized. Finally I got lucky, I saw a sign that said Isesaki and had an arrow pointing toward the city, so I began to ride having no idea how far it actually was. I had little choice but to keep riding until I recognized something, I know Isesaki well enough know when I am back in the city.
After about 20 min of rid
ng down Highway 103 I stumbled upon something I was not expecting, a really cool little park in the middle of nowhere. Its quite hard to see the name of the park, but it is Omuro Park, and I later found out that it is in Maebashi City. Unfortunately it was starting to get dark and I had very little time to explore the park, which I feel is pretty big, thus I intend to go back either this Thursday or Friday, giv
en good weather.
ng down Highway 103 I stumbled upon something I was not expecting, a really cool little park in the middle of nowhere. Its quite hard to see the name of the park, but it is Omuro Park, and I later found out that it is in Maebashi City. Unfortunately it was starting to get dark and I had very little time to explore the park, which I feel is pretty big, thus I intend to go back either this Thursday or Friday, giv
en good weather.This a picture of a very cool waterfall that was at the park I stopped at. Also, the first picture at the beginning of my post is me standing at the top of the waterfall (for some reason I was unable to move it to the bottom of the post)
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