{"id":594,"date":"2007-10-04T21:45:04","date_gmt":"2007-10-04T12:45:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2007-10-04\/594"},"modified":"2007-10-17T22:33:51","modified_gmt":"2007-10-17T13:33:51","slug":"miyajimas-mt-misen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2007-10-04\/594","title":{"rendered":"Miyajima’s Mt. Misen"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n

After having seen a\nconcert<\/span><\/a> on Sunday night in Miyajima<\/a>, we stayed\novernight and enjoyed the town the next day.<\/p>\n\n

Miyajima is a very nice, quaint area that's been popular for tourists\nfor over a thousand<\/span> years, so I was<\/span> surprised to find that it was not\nhyper-commercialized and disgustingly crowded. I'm sure it<\/span> helped that we\nwere there on a weekday,<\/span> but in any case, it was clean, pleasant, and real.\nThe bench scene<\/a> that I\nposted<\/span> yesterday tells a lot,<\/span> I think.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

Since Fumie's mom was looking after Anthony (thank you, thank you, thank\nyou!), Fumie and I were<\/span> free to enjoy the area at our leisure, and it felt\nlike a 2nd<\/span> honeymoon.<\/p>\n\n

There's a ropeway<\/a> that goes\ntoward the top of Mt. Misen, the tallest mountain on the island, so we\ndecided to give that a try.<\/span> Most of the streets in the little town are\npleasant, but the one that leads toward the ropeway happens to be\nparticularly nice.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f\/3.5-5.6 VR @ 60mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f\/4.8, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nRoad Leading to the Ropeway<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f\/3.5-5.6 VR @ 18mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f\/8, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nHeading Up<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

The ropeway is in two parts (elevation sectional view<\/a>), the first going up 300m over a distance<\/span> of\nabout 1.1 km (two thirds of a mile<\/span>), then a section<\/span> that goes up 70m in\nabout half the distance. The picture<\/span> below is just before arriving at the\ntransfer spot, looking back down.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f\/3.5-5.6 VR @ 18mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>200 sec, f\/8, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nLooking Back<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

Once you arrive at the top of the ropeway, it's a short<\/span> hike to a local<\/span>\nsummit that has a very<\/span> nice view, at about 450m above sea level.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f\/3.5-5.6 VR @ 18mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1000 sec, f\/7.1, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nShishi-iwa (“Lion Rock”) Observation Area, 448m<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

(All these images are geoencoded, but note that the location as shown on\nGoogle satellite maps is off by about 100m for the ones up on the mountain. I'd guess<\/span> this is because the satellite was not looking absolutely straight\ndown, and so there are some major Parallax<\/a> errors.)<\/p>\n\n

Despite having spent 1,800 yen ($15) each for the ropeway, it doesn't\nactually bring you to the top of the mountain. For that you<\/span> have to hike\nabout 1.3 km further. It's not a<\/span> difficult hike in the sense that the path\nis completely improved the whole way, with stairs where needed. The problem<\/span> is the “where needed” is much of the way, as you have to first lose about\n30m of elevation, then over the last short distance climb 125m of\nelevation.<\/p>\n\n

So, in one sense, it's no harder than taking the stairs to the 41st\nfloor (after having started on the 10th floor, and gone down to the ground\nfloor).<\/p>\n\n

It's more interesting than climbing stairs, of course. There's a temple<\/span>\nalong the way, and interesting rock formations, such as this one close to\nthe top...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f\/3.5-5.6 VR @ 18mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1000 sec, f\/3.5, ISO 500 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nWatch your Head<\/span>The Kuguri-iwa — \u304f\u3050\u308a\u5ca9 — “Duck-under Rock”\n<\/div>\n\n

Once at the top (535m), you're treated to a horrid<\/span> sight, but I'll save\nthat for later. The view of<\/span> the surroundings is wonderful.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f\/3.5-5.6 VR @ 34mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>3200 sec, f\/6.3, ISO 500 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nView From the Top<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

The building complex in the lower-left of the picture above is the\nropeway terminal building. The little<\/span> clearing to its upper-right is the\nShishiiwa Observation Area (mentioned a couple<\/span> of pictures earlier).<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f\/3.5-5.6 VR @ 90mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1600 sec, f\/6.3, ISO 500 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nWell-Earned View<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f\/3.5-5.6 VR @ 42mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>2000 sec, f\/8, ISO 500 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nMe and Fumie<\/span>kindly taken by an Australian wearing a silly<\/span> hat\n<\/div>\n\n

The sort-of clearing at the top had some huge boulders which, I imagine,<\/span>\nwere the<\/i> very top, but where mostly inaccessible. Some college-age\nkids had climbed onto them, and feeling young myself, I put my<\/span> ancient\nrock-climbing skills to the test and joined them. (I used<\/span> to go rock\nclimbing quite a bit<\/span> before I got<\/span> married, but gave it up because I worried<\/span>\nthat the rock would scuff my wedding ring.)<\/p>\n\n

One of the guy's girlfriend extended the legs on her camera's tripod to\nextend her reach, and handed it up to them. The picture<\/span> I took<\/span> of the scene\ncame out interesting, I think.<\/span>...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f\/3.5-5.6 VR @ 18mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>750 sec, f\/8, ISO 500 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nExtended Reach<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f\/3.5-5.6 VR @ 18mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f\/8, ISO 500 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nView From the Very Top<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

The aforementioned “horrid sight” is a notably<\/span> ugly concrete-and-rust\nbuilding at the summit. Only in Japan could you spend hours hiking through\npristine forests, past quaint temples, through and around interesting\nnatural rock formations, only to finally arrive at the most ugly, most\ninappropriate building you could imagine.<\/p>\n\n

There was one worker there, an older gentleman who likely spends most of\nhis time smoking and feeding the deer, occasionally selling beer, sodas,\nice-cream, and other snacks to the steady trickle of tourists that make it\nthat far. He said that<\/span> he hikes up and down every day, and doesn't use the\nropeway.<\/p>\n\n

I'm sure that he gets more business on weekends and holidays. I've seen pictures of the summit just packed with people.<\/p>\n\n

On the way back down, I noticed<\/span> someone else trying to negotiate the\nboulders, without success....<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f\/3.5-5.6 VR @ 22mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1600 sec, f\/8, ISO 500 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f\/3.5-5.6 VR @ 18mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>80 sec, f\/8, ISO 500 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nBack at the Ropeway<\/span>About to head down\n<\/div>\n\n

On the car ferry for the short trip to the mainland, I took a<\/span> picture that shows much of the first part of the ropeway....<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 135mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>640 sec, f\/4.5, ISO 800 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nMt. Misen Ropeway, as Seen From 2km Away<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

Continued here...<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After having seen a concert on Sunday night in Miyajima, we stayed overnight and enjoyed the town the next day.<\/p>

Miyajima is a very nice, quaint area that's been popular for tourists for over a thousand years, so I was surprised to find that it was not hyper-commercialized and disgustingly crowded. I'm sure it helped that we were there on a weekday, but in any case, it was clean, pleasant, and real. The bench scene that I posted yesterday tells a lot, I think.<\/p>

Since Fumie's mom was looking after Anthony (thank you, thank you, thank you!), Fumie and I [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,15],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/594"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=594"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/594\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}