Mount Onodake

2 weeks ago, a member of the local Board of Education asked me whether I would like to hike up Mount Onodake. I accepted the offer and looked forward to another day out in the mountains around Shimogo. Japan is full of surprises - and yesterday was no different.

Upon arriving at the foot of the mountain, I was surprised to see my old supervisor driving past in a large bus. My initial thought was that he had some kind of weekend part time job as a bus driver. Next I saw the town mayor driving down the mountain track in his official work car!!! Obviously something was happening which I had not been told about (not an unusual situation in Japan).

I soon discovered that Sunday 28th May was the official opening day for Mount Onodake. A Shinto priest performed some sort of ceremony and then myself and 125 others started to hike up the mountain. Everyone I met seemed extremely concerned that I was wearing shorts. They were all kitted out in expensive looking rain jackets and rain trousers. My theory was that a little rain does not do anyone any harm and I still stand by that theory.

Once we reached the top of the mountain, we all had lunch and waited for a short speech and some presentations to be made. I was surprised to be awarded the gold medal for the longest distance traveled to attend the event. Despite the fact that I currently live only a few kilometers away in Shimogo, they calculated the distance from my home in Scotland. Very decent of them!

After the presentations, some sake was drunk and then we headed down the mountain for an onsen and a party. The men who attended the party managed to drink an amazing amount of sake and a couple of them fell asleep towards the end of the evening.

I think I have an average week ahead of me with no overly exciting activities planned. My main goal for this week is to complete a World Cup 2006 display to be put in a corridor of Shimogo JHS. Bye for now.