Everyday Is a New Adventure

I love living in Japan, where everyday can be a new adventure.

Leonore, who blogs at Needle, Pen, & Sword, visited Japan with her husband and two friends. They planned to spend one day in Shizuoka and we made arrangements to meet up at Nihondaira last Saturday. They were taking the bus from Shizuoka Station and I was walking from my home.  

There are five paths up to Nihondaira.  I had been on two on another recent trip.  I decided to take a different trail this time and it didn't turn out to be such a good idea. The small road became a path, then it just disappeared.  I turned around to go back and I couldn't find the path I took to get to that place. I tried pulling out my gadget to look at the map, but it said "current location not available". I  thought I was a little lost, but wasn't really concerned at first.  I decided to continue going up, since I knew Nihondaira was up.  I thought if I got to the top of the ridge I could look around and figure out where I was. It was not a fun walk up - I was in stickery bushes and steep hillsides. There were no houses or roads.  I was really, really lost in the woods.  I was starting to think things like, "Will it be 20 years later when I get out?"  "Will I be somewhere in South America instead of Japan when I get out?"   When I finally got to where I could see Suruga Bay, I discovered I was too far to the left, and I was still in the woods with no road or path. 

To make a long story shorter, I finally found a road and made my way to Nihondaira. Leonore and friends were delayed by a trainee bus driver and we finally met up. I thought we were going to take the ropeway to see Kunozan Toshogu Shrine, but they had just been to Kyoto and had their fill of shrines. Unfortunately, it was kind of hazy and we could not see Mt. Fuji that day.  

After seeing what we could see and eating some macha ice cream, we took the bus back to Shizuoka, which was hosting a festival around Sumpu Castle Park.  We walked around and saw some dancers in colorful costumes, we ate some festival food, and saw a show that we didn't understand. The cherry trees were lit up after dark.  Before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye.  

Like I said, everyday is a new adventure in Japan.