Takachiho

One good thing about leaving at 6am on a Saturday is that, well, no one in their right mind is on the road. We were able to get ourselves out of the city in about 20 minutes and onward (and eventually upward) to Takachiho. We decided to ignore Navi, Google, and Apple Maps and simply follow the Kogase river, which ends (or starts, actually) in Takachiho Gorge, a large fissure between cliffs. The river is fed by several waterfalls as it cuts its way east through the mountains to the ocean. So, off we went, and it turned out to be a great choice.

A typical Kogase river vista

Nothing much. Just a 100 foot waterfall on the side of the road.

My favorite road sign of the trip

  It was a beautiful ride with beautiful weather. We followed the river for almost 30 miles, and it looked pretty much like the pictures above the whole time. We did have one problem, though, and that is that Takachiho is at an elevation of 334m. We started at 6 (on the coast) and didn't really climb at all. That meant that at some point, we were in for a world of hurt. But we enjoyed it while it lasted.

We were about 10km from the city when we ran into a bit of a problem. Google Maps and Navi both had us riding down a road that both said simply ended. When we got to that road, this was what we saw

The last time we saw a road like this and went down it, we ended up having to turn around and found a bear in the process. The problem was, the alternative road was not on either of the maps we were using, and was at a 7-8% incline, so we weren't going to just give it a shot unless we knew it was the correct road. In a moment of supreme irony, Pokémon Go, Sumi's mobile app addiction, DID have the other road and showed it connecting with the main road again. So, Google was out-mapped by Pokémon Go. Just to make sure, I checked with Apple Maps, and sure enough, it showed up there, as well. Google fail.

So, we started the climb. All 300m of it. In about a quarter mile. We were on a road that was anywhere from a 5-11% grade constantly, with a few switchbacks that were NOT on the map. About 90% of the way up, we finally crested the worst of it and came upon some farmland with a very nice, low stone wall that seemed to be made solely for us to sit on. So we did.

Apple juice, bananas, and granola bars. The lunch of desperate champions.

One problem, though, was that none of the maps actually showed HOW to get back to the main road. We went UNDER it, then OVER it, but we couldn't see how to get ON it. Some Google Maps-fu brought us to a small road that connected where we were with the main road. Only it looked like this

and was just as steep as what we had just climbed up. If we were wrong, we were looking at biking walking back up this glorified horse trail. One of the problems with maps in Japan (other than a severe lack of street names and highway numbers that make no sense, disappear, and reappear without warning, and often have two of the same number right next to each other) is that they treat all roads 100% equal. Is it a national highway? Is it a tiny access road between rice paddies? (not joking) Is it a narrow gap between two buildings that a car should never fit through but does anyway? (again, not kidding)? In Japan, it is just a michi, a road. So we never know if the maps are serious about these and often miss a turn because our minds don't connect these paths with roads that people would actually drive on.

Well, we rolled the dice and took the road, and it did, indeed, bring us down to the main road, and we rolled into Takachiho a little after noon. Check in wasn't until 3, so we decided to check out the gorge, which, as it turns out, is quite a tourist spot. There are nature walks, shrines, and rowboat rentals that let you go out into the head of the river in the gorge. So naturally we did.

You get a number and wait for a free  boat, then have 30 minutes.

A small area with 15 boats filled with tourists who have never been in a rowboat before. What could possibly go wrong?

Wait, you didn't think SUMI was going to row, did you?

These guys followed us everywhere. Someone feeds them.

These pillar-like rock formations are natural

Holy rock?

It really was comical watching people clearly rowing for the first time and having no idea what they were doing. It also meant it was much more like very slow motion bumper cars than rowing. I managed to get us out of the herd and towards the back of the area that we were allowed in. it was pretty fun, all in all.

The rest of the gorge area was a nature walk (and some souvenir shops)

The souvenir shop had a few resident cats that decided to nap in the middle of the road

After getting our fill of other tourists, we headed back to the hotel to check in. Did I say hotel? Well, that's what we were thinking, but this place is called Kashi Besso Takachiho, which translates to Rental Summer Home Takachiho, and that's what it was: a home.

Full kitchen, dinette, dart board

Living room complete with DVD player and ancient computer and printer

Second bedroom that sleeps four

Not pictured: a full balcony with grill. This place is amazing. Comfortable, obviously spacious, great location, $86. The house is the size of about three apartments in Tokyo. We cleaned up and headed into town to try and find some food. We struck gold again with a cafe called Gokoku, which had an Indian theme (not an Indian restaurant) and served a total of three dishes per day. We chose the Spicy Chicken Curry and Eggplant and Potato Curry

Oh yeah, bottled Coke, too.

Both sauces were light and flavorful. Not nearly as heavy as Japanese curry.

Gochisousama deshita!

Legend has it that this is the location of the myth of Ama-no-Iwato, and there are many statues and displays around the city regarding it

Entrance to the Ama-no-Iwato shrine

Every night at 8pm, there is an hour long performance of an abbreviated version of the tale for tourists at the Ama-no-iwato shrine in the center of town. As it turns out, it's a pretty big deal. We walked down to the shrine, arriving about 15 minutes before the performance, and there was already close to two hundred people already in the hall. It was a traditional Japanese performance room, with a raised stage for the performers and tatami mats for the audience. We were expected to bring our own pillows to sit on. Everyone else seemed to know this already, likely because their hotel/tour guides told them to do so. Sumi and I enjoyed a hard floor, instead.

The show was broken up into four parts, one where a god looks for where Amaterasu is hidden, one where Uzume-no-mikami dances, one where Tajikarao opens the cave, and a fourth, unrelated one about getting drunk and offering sake to the gods.

Now, I will fully admit that I do not know the intricacies of Kagura (the ritual dance they were performing). I am sure I do not appreciate how when he shook that stick with the red paper with his left hand it was a metaphor for the existential crisis all humans have when confronting stories of gods acting like children and when he shook the stick with the white paper it was...

Uzume was supposed to take her clothes off and perform a lewd dance. That did not happen.

His dance was supposed to be energetic with lots of waving of his long hair. That did not happen.

Drunk people are supposed to be funny. They weren't

I don't care, it was boring as all hell. Each segment was a performer in a different costume walking in a circle for fifteen minutes waving stuff around, occasionally tilting their head, and very occasionally NOT walking in a circle, but standing still. The music was the EXACT same four measures played endlessly, with a 2/4 bar after each four measures. The drums being played were not quite in time with the dancer or each other. Or the flute which played random octaves of the same melody, often within the same phrase, so it was not likely on purpose. It is said there are 33 of these dances and that they have a festival where people stay up all night and watch performances of them all. I can't imagine staying awake for more than the four I just saw. I am surely not the appropriate audience for this, and I know it. I can't handle western dance for more than five minutes without being bored. And the crowd seemed to be utterly inept with the usage of their phones as cameras. Being in Japan, the uber-technological country that it is with such a long history with cell phones, I was surprised at how many of them had trouble turning off their flash. And then when they did, they couldn't figure out how to turn off the fake clicking of a photo being taken during a performance with live instruments. By the lack of talking and selfie sticks, I knew they were not the Chinese tourists we saw earlier at the gorge, so I have no good explanation.

Anyway, I found the mythology interesting, and the costumes were pretty cool. And walking home across a bridge that spanned hundreds of feet over the gorge with no streetlights or sidewalk was an exciting addition to the evening.