Our May activity had 4 brave hikers - Anna, Meg, Laura and Kyejin! It was May 19th, the 3rd Sunday of the month as usual.

We met at Ikebukuro Station at 10 am and went to Seibu-Chichibu Station. It took about an hour and a half, and we had to take a bus to the Owa (大輪) bus stop for 35 minutes. It was a steep 3-hour hike and since the last bus back home was at 4:30 pm from the top of the mountain, we tried not to take a lot of breaks and kept hiking.

When we reached the summit, we could breathe in the fresh air and had some time to walk around the famous Mitsumine Shrine (三峯神社; Mitsumine jinja). It is surrounded by tall and old trees and somewhat has some mysterious atmosphere.

We haven’t been to this much high mountain for the last few months so it wasn’t an easy hike but it was definitely worth!

1. Was this hiking easy or hard? Score from level 1 (easy) to level 5 (hard).

Laura: Objectively: 3. Nice trail. Nothing dangerous. For me, the highest mountain I have ever climbed by foot: 5.

Meg: 3.5

Anna: I’d say this one was a 3 for me. Compared to others it was quite challenging since the whole route was quite steep.

Kyejin: 3. The route was steep but not very difficult. We haven’t done any long hike recently so we felt it was much harder than usual.

2. How was the scenery/sightseeing there? Score from 1 (bad) to 5 (amazing).

Laura: 5, beautiful mountains and green all around.

Meg: 3

Anna: I loved this route since the route is very natural as if made by the mountain and there are almost no stairs.

Kyejin: The Mitsumine Shrine was stunning! It was crowded with visitors but I could see why. And it was more rewarding to see it after a long hike. The scenery on the way to the top was also beautiful.

3. What was the most memorable moment of this trip?

Laura: The three abandoned houses almost at the top of the mountain. (How were those people able to live there? Grocery shopping? Maybe are haunted!)

Meg: Flying the drone, eating Laura’s nature valley, planning all the next events on the way back!

Anna: Finding Meg’s PASMO which got lost in the middle of the trail >_< Also watching Kyejin and Laura eat as in a food competition was something to be remembered.

Kyejin: Listening to a kind obaachan talking about the history of her restaurant, sharing snacks with ILL hikers, reaching the shrine after a long hike, etc. So many!!

4. How was food? What was your favorite?

Laura: Most of what we ate was snacks we brought from around home. But the local snack, miso potato, was very tasty.

Meg: I had niku udon this time and it was really good.

Anna: Again miso potato was awesome!!

Kyejin: Laura’s Nature Valley was good, Chichibu miso potato was so tasty and my butadon was so amazing that I could eat up in 5 minutes!

5. Will you recommend this mountain to others? Score from 1 (No) to level 5 (Absolutely).

Laura: 5. Yes, a beautiful place. If someone is not up for a 3-hour hike climbing up, going by bus or car to the top of the mountain is also good! I want to bring my dog and kid.

Meg: 3, It’s hard to say because I didn’t make it up to the top haha.

Anna: Hmm probably 3. Nice mountain, a few spots to take pictures in the middle of the trail so why not : )

Kyejin: 3.5. There was a beautiful dam, and Laura said a baby bear was running there o_O Recommend it for those who want to see a bear! In general, it was really good too!

6. Any comment?

Laura: Need to practice hiking uphill. I could barely make it : D

Anna: Join us next month!

Kyejin: It’s a heads up but we’re going kayaking in June and camping in July xD Let me know if you’re interested!

~ Anna, Meg, Laura, Kyejin

P.S. The 3rd Sunday of the month is our Activity Day so the next event will be on June 16th and we’ll go kayaking! Please join this fun event, dear ILL people!

Our April activity had 7 brave hikers - Anna, Lya, Meg, Laura, Maryssa, Stan and Kyejin! Since it’s a perfect season for hanami, we decided to go to 2 different places to enjoy beautiful flowers, 1) Shibazakura Hill (芝桜の丘; Shibazakura no oka) at Chichibu Hitsujiyama Park (秩父羊山公園; Chichibu Hitsujiyama Kōen) and 2) Kinchakuda (巾着田; Kinchakuda).

1) Chichibu Hitsujiyama Park (秩父羊山公園; Chichibu Hitsujiyama Kōen)

Hitsujiyama Park is a 20 minutes walk from Seibu Chichibu station. The name of the park, Hitsujiyama, literally means Sheep Mountain as hitsuji (羊) means sheep and yama (山) means a mountain. As the name shows, you can see some sheep in the park.

Our destination was Shibazakura Hill (芝桜の丘; Shibazakura no oka) on that day. It is located in the south of Hitsujiyama Park (羊山公園) and has an area of about 17,600m².

We could enjoy cherry blossoms in full bloom on the way to the hill. There are different kinds of cherry blossoms, which made the place even more colorful and stunning.

Shibazakura Hill is planted in more than 400,000 pink phlox mosses of 9 different colors. In the blooming season, it becomes a flowering carpet shape is designed from Floats and costume patterns of the Chichibu Night Festival and night festival’s excitement.

2) Kinchakuda (巾着田; Kinchakuda)

Kinchakuda Plateau is a 15 walk from Koma station. We just needed to follow a red sign with 巾着田 (kinchakuda) so it wasn’t difficult to find it.

When we arrived at the place, the Spring Festival was already over but instead, we could enjoy the 菜花 (nanohana; rapeseed flowers) in full bloom ourselves. There was no crowd and we were the only people there! The purse-shaped field filled with rapeseed flowers is surrounded by cherry blossoms in full bloom too, and when the wind blows, it rained cherry blossom petals. It was such a beautiful place.

1. Was this hiking easy or hard? Score from level 1 (easy) to level 5 (hard).

Laura: level 1

Stan: The hike was VERY easy, grade 1. And why? Well, we did not really do any climb except few stairs : )

Anna: Easy, easy 1! I think it’s the first time we didn’t encounter stairs!

Lya: It was so easy! No big slopes, barely any stairs, really chill : D

Meg: 1. It was easy. XD We didn’t really hike up any mountains this time.

Maryssa: 1 Easy. There were few hills.

Kyejin: Level 1. It was easy!

2. How was the scenery/sightseeing there? Score from 1 (bad) to 5 (amazing).

Laura: level 5. Luckily we went when the Sakura trees were fully bloomed. Plus, the park surrounded by mountains was beautiful.

Stan: The scenery was much better than I expected in both cases - firstly, I had known Chichibu a bit from the past and I did not expect so many sakuras (including the pink, leaning ones) over there in a full bloom, plus the shibazakura flowers were great and I finally managed to see them. So 5, of course. And why? Flowers. I just like them.

Anna: 10! The cherry blossom trees in Chichibu were stunning! There weren’t as many people as in Tokyo famous spots which made it even more beautiful than any other big Sakura park I’ve seen before.

Lya: 7/5. Sakura and flowers were in full bloom! All the colors! So pretty♥

Meg: 5. It was soo beautiful. One of the best hanami spots and not a lot of people. I highly recommend this place to do hanami and enjoy sakura.

Maryssa: 5 The flowers were blooming beautifully.

Kyejin: It was the most beautiful and not crowded hanami I’ve ever experienced. I would love to visit there again next spring!

3. What was the most memorable moment of this trip?

Laura: There was a spot full of Shidarezakura in full bloom. Since it was a bit windy the rain of sakura petals was very pretty.

Stan: Probably the sakura petal falls in the wind.

Anna: I discovered a punishment for Korean kids. Ah and of course Sakura rain ✿

Lya: When the wind blew softly and it rained Sakura petals. Stan took a good video of it!

Meg: Enjoying the sakura fall down with the wind and eating yummy food.

Maryssa: Walking down the path lined with sakura trees.

Kyejin: Showing Anna how to write her own name as a Korean punishment o_O and dancing with everyone in the rapeseed flower field. Also, the sakura rain whenever the wind blows…♡

4. How was food? What was your favorite?

Laura: I didn’t eat much since I had a cold. But the snack shared by Kyejin was good (good)

Stan: I only had one food and that was yakiniku, grilled one, one the stick. So I cannot compare, but then again, no matter how I look like, I am not a “big eater”…

Anna: New things I tried were miso potatoes and buta miso don. Both worth it.

Lya: SNACKS FTW. My favorite was wild boar skewers (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧

Meg: Maryssa and I had a butadon and it was really good. The homemade gelato was awesome too!

Maryssa: The food was great. The butadon was so delicious.

Kyejin: Miso butadon (the one on the right side in the picture) was so gooood! The one on the left side is hiroshima okonomiyaki and it was good too : ) Anna and I shared these two dishes and we were very satisfied! And we had late dinner after hiking at the Mexican restaurant where Maryssa introduced and it was great too. Everything was perfect on that day : D

5. Will you recommend this mountain to others? Score from 1 (No) to level 5 (Absolutely).

Laura: level 4. If people go during the time either the sakura trees or the gardens have lots of flowers, the park is very pretty. Otherwise, I think it is too far away and there are no trails around there to venture into the forest or mountains nearby. But the station and town are pretty and the people friendly so it is a nice place to hang out.

Stan: I can recommend both places with 5. I am not sure if Chichibu is worth 5 out of the sakura/pink moss blooming season, but in this case yes.

Anna: Yes! It wasn’t crowded at all and it was beautiful. The second location we went to also looked like a perfect place to have a barbecue.

Lya: 5! Absolutely, it was gorgeous!

Meg: 5. It’s just so beautiful and food is good too! : D

Maryssa: 5 Would definitely recommend. The scenery was stunning, food was delicious, and staff were nice.

Kyejin: Of course. It’s now my secret(?) place for hanami!

6. Any comment?

Stan: Thanks for the great trip, socializing was also outstanding, I personally need more stuff like this, it made me switch off, even though I was working occasionally.

Anna: Looking forward to the next hiking with everyone. There are always nice sceneries around no matter the season.

Lya: A really fun and pretty day (≧▽≦) Special mention for Sushi Go!

Meg: Big thanks to the company! : D

Maryssa: I would call it more of a walking tour than a hike, but it was gorgeous and a nice place people could spend the whole day having a picnic at.

Kyejin: Yes, big big big thanks to the company! : D It was really fun and I can’t wait for our next hiking already. Let’s hike, people!

~ Anna, Lya, Meg, Laura, Maryssa, Stan, Kyejin

P.S. The 3rd Sunday of the month is the Hiking Day so the next hiking will be on May 19th! Please join this fun hiking, dear ILL people : D