A Day Walk Around Tokyo

One of the things I wanted to do while Ken was here was do some hiking. There is a book, “Day Walks Around Tokyo,” that has two walks in it that are out in Chiba (the prefecture I am in). I thought one of these might be a nice alternative to the three-hour train-bus-taxi rides it usually takes to get west of Tokyo.

Walk #25. Mt. Takago Nature Path. It is described as a four-hour walk with “mixed forests that are home to Japanese monkeys, numerous wildflowers, superb views from the summit of Mt. Takago, and Takago Kannon Temple.” Although I absolutely hate the idea of being anywhere close to monkeys, I didn’t figure that we would actually see any, and I wanted to go somewhere new.

About 9 am, after a hearty breakfast of Ken-cooked pancakes, we walked down to the train station to travel down to Kisarazu. This was uneventful. The day seemed clear enough that we might luck out and catch a glimpse of Fuji, be all we were rewarded with was clear skies, rice paddies, and power plants.

After disembarking in Kisarazu, I followed the directions written in the book: “Pass through the ticket barrier of Kisarazu Station, turn left, and walk down the steps to Bus Stand No. 4, where you should board the bus for Toyofusa.” Following directions dutifully, we walked through the wickets, exited left, and walked down the steps to find bus stop number four. We stood in front of the bus stop for a few minutes as I tried to figure out the bus schedule and match up the kanji for Toyofusa with kanji on the bus stop.

I looked at my paper. I looked at the bus schedule. I looked at my paper. I looked at the bus schedule. I looked at Ken and he was looking at something else. My brows furrowed as I searched every inch of that bus stand for any usable information. The next bus left in ninety minutes. I looked around and saw the counter for the bus company.

Paper in hand, we walked over to the counter and I probably said something like, “Excuse me, Toyofusa, bus, go, where?” To which the woman replied (in Japanese), “Excuse me? I’m sorry. I can’t speak English. Let’s go next door where there is someone who can.”

We followed her next door into the Tourist Information Center. An old man hobbled out where again I said, “Excuse me, Toyofusa, bus, go, where?” We followed him back out to the bus stand where we stood around for a few minutes while he looked at my paper and back at the schedule. Finally, he said, “Bus come eleven thirty. Switch.”

“Switch?” I said, suddenly worried because the book made no mention of switching.
“Change bus,” he earnestly replied.
“Where?” I asked.
“Go to here.” Whereupon he pointed to a photocopied map of the Mt. Takago area that he then gave to me.

The old man walked off and Ken and I began the debate. By this time, we were down to an hour wait for the next bus. I was worried because I didn’t know at what time we could catch the last bus coming back, and even though I had said that if we miss the last bus, we could try to hitch a ride back to a station, I really didn’t want to do that.

We went back-and-forth for a half-hour or so, discussing the merits of taking the bus and seeing what would happen versus salvaging the rest of the afternoon and doing something else. We opted to hop on the bus.

When we boarded, I pointed to my photocopied map and asked the driver, “Bus here go?” “No. Switch.” I glanced at Ken and he shrugged so we sat down. About an hour later we were the only two left on the bus. The driver pulled over and peered at us through his rear-view mirror, “Get off. This is the last stop. The other bus stop is over there.” We paid our fare and stepped off the bus onto a thin, curvy two-lane road with no shoulder or sidewalks to walk on that cars whizzed along. I scurried over to the new bus stop and threw up my hands in total frustration: We would have to wait another hour-and-a-half for the next bus.

I didn’t talk to Ken for about five minutes.

He walked over to the wall I was perched on, “It’s no big deal. It’s all an adventure. Let’s walk down the road a little ways.” Nervously squeezed between the guard rail and the middle of the road, we quickly made our way down to another bus stop. I scanned the schedule. We would have to wait forty minutes for the next bus going back to a different station. I decided it was a good time for lunch. We headed over to an empty lot and sat on the ground to eat boiled eggs, apples, and bread.

I fumed. I was incredibly peeved at not being able to navigate efficiently in a country I’ve spent over three years in. I should be able to do simple things like obtain information about the bus schedule. I smashed my boiled egg and picked off the shell. Why couldn’t I do something as easy as get us from point A to point B? Of course, Ken didn’t have any problem with our aborted attempt to get outside. It was all just part of the adventure of being in a foreign country (and at least I hadn’t yet locked myself into a bathroom on a bus that wasn’t ours like I did in Turkey).

Eventually, the bus came. We got on and rode back down to the next station down from Kisazaru and our ride was thirty minutes shorter than it was on the way up. I also noticed that the bus we needed to get on to reach our destination also departed from this station. Had we been told at Kisazaru that in order to reach our destination more easily we needed to get back on the train and get off at the next station, well, I may not have felt compelled to be so forceful in peeling the shell from my hard-boiled egg.

On the train ride back the entire trip was made worthwhile. Peering through the haze from across Tokyo Bay, Mount Fuji decided to show itself to us. Our glimpse of it was brief, quickly blocked by the endless stream of buildings next to the tracks. But Ken saw it and it was the only time that he did. However, had he realized it would be the only time he would see Fuji, he would have looked at it more closely.

We then decided to further save the day by going to the newly-opened Ikea where we waited in line for a half-hour to get in and fought insane crowds to browse around. As we went back home, new dish rack in hand, I felt like we had ended up having a pretty decent day after all.

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