Shiga Prefecture, Japan

Notes from the journal:

5/22

• Took a leisurely forest walk up to the hilltop Kurama-dera temple, stopping at shrines along the way in the temple complex. Sat on a bench at the top and yapped for several hours before walking down the other side of the mountain.
• Took the mountain line to Mt Hiei and took the cable car halfway up. Walked the rest of the way to the top, passing through a pretty meadow and seeing beautiful views of the Kyoto/Osaka area and surrounding mountains.
• Tyler got a hot dog on stick (no breading or bun?) at the top and then we couldn’t figure out how to get down for awhile without entering a paid temple complex so we used Google translate to ask an old man and he was the sweetest. He whipped out not one but TWO magnifying glasses to read the translated text on my phone, asked if we were on our honeymoon, and then promptly performed the first half of the Star Spangled Banner for us.
5/23
• Took a train very far out of town, up the side of Lake Biwa and hopped on a tiny rainbow bus that brought us through a bunch of farmland and villages to a random daycare. Walked the remaining 30 minutes to the ferry port, waited for the ferry, and hopped on to Okishima Island.
• Okishima Island is the only inhabited lake island in Japan, and is located in Japan’s largest freshwater lake, one of the oldest lakes in the world. There are about 350 residents on the island, many of them with one of seven last names, as they are descendants of people exiled from a samurai battle in Kyoto in the 1200s. The island is also a cat island! But we didn’t see a ton (apparently it is hit or miss).
• The island was strewn with fishing debris and burning piles of trash next to the water, yet was very quaint. There were lots of fishermen and most of the population is elderly folks that ride around on tricycles. There are a few cafes (mostly closed for the season but we stopped for coffee and enjoyed the view of the lake).

• Hiked to the highest point on the island for a great view of the lake and surrounding islands and walked down next to the school on the island where some kids were doing a school activity and were very curious to see us.
• We began the long journey home, with lots of walking, waiting, and transit. Got off the train at Yamashina for dinner and the locals were definitely surprised to see us, but were very welcoming. Even though Kyoto is only about 30 minutes away by train, very few tourists end up in that area.

5/24

Explored Osaka for the day and flew out of KIX.

Read if I referred you to this post:

• I recommend the Kurama-dera temple for a pleasant forest walk and to have a more secluded temple experience. To walk/hike to Kurama-dera temple, take the Eizan Mountain Line to Kurama Station and pay 500 yen to enter the forest with the temple complex. Walk down the other side of the mountain and walk along the road for a bit to Kibuneguchi Station. There are some cool restaurants along the creek on the way to the station but they looked a bit pricey.
• Mt Hiei is still pleasant but definitely less so (more people and less naturey), so I would skip if you are short on time. If you decide to go: take the Eizan Mountain Line to Yase-Hieizanguchi station. We took the cable car halfway up for 550 yen but in hindsight could have walked (but everything was making it seem like it was going to take way longer than it would have and we were short on time). It was difficult to figure out how to walk down the other side of the mountain without paying to get into a temple complex, but once we were able to communicate what we were trying to do, they showed us the way and it was totally fine (we were able to get all the way down the mountain and to the train station).
• If you have time, I recommend Okishima Island! While difficult to get to (with lots of transit and waiting), it was a really neat experience. Ferry costs 1000 yen round trip and the ride is about 10 mins.