Intro

Jenny and I were invited to attend a hiking event in Tottori, Japan. We had never been to Japan before, but always wanted to go. So we thought this might be a good opportunity, especially as the hosts were offering to defer most of our expenses.

With the agreement made, two Japanese men traveled to Arizona for a preliminary meeting. Naoto flew all the way from Tokyo, just to meet us. And Katsu flew from Vancouver.

Naoto presenting us with a framed selection of Be-Pal patches, with Katsu photographing.

Be-Pal is a Japanese magazine, and loosely translated it means "Friend of Nature."

Naoto also presented us with personal letter written by Ryuji Ohsawa, Editor in Chief BE-PAL Magazine, November 1, 2016:

"My Dear Climbing Hero, Ray Jardine,

Thank you so much for accepting our invitation to BE-PAL/Tottori event.

I, Editor in Chief of BE-PAL, was once a rock climber. Though I was a lower level climber compared to you, your invention device, Friends, saved my life on many occasions. I must express my appreciation for this great invention.

By the way, long trail hiking of Japan is just the beginning as a style. People who experienced long trail hiking in U.S. brought back this style to the trails in Japan and it's good to see the number of these hikers increasing. However, this movement needs to have a philosophy to become a part of our lifestyle. I hope you can guide us in finding this philosophy to fit the Japanese style.

Also I hope you can enjoy some of the trails and the nature of San-In.

I look forward to seeing you soon."

Then the December Issue (Nov. 10th) of Be-Pal featured these promotional articles:

Long Trail Forum

Then a month later, Jenny and I flew to Japan.

What transpired was eight days of resplendent hiking, meeting friendly people, and enjoying lavish Japanese dishes.

We fell in love with the Japanese people. Not many spoke English, so it was nice to have a translator, (Katsu) but even those times without him we felt fine. The people are super polite, and we never felt threatened or looked down upon, even in the heart of Tokyo.

Walking along the street, you would see bicycles parked everywhere outside the stores, and only a few had locks. That seemed pretty amazing.

And as for the event itself, we expected to be part of the event, but it turned out that the event seemed to center around us. We were not expecting that!

Day 1: Our arrival in Japan

Naoto on the left, and Katsu on the right. In the center is their boss, Ryuji Ohsawa, Editor in Chief of BE-PAL Magazine. During the ensuing week, these three became almost like brothers to us.

Katsu was the only one of three who spoke English. He was hired as a translator, and became our ever-present right-hand man.

Naoto was the event's organizer, tasked to make sure everything went smoothly. In the ensuing week he was always busy, and never seemed to have a minute to spare.

Ryuji brought along an old Japanese magazine that he wanted me to sign. (That's me on the cover.)

Day 2: Tottori and Kyusho Park

Plastic food in front of a restaurant, to help the patrons decide among the entrées. The shrimp on the lower right is Tempura.

In a coffee shop. (Photo by Katsu)

Kaksu explaining Japanese money.

Extra-large apples and pears in a big grocery.

On our first trip to Japan we had to check-out the unusual foods in a big grocery store. Pretty much everything was unusual. :)

Dried squid (Photo by Katsu)

Kyusho Park, located at Tottori Castle Ruins at the base of Mt. Kyusho.

Katsu and Jenny

The koi fish draw near, hoping to get fed. We saw some people feeding them bread. We asked the gate keeper for permission, but were told it's not lawful.

In the Japanese gardens, we sensed a profound respect for nature. We were drawn into these gardens, and often just stood there in awe. The beauty seemed generations deep. The stone figurine is a memorial.

The trails of Mt. Kyusho.

We were coming down into town after hiking a trail on Mt. Kyush, when we stopped at this tea house. There was a book on the table about trekking in Nepal, so out of the blue I asked the owner if he had been Everest. Yes, indeed, Camp 3, he beamed. In retrospect it was pretty amazing. He had no evidence in his shop that he was a climber. But something in my mind just clicked. I learned later that the tea house is named "Dhaura" after the 7th highest peak Dhauragiri.

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