Forest Bathing

Not so long ago, the Interwebs taught me that the Japanese had apparently come up with a concept called shinrin yoku - forest bathing.  The idea is that it's therapeutic to get out in nature and smell fresh air and walk on unpaved ground and all that good stuff.  This weekend I had the opportunity to do exactly that.  See, this post is brought to you by my photography class.  I'll be writing about THAT particular endeavor in the near future; for now, suffice it to say that I got it into my head that one of my photos should be staged in Aokigahara - Japan's infamous suicide forest.

Now, I'd be lying to you if I claimed that the Sea of Trees - as it is known in Japanese - held no dark fascination for me.  Y'all know me better than that.  However, I hesitated to go there, even before some American jackass made a fool out of himself on Youtube by posting the video showing him finding a dead body there.  Because actually, that was exactly what made me hesitant.  I feel like I'm made of pretty stern stuff, and the possibility of spiritual remains doesn't phase me.  Physical remains, on the other hand, would have to be dealt with, and I wasn't sure I was ready for that.  That said, I knew in my head that I was unlikely to actually find anyone, which means I just needed a good excuse to me get out of the city.  Such as my photography course.

And the more I learned about the forest, the more interested I was in going.  It grows on a bed of lava that hardened after Fuji-san blew its top in 864 CE.  Since the ground is impenetrable, the trees' roots snake along the surface.  The trees grow close together, so it's cool and shady, and moss clings to many surfaces.  There are even special kinds of plants that grow there, although unfortunately I missed getting to see the white plants that grow there.

Geologically, the lava flow left behind lots of really cool (literally) caves.  Although the website I used for planning my visit suggested taking the bus to Saiko Bat Cave, when I got to Kawaguchiko station, the helpful info lady said the next bus would go to the Fugaku Wind Cave, so that was the one I ended up going to.  You could still see the way the lava moved, even after more than a millennium.  There was also a display inside that talked about how the cave was used for storing seeds and silkworm eggs, allowing for preservation and increased production. 

So I finally went this weekend.  As I sat in Jonathan's* having my weekly R&R**, I plotted my course.  It seemed that the Sotetsu bus from Yokohama was my best option.  Unfortunately, the next one wasn't til 12:20 and you had to book in advance.  Oops.  So I decided the time had come for another one of my epic*** rail journeys.  From Kikuna, my nearest and dearest, I rode out to Hachioji on the Yokohama line, then took the Chuo line for Otsuki.  And THEN I got the Fujikyu train to Kawaguchiko.  All told it took me about 4 hours to get out there.  Luckily the return trip somehow shaved off an hour.  It cost around 2400 yen as well, which was 400 yen more than the two and a half hour bus ride.  So, y'know.  Learn from my fail.

When I finally got off the last train I was dismayed by how many other people were around.  Kawaguchiko seems well off the beaten path, and it's not late enough in the year for going up to the top of Fuji.  I still don't get it.  Maybe it was the cherry blossoms.  While the sakura here has been pretty well denuded for the last week, the hills were alive with the sound of music...as long as the music sounds like this.

So I was afraid that there were going to be shit tons of people in the forest, which could be mendoksai for my photography.  As it turned out, though, whatever drew all the tourists, it wasn't the sea of trees.  Once I left the road behind, I was alone.  I passed one group who were exiting as I was going in, but that was it.  Thank goodness last night's Supernatural wasn't one of those "creepy forest creature" episodes, because honestly that could have transformed my appreciation of the forest's peaceful natural beauty pretty fast.

Once I got away from the road, it was quiet beneath the densely packed canopy.  A little sun streamed in, but it was cool.  The trees hadn't fully greened out, but the moss largely made up for it.  The ground was uneven, but soft under foot, layers of decomposing materials on top of each other: wood, leaves, moss, needles.  In fact, sometimes my footfalls sounded as if the forest floor was hollow.

I came to a fork in the path after a few minutes.  One led to the bird park, another promised a "rough trail" to the village.  I decided a rough trail sounded good, and took the right fork.  I quickly discovered that by rough they meant "unfinished," as in "it was a rough sketch of where to walk in the woods."  There were a couple of times where I came close to losing the trail.  Which probably wouldn't have been the end of the world as I have a pretty good sense of direction, but from what I understand, you're also more likely to stumble on undiscovered remains away from the trail, so I felt no need to prove that I'd be able to find my way back out of the forest without a path.

When I got to the next fork and realized I still had a long way to go toward the village, I decided it was time to head out of the woods.  I hopped on a bus that I thought was going back to the station, but ended up taking the scenic route - which I mean in this instance both literally and colloquially.  Getting a little closer to Fuji-san was a nice side bonus to this expedition.  As an artist I try not to pass up opportunities to look at the iconic mountain, particularly when I've spent the last week watching anime about camping around it.  I was kind of wishing I could've stayed the night and explored more of the area.  Maybe in my next Japan life I'll do exactly that.  Instead, when I got back to the station I walked to a nearby yakiniku restaurant and restored my vampiric HP with some tasty beef and a dolsot bibimbap.  Having sated my unholy appetite, I got my ass back to the station to begin the trek home.

So that was my Aokigahara adventure.  If you hate people and want to try out a little forest bathing, I can't think of a better place to do so.  Although, admittedly, I'm not really an outdoor cat, so what do I know?  After all, I was too busy taking pictures to relax and embrace nature, not to mention I have a healthy dislike of bugs getting in my hair, clothing, backpack, or really anywhere near me.  Since I got the shots I was hoping for, I felt satisfied calling it a day.


*Closer to home than Denny's...but their French toast isn't as good.
**Read and wRite
***In this usage, a word that means LONG...like, Aragorn and Frodo walking to Rivendell long.