Mountain Climbing in Kyoto: Climbing Daimonji

While I don’t necessarily take up mountain hiking as a hobby, it is quite obvious that Japan has quite a few mountains. As a matter of fact, historically, most major cities in Japan were built in areas surrounded by mountains. The mountains were said to be able to help ward off evil (perhaps it has a real-life correlation to preventing invasions or something, I don’t specifically know), so the obvious result of this tendency is that most cities that were founded in olden times have mountains surrounding them, Tokyo and Kyoto being no different.

With that being said, with so many mountains around, there was bound to be some event where I’d end up climbing one of these things, so what better way than to climb at 10PM at night while lugging along some snacks and a few cans of sake and beer?

To be more specific, in this case, I was climbing Daimonji, a mountain on the east side of Kyoto that is famous for it’s giant burning 大that is lit up every summertime. It’s a grand spectacle that I, sadly, won’t be able to see due to leaving Japan before it happens. Nevertheless, some of my crazy Japanese friends from Kyoto University (京都大学) decided to try and climb this mountain late at night in the middle of winter, and drink some alcohol at the top. Just a heads up, Japanese people LOVE to drink. Seriously, I feel like there are drinking parties every other week here, and they are all always dominated by beer. At least, that’s the general trend I’ve noticed amongst Japanese college students. Don’t let that anime fool ya, Japanese people love their beer.

Anyways, seriously speaking, the idea of drinking at the top sounded pretty damn awesome; I mean, come on, climbing to the top of a mountain when it’s pitch black, and drinking some sake under the dazzling stars while looking over the brilliant cityscape at night? That’s a real adventure right there, even if you realize that it’s probably stupid to climb down a mountain while intoxicated on a semi-dangerous mountain trail.

What I can guarantee you right off the bat is that the trek up the mountain will be a huge annoyance. Climbing up a mountain is no easy task when the mountain trail is all beat-up and windy, but what made this even more difficult is the complete and utter darkness there at night. I’m warning you in advance, make sure you bring proper equipment (flashlights, etc), and do NOT go alone. While the mountain trail isn’t the most difficult path to follow, if you’re not careful and didn’t prepare, the potential to fall to your doom is definitely there. And yes, of course we were prepared; we bought some cheap flashlights at the 100 yen store. :3

It took a good hour or so to reach the top of the giant 大 symbol, and by that point, we were completely and utterly exhausted. One poor girl showed up in some really nice, expensive looking high heels, which I’m sure got ruined from this hike. But hey, once we got there, all the cursing and whining about the climb instantly came to a stop. To put it simple, the view from the top is absolutely breathtaking. Words nor pictures can do the view justice; while I tried to take some good pictures, it just wasn’t doable without a proper camera for nighttime photography. The only half-decent photo I managed to take is the one near the beginning of this post, where a bunch of my buddies are banzai-ing towards Kyoto.

To give you a general image of the scene, imagine sitting atop a mountain that is several hundred meters tall. The air is pristine and clean, it is pitch black and cold, you are surrounded by trees and nature, all with a steady cool wind softly blowing at your face. From where you are sitting, you turn your head left and right, and all you see are lights. Storefronts, buildings, cars, lights from the city. No matter how far ahead you look, it’s all lights, dazzling lights. And if you went on a cold winter night, the skies should be fairly clear as well; when you look up, you see the dazzling stars and moon peeking through the sky, staring you down. The lights from the city blot out some of the stars, but you still get a beautiful view of the night sky. And while admiring this amazing view, you crack open a few snacks and some drinks, and chatter away with some friends, all while admiring this view.

A sort-of-terrible picture taken from a different point on the mountain. The spots that aren’t lit up tend to be other shrines, or in the case of Kyoto, the former Imperial Palace

Honestly speaking, this was an experience I ended up enjoying infinitely more than I expected to; I mean, come on, mountain climbing doesn’t exactly sound enthralling or anything, does it? Rather, it sounds like something old men might enjoy as exercise. But going at night was really a breathtaking experience that I’ll never forget, and yes, we did safely climb down the mountain afterwards. Mountain climbing at night certainly is an unconventional (and potentially dangerous if you’re not prepared) activity, but the rewards are definitely worth it. And after all that, I ended up buying a strawberry chocolate cream crepe. Delicious stuff Japan, delicious stuff.

This series of posts, Adventures Abroad in Japan, was all possible in part due to the generous scholarship from the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship. For anybody that is interested in Studying Abroad, do make sure to check them out!