Rikugien Garden (六義園) is a park in Bunkyo City, Tokyo. The garden consists of a pond, trees, and a hill. It was completed in 1702 and is a typical example of gardens from the Edo period. In November and early December, it becomes a popular spot for enjoying the autumn foliage (koyo). After dark, the garden stays open late and the trees are lit with special nighttime illuminations.
Last week, I went back to the Tanzawa mountains in Kanagawa Prefecture. This time, I hiked up Mount To (塔ノ岳; 1491m ; aka Tonodake), Mount Tanzawa (丹沢山; 1567m) and Mount Sannoto (三ノ塔; 1205m). Those mountains are quite popular: They are easily accessible with public transportation and the trail is very well-developed (stairs and huts at every summit). When the weather is good, it can offer great views on Mount Fuji. I was unlucky though: The forecast was “Sunny” but there was a lot of fog instead.
At 2,017m, Mount Kumotori (雲取山) is the highest mountain in Tokyo. The peak actually stands at the boundaries of Tokyo, Yamanashi Prefecture and Saitama Prefecture. I went there on a day-hike a few weeks ago. I basically followed the plan outlined here (with map).
Android has added support for Bluetooth Low Energy (aka Bluetooth Smart) and thus iBeacon (a profile of BLE) in version 4.3. However, on my Google Nexus 10 (2012 edition, now running Android 4.4 aka KitKat), support is disabled in the official version provided by Google, even though the hardware supports it. Since I want to try out (and maybe develop) apps that use iBeacons, that makes me very sad… Thankfully, there is a way to enable it, by replacing the original Bluetooth-related libraries on the device with patched libraries that add support for Bluetooth Low Energy.
The Chiba Port Tower is a tower located in Chiba Port Park, Chiba. It is 125m tall and has 4 stories. It was built in 1986.
A Peace Pagoda is a Buddhist stupa. It is designed to inspire peace and to help unite people of all races and creeds in their search for world peace. Most peace pagodas built since World War II have been built under the guidance of Nichidatsu Fujii, a Buddhist monk from Japan and founder of the Nipponzan-Myohoji Buddhist Order. Fujii was greatly inspired by his meeting with Mahatma Gandhi in 1931 and decided to devote his life to promoting non-violence. In 1947, he began constructing Peace Pagodas as shrines to World peace.
The Tokyo Peace Pagoda was inaugurated in August 1974 at the summit of Mount Odera (大寺山; 960m) near Lake Okutama. Not sure why or when it was abandoned. I had a first glimpse of the pagoda when I went to Mount Gozen a few weeks ago and I had no idea what it was: It seemed like a large structure (actually 45m in height and 55m of diameter) but there was no mention of it on maps or tourism pamphlets. So I went to see for myself after I got down from Mount Mito. The trail starts between Mito Bridge and Miyama Bridge on Lake Okutama. It takes about 50min to the summit. After getting back to Lake Okutama, I crossed the Miyama Bridge and waited for the bus back to Okutama JR station.
A couple of weeks ago, I hiked Mount Mito (三頭山; 1531m). It was my last of the “Three Mountains of Okutama”.
