After completing the Otama Walking Trail, I took the bus to Lake Okutama. My goal was to walk the Ikoi trail to the floating bridge but the path was closed for repair. It had also started to rain very hard on the way there so I cut the visit short.
The Otama Walking Trail is a nice and easy 8km trail in Okutama, in western Tokyo. It follows the valley formed by the Tama River from Kori station to Okutama station. I had already followed the section of the trail in Hatonosu Valley last autumn but I came back for the whole trail in spring. It took me about 3.5 hours to reach Okutama.
Bacon & Camembert Soup Curry. Strange mix but it worked for me.
The shop is quite close to Akihabara and has an otaku vibe going on: The inside is decorated by a lot of manga drawings by artists who ate there and the waitress is dressed as a maid. My camera had run out of battery so I could not take pictures unfortunately…
The University of Tokyo (東京大学; Tokyo daigaku), often abbreviated as Todai (東大), is the most prestigious university in Japan. Its main campus is in Hongo (Bunkyo). As far as I can tell, although there are guards at the gates, it can be entered pretty much freely.
In May, I went back once more to Nikko. This time, I climbed Mount Nyoho (女峰山), the sister peak to the better-known (and barely higher) Mount Nantai (男体山). At 2483m, it was the highest point during my year in Japan. This is the trail direction I followed (except I started at the Futarasan Shrine).
In May, I went on a hike to Mount Takahata (高畑山) and Mount Kuratake (倉岳山), in Yamanashi prefecture.
Meiji Shrine (明治神宮; Meiji Jingu) is a shrine dedicated to Emperor Meiji and his consort, Empress Shoken. It is located near Yoyogi Park. I visited it in January, on the same day as the Coming of Age day (成人の日; Seijin-no-Hi).
