Princess Mononoke Forest

I spent the second half of the afternoon on separate trails, going through stretches of about 30 minutes or more without seeing another hiker. It was awesome. OK, and I know I said the paths are marked and paved over, but maybe I exaggerated a bit. As you can tell here, it's still pretty raw. Some of the stone paths you'll see were created hundreds of years ago by locals, lugging wood out of the forest for shingle-production, but you can generally always find your way with the small, pink strings guiding you.

I passed a few park rangers and guides (all with walkie-talkies) but at the end of the path (near the Mononoke Forest itself, it was mostly families). Hiking in Japan - even alone - is really fun. You should be realistic about your limits, because it can be difficult, but you won't be alone out on the trails... Japanese people love to hike. I love how decked-out the hikers get here, though (seriously go all out on the gear). Moreso, Japan has a certain level of hiking ettiquette that people seem to stick to. Everyone I passed nodded and gave me a konnichiwa. One cute family must have wanted to use English because after a hello, they all started to yell "I LOVE YOU!" after me... gave me a laugh :)


The forest was also the inspiration for Miyazaki's movie Princess Mononoke (もののけ姫). If you haven't seen it (or any of the Ghible flicks), here's the trailer... it's really good:

You can also click here if the video doesn't work!