74 JOURNEYforested plateau whose trees cloak
five Shinto shrines. Cut off to vehicles
in the winter months, the only way to
reach these shrines is on foot through
the snow, so we donned flat plastic
snow shoes over our walking boots,
sinking into every step. At first it felt like
walking in diving flippers – ungainly
and hilarious for onlookers – but as
we slowly mastered the technique,
stamping our toes into each snow
drift so that the metal teeth gave grip,
progress became noticeably easier.
Gingerly, we tromped on to the
pilgrims’ guesthouse, a large registered
cultural property with a thick thatched
roof and traditional guest rooms
furnished with bamboo mat flooring. The
priest in charge, a former rally driver,
welcomes relatively few pilgrims these
days, but he greeted us with warmth
and tea. Casting off our boots and snow
shoes in the drying room, there was
an initial urge to scramble to enter the
onsen, a communal bath fed by a natural
hot spring. But as you’re expected to
bathe ‘au naturale’, we curbed our
enthusiasm in exchange for bashful
hesitancy. Not knowing exactly where
Beyond the bright lights
of Tokyo is another Japan- older, more beautiful,
and infinitely more
intriguing
top The unique
bamboo snow boots
used on the trip are
called kanjiki
below The mytical
snow country
right Togakushi – the
destination of the
pilgrimage – has five
shrines© Ed Day© Ed Day