This was Chokai-san on Sunday
You have the towering mountain shrouded in cloud in the distance. Having a mountain backdrop is a given pretty much anywhere in Japan. Except maybe Okinawa? Who knows.
In this photo we see a lot of colouring changes in the middle of the mountain. That’s called 紅葉 Koyo, literally ‘crimson leaves’. The leaves changing is one of the main reasons why I think Autumn is the best time to visit Japan. Autumn leaves are much more appealing to me than cherry blossoms, and then the weather is mild enough to be comfortable without any aircon or heating. However, if I were to take the same photo now, there would be a whole lot more snow because we had 初冠雪 Hatsu Kan Setsu ‘first snow of the year’ earlier this week.
And now for the reality check.
Chokai-san is a very very beautiful mountain. But differing attitudes towards protecting landscapes mean that what could be an extraordinary mountain, is just ordinary.
You can see the power pylons that look like a scar on an otherwise pristine mountainside.
Then to the right you can make out a pine forest, one that has clearly been planted by man. They planted so many pine, cedar, and cypress forests after the war that many of them aren’t worth the land they sit on. The pollen from these trees also led to some ridiculous amounts of Japanese residents suffering from allergies. I’m not sure what the solution is, cull them all? Unfortunately, in the case of pine at least, a disease caused by a ringworm may be beating us to the chase (松枯れ病 matsukare-byō pine wilt disease).
And then of course there is the obvious construction vehicles in the foreground. They are building a highway, which should link Niigata and Akita Prefectures, one day at least. They have been building this highway for as long as I’ve been here (15 years). Thankfully they often have the hindsight to plant forests either side of the highway, to at least make it more presentable, but it does leave a scar on the landscape.
Now, I’m in two minds about this.
It’s useful to have these highways to get between A and B, and it’s useful to have them as a backup in case of emergency. I do use the toll roads every once in a while if it can help save me some time (i.e. money). But, I’m not sure how much demand there is for these highways in the first place, especially with the population falling so dramatically, which is especially true up here in Akita and Yamagata.
Anyway, one of my favourite things to do is to drive all the way around Chokai-san in one day. I like to make a day of it. Go and get something to eat from a bakery in Shinjo, picnic at Hottai-no-taki, have an afternoon coffee in Nikaho, then head back to Sakata. Something made all the more easier thanks to Japan’s extensive network of highways.
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Daily Yamabushi posts for the week of October 24 to 30, 2025.
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Around here the highways that they just have mostly finished building are almost all free and well worth it IMO. They are also quite heavily used. It is interesting how the pay sections are often avoided - and I admit there's one section that we often avoid.
I thought the pine disease was caused by a beetle, but either way it's spreading again. I saw it in Iwate in the summer and wrote about it here - https://lessknownjapan.substack.com/p/goishi-kaigan?r=7yrqz
If you know places with beautiful pines go visit them now before the disease gets them