Susan Spann's Blog, page 22

To the Summit of Daibosatsu!

With apologies for the tardy post (this week got away from me), the hyakumeizan total now stands at two! Only 98 more to go . . . Last Sunday I took a two and a half hour train ride from Tokyo to Chichibu-Tama-Kai National Park, in Yamanashi Prefecture, to attempt an ascent of 2,057-meter Daibosatsu. Although Kyūya Fukada’s One Hundred Mountains of Japan describes the shorter, 40-minute ascent from a nearby pass (the location of the highest bus stop where hikers can depart), I started from the mouth of the trail, more than a thousand meters lower on the mountain. The highest bus stop

Akagi Jinja – Lake Onuma’s Guardian Shrine

Akagi Jinja (shrine) sits on the shore of Lake Onuma, not far from the trailhead that leads to the peaks of nearby Mt. Akagi. (The mountain, a stratovolcano, has numerous summits – three of which I summited last weekend as part of my hyakumeizan climb.) The shrine dates to at least the 14th century, and has subsidiary shrines across Japan. Although exhausted from the summit climb, I couldn’t pass the entrance to a Shinto shrine without stopping to pay a  visit. Though fairly small, the shrine has lovely buildings, and its setting is spectacular. Onuma surrounds the shrine on two sides, and

…And Back Again – The Descent From Mount Akagi

On Monday, I shared some photos and highlights from my 100 Summits climb of Mount Akagi (Akagi-yama) in Gunma Prefecture. Today, I’m sharing the trip back down. Smart mountaineers all know that “the summit is only halfway there” – to climb a mountain successfully, you also need to descend from the summit safely. Since I left the summit at 12:50pm, and wanted to catch the 16:00 (4pm) bus to Maebashi, I decided to hike Akagi as a loop and descend via the shorter trail that leads directly down from the summit to the shore of Lake Ono.   When making this decision, I

To the Summit of Mt. Akagi!

Yesterday (May 20, 2018) I climbed my first hyakumeizan peak – Mt. Akagi, in Gunma Prefecture. While many of the details will have to wait for the book (100 SUMMITS is under contract with Prometheus Books, for release in 2020) I’ll be sharing photo essays about my climbs, and some fun details about the mountains, here on the blog in the months to come. Mt. Akagi is the symbol of Gunma Prefecture, and beloved by several of Japan’s famous writer (including Ryunosuke Akutagawa). It’s also a stratovolcano – a volcano built up over time by layers of ash and hardened lava – and

Let The Quest For 100 Summits Begin!

My husband, our cat, and I arrived in Japan on Wednesday afternoon so I could begin the 100 Summits project. As always, Japan was beautiful from the air: The patchwork quilt of green fields interspersed with towns and villages, looks similar to other agricultural areas from thousands of feet in the air. But the plane descended, the curved tile roofs, bamboo groves, and sparkling, water-filled rice paddies of Saitama revealed their distinctive details. We passed through customs and animal import inspection quickly, and hopped on the N’EX (Narita Express) for the 90-minute ride to central Tokyo. (Haneda airport is closer to the city

Countdown to Japan and the Hundred Summits!

Today my husband and I moved out of our temporary apartment and into the hotel that will serve as the final “staging point” for our departure to Japan. We’ve (mostly) packed our suitcases… and the international delivery service will show up Monday morning to take them away. If everything goes according to plan, by the time that happens we’ll have taken our cat Oobie to the vet and be starting our drive to Los Angeles, with plans to fly to Japan on Tuesday morning. Our first flight is scheduled to leave Los Angeles at 6am, and I’m looking forward to watching the

Chemo, Hair Loss, And Waiting To Grow Again

Chemotherapy is a liar and a thief. It lies, because it makes us feel impossibly sick–so sick we cannot possibly recover. It steals, because it causes most of us to lose the physical characteristics we associate with personal identity: our hair, eyelashes, nose hairs (trust me, you’ll miss them more than you might think), facial shape, and sometimes fingernails and skin. (You don’t lose *all* your skin, of course, but it becomes a crackly, dried-out thing you might not recognize.) This was me at the start of my cancer journey: This is me today: I’m four weeks out from the last

The Sutra Repository of Koyasan

The hexagonal sutra repository at Danjo Garan, on Koyasan, was constructed during the 12th century to hold a complete set of the Chinese Tripitaka (the entire set of sacred Buddhist texts). Although the current building only dates to the twentieth century (a fire destroyed the original) it remains a lovely example of Shingon Buddhist architecture.   Fortunately, the sacred scrolls were not lost in the fire. They were moved to the Reihokan Museum (also on Koyasan) where they remain today.   The repository stands two stories tall and features the sloping eaves and spire traditional in pagoda-style architecture. The current version was rebuilt using

Fudo Myo-o and the Fudo Hall (Koyasan Part 3)

Founded by the monk Kūkai (Kōbō Daishi) during the 9th century, Danjo Garan continues to function as the heart of Koyasan Shingon Buddhism in Japan. While the entire kōya (mountaintop valley) is considered a single “temple,” the complex at Danjo Garan holds many important historical structures that still serve a role in modern Buddhist worship – including the Fudō-do, or Fudō Hall.   (To read this series on Koya from the beginning, click here.) In Shingon Buddhist belief, Fudō Myō-ō is an incarnation of the Buddha and the leader of the wisdom kings. He protects the living and guides them toward enlightenment.

We Interrupt This Program…

… for an update on the 100 Summits project and my cancer treatment. I completed my last chemotherapy infusion two weeks ago today. My side effects are mostly gone, with the notable exception of my nearly-bald head, which will likely remain almost completely hairless for at least another week before I start getting “baby fuzz.” If everything goes as expected, I’ll have a little “real hair” within six weeks. The first couple of weeks after finishing chemo are a difficult time. Treatment is “over” but because the side effects from the final treatment persist, it’s hard to really feel like