Exploring the Steep Nooks and Crannies Near the Suntory Yamazaki Whisky Distillery

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Toddlers Waving to a Train

in front of the Suntory Yamazaki Whiskey Distillery

Instead of writing up the full blog post about my visit the other day
to Suntory's Yamazaki Distillery, I instead did a short bicycle ride to the area, to investigate all the short-but-steep roads
nestled in where the city meets the mountain.

On the way, I went through the belly of the sprawling
Yamazaki Junction, mentioned in a comment on the blog post where I featured
photos
of the rat's-nest Kumiyama Junction....

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 50mm — 1/250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Approaching the Yamazaki Junction

山崎JCT

It's much more complex than the one I wrote about before, but much less photogenic...

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/320 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
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Panasonic LX100 at an effective 40mm — 1/125 sec, f/4.5, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

It's more complex in that it includes an entrance and an exit that can be reached by either of the two expressways that cross.
Looking at the area on the map is dizzying. But it's spread over
a fairly wide area, and unlike the other junction I wrote about, a bicycle can't get to much of it. So from any one spot, you can
see a few trees, but have no sense for the magnitude of the forest.

Oh, and one other things this junction has is a bus stop on the expressway. Passengers reach it from the normal surface
roads:

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 29mm — 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
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Expressway Bus-Stop Entrance

高速バス停の入り口

Anyway, I continued over toward the small (but steep) mountain that Yamazaki nestles up against....

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 75mm — 1/125 sec, f/4.5, ISO 200 —
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Heading Toward Yamazaki

Once I reached the mountain, I skirted it and took every road that turned in toward the mountain.
Many didn't go far, but some brought enjoyable surprises, such as a big temple...

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 40mm — 1/125 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 —
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Small Shrine

on the steep road to a temple (Yamazaki Shouten / 山崎聖天)








Panasonic LX100 at an effective 44mm — 1/125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
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Discussing the View








Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 —
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The Temple








Panasonic LX100 at an effective 35mm — 1/125 sec, f/3.2, ISO 200 —
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Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 —
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Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/80 sec, f/1.7, ISO 200 —
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Heading Back Down

I made a Strava segment for the 370m @ 11% climb, but it seems
few folks have done it.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 49mm — 1/100 sec, f/2.7, ISO 640 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Uninviting

no car, no scooter, no bike, no pets, no backpacks, no fun

Near Suntory's distillery is something called the “Asahi Beer Oyamazaki Villa Museum of Art”.
Asahi is a competitor of Suntory, and I assume that they put this thing nearby on purpose, and if so, it seems a bit slimy to me. The road up to the entrance is very steep, and past that it's even steeper as a service road to the rear of the site. It's just as well I wanted to do that steep service road, because as the signs at the entrance indicate multiple times,
bicycles (and much else) aren't welcome.

Then it was time for the main climb I knew to be in the area, the
short but steep climb to the Hoshakuji Temple (宝積寺)
It averages 15.6% for its 350-meter length....

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 75mm — 1/125 sec, f/4.5, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Start of the Climb

just beyond the tracks









Panasonic LX100 at an effective 56mm — 1/125 sec, f/3.5, ISO 200 —
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天王山の登り口

宝積寺への登り口

I tried to put in an effort, but it didn't feel like I was getting much out of it. My legs are weak from not having done
this kind of powerful effort all winter. Normally it's my lungs that limit me, but this time it was my legs... at least until a
trash truck didn't feel like sharing the road, and I had to stop to let him by. Really burst my bubble.

I didn't like that I was interfered with, so I turned around and did it again.

On the way down in between, I snapped a photo showing how high one gets in such a short distance:

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 34mm — 1/125 sec, f/4.5, ISO 200 —
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View From

(just below the)

Hoshakuji Temple

Anyway, I got to the bottom, turned around, and did it again, sans trash truck.

Holy cow, the second time was so much worse than the first. My willpower just collapsed and I ended up barely inching forward
toward the middle, or so it felt. But by the time I got near the top, the last few meters had me — and this was a first for
me — almost throwing up. I guess the problem is that I attempted an effort that I could have done at the start of the
winter, but not now at the end.

It had taken just two minutes, but I was wiped out to the core.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 28mm — 1/125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
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Collapsed on the Steps

with just enough energy for a selfie

Once I got moving again, I was drained, so I took everything for the rest of the ride really easily.

I started poking around the mountain again.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 26mm — 1/200 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Blast from the Past

this scene brought back 25-year-old memories

In the center of the photo above, there's a narrow path going down; a woman and a toddler are walking up it. The path is
so particular that I immediately recalled it from my commute by motorcycle, done most days between 1990 and 1995.

I also came across a preschool that I recall having gone past all the time, but this time I noticed a small street
beside it pitching up the mountain, so I took it. It eventually entered the woods and got even steeper...

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/3.2, ISO 200 —
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Ridiculous

ridiculously steep, and

ridiculous road surface that looks like a toddler's crayon drawing









Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
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View from the Top

I made a segment for this climb as well, 450m @ 13%,
but I'm the only one to have done it so far.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 32mm — 1/640 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
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Heading Down to Suntory

this road arrives at the back of the distillery








Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Back of the Distillery

with a public road then cutting through the center toward the front









Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Front

Suntory Yamazaki Whisky Distillery

The smells from the distillery are heavenly, another thing I remember from the few seconds that I passed
in front of the place on my daily commute 25 years ago. In particular, the steam emanating from this truck
had a lovely rich smell that I just sat and took in for a bit...

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 50mm — 1/100 sec, f/2.7, ISO 1250 —
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The back road down to the distillery seemed to make a nice climb, so I retraced my steps and did it, then made it
into a Strava segment. Overall it's a mild 500m @ 8%,
but the first third is relatively flat, then the next third is about 12%.

My effort was 3rd-overall best.... out of four total.