Sunday was another day’s adventure for us. Joel, one of our friends who lives close to the city, invited us up to his house on Sunday night for pizza. He made a brick oven about a year ago, and Ian has been dying to see it. Instead of driving all the way there just for that, we decided that we should make the most of our trip and do something else along the way. Ian and I decided that we’d tackle the longest staircase in Japan….the Nippon Ichi. It’s merely 3,333 stone steps to a shrine at the top of a mountain. People come from all over Japan to climb the steps, and it just so happens that we live only an hour and a half from it. While some might think it’s crazy to climb 3,333 steps for “fun,” it proved to be quite an adventure for us!!
We recruited Melissa to come with us, claiming that it would be good practice for when we climb Fuji in August. She agreed, and as we were on the way to Misato (the town where the staircase is) it started to rain. However, we didn’t let it dampen our spirits! We found the staircase, which was deep in the countryside, and took a few “before” pictures (in which we were all smiles) before ascending. Since we were much higher up in the mountains and the sun wasn’t shining, it was quite chilly. It didn’t take long for us to warm up, though! After conquering two of the loooooooong sets of stairs, we were already panting and clutching our sides. One thing that I think continued to encourage us was the old people. We’d see old men, who were probably triple our ages, coming down the staircase, so we had the mantra of “if they can do it, we can do it!!”
After an hour or so of walking up, up, up, and up, I thought the stairs would never end. I’d like to think that I’m in good condition, but these stairs kicked my butt! 3,333 steps doesn’t sound like that much when you’re at the base. However, once you’ve climbed the first couple of hundred, you start to realize just how far that is…….. Melissa and I were about at the same pace, and it was as if we could read each other’s minds because we’d both stop and break at the same time. When it started to drizzle on us, it made the journey just that much more depressing. We didn’t give up, though!
The nature and scenery surrounding the staircase was unbelievable. Had the day been clear instead of cloudy, it probably would have been more beautiful, but even with the clouds hanging low over the evergreen mountains, it was quite scenic. We stopped for a break in one spot and realized that there were two deer in the woods beside the staircase. Ian and I started making deer calls, and the deer turned, looked at us, and then sprinted off in the opposite direction. HA! HA! I’m not sure what we said in deer language, but apparently it was enough to scare the deer off!!
It took about two hours to reach the top. We had a couple of fake out moments when we thought we were at the top only to see another set of steps lurking in the distance. It was the most downtrodden feeling ever…… Once we reached the top, we actually weren’t sure if it was the top. We were expecting something a little……more. While the view was beautiful, it wasn’t the best. Supposedly you can see all the way to the sea from the top, but the clouds and haze obscured our view. We followed the path and walked around the side of the mountain to see the shrine. This was also a disappointment. It was one of the crappiest shrines I’ve even seen. Everything about it looked rundown and un-impressive. Since we were on the top of a mountain, the wind was whipping around, and it was COLD! We decided to snap a few quick pictures at the top (to prove that we’d done it) and began our descent.
While the way down was much quicker, it didn’t stop from hurting. All of us were in pain at that point in time. My legs were so stressed that they were trembling. I held onto the handrail just in case one of my legs gave out….so that I wouldn’t go tumbling down 2,193 (or some other random number) of steps. Melissa was pretty smart and slipped one leg over the railing so that she could slide down an entire set of steps. Genius! However, her plan ended up failing because the railing was wet, so her downstairs (no pun intended) area was soaking wet!
Once we finally reached the base, we took a couple of “after” pictures in which we definitely look much more jagged and exhausted. No smiles that time! Our next step (ha! no pun intended again!) was to go to Joel’s, where he had fresh brick oven pizza waiting on us. It was DELICIOUS, and best of all it was COVERED in a thick layer of cheese. (Japanese pizzas have cheese barely sprinkled on them.) It was the perfect end to an adventurous day! We arrived home that night around 10:30. I quickly got my things ready for Monday, showered, and we both crashed within minutes of getting in bed.
*disclaimer* Sorry that I don’t have any pictures from our climb. The only camera that we took was Ian’s, and he hasn’t uploaded the pictures yet. Sorry, guys!
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