#gozaisho

御在所岳

30th November 2019

It was a beautiful, cold, clear day. This was the day we decided to return to Gozaisho. We went with friends this time ;- Glen and Debbie. The first time we’d ascended Gozaisho it was a tough 3 hours, pretty much straight up. I had sweated so much I had literally had to ‘buy the T-shirt’. This time Glen promised an easier more meandering route.

It started off pretty well, there was some scrambling, but level places too. Maybe the cooler weather also had an impact.

There were the usual typical Japanese crazy climbing sections with a few chains but they weren’t quite as daunting as the other route.

The weather made for some beautiful viewing-spots.

We got to the top within about 3 hours again. The panaramas extended for miles and we convinced ourselves we could see Mount Fuji. 

April 20th 2019

GOZAISHO...a lesser known mountain but very close to Nagoya in the Suzuka mountain range. It’s a good day trip from the city and on a good day it will give you some good views over Suzuka, Ise Bay, Nagoya and Aichi Prefecture, and even Fuji!

There’s a lot of false summits along the ascent made up of large boulders which require a bit of a scramble up. Some via ferrata type assistance and wacky narrow ledges add to the excitement. The Japanese pensioners in their pristine hiking garb do this without any issues.

A 3-hour ascent greets you with some fantastic views. A bit too hazy for seeing all the way across to Mt Fuji.

As Gozaisho has an immensely long ropeway to the top, you inevitably come across women in heels and a panoramic restaurant. There is a bonus to this - you can have a reasonable curry rice and asahi then save the knees and take the ropeway down. Before the mechanised descent, Tamsin made herself a medal to celebrate the day assuming the movements of a mountain goat.