Take-no-Michi Trail

The rain ended, leaving in its wake flooding throughout Japan and rail service all but shut down. But in the morning, at least on my walk to Kyoto Station, there were few signs of it.

Arriving, it was business as usual,

until I entered and came upon hundreds of cancelled ticket holders lined up to rebook.

It was my good fortune to have no destination other than Take-no-Michi Trail on the far side of Kyoto, the city’s subway system unaffected by the washouts elsewhere.

I needed only to make my way through the crowd to the Tokaido-Sanyo Line, ride it 3 stops to Katsuragawa Station, then walk 3km to the trailhead.

On my way,

was a brief stop,

for a little Matcha delight.

Exiting Katsuragawa, I was soon in an area with little traffic,

though help was available if necessary.

No far beyond, and quite unexpectedly,

was an agricultural area,

watered by a canal system

and through which my passage way traversed.

Being an Iowa boy,

it was an interesting contrast.

It wasn’t long, though, and I passed through it,

into a quiet neighborhood,

which I passed through as well,

and began the ascent through a woodland,

with arrival at Take-no-Michi Bamboo Trail.

To walk through the tall,

slender,

elegant beings,

is to be transported

to a time when we’d yet to desecrate our planet.

Sadly, the trail ended long before I would have liked,

at a cemetery

and the city beyond.

Descending the opposite side of the mountain, I came upon a simple rock garden,

no entrance permitted,

and for good reason.