Adventures in Japan

Mino-o Ho Down

Mino-o is known for its waterfall. It has a waterfall. You go there to see it. So we did. It was there.

Maybe specifics are in order.


One of the first things we saw after getting off the train in Mino-o was a whole lot of booths along the long and winding road up to the waterfall. Booths selling the usual tchotchkes, with an unusual focus on monkeys. They also sold deep fried maple leaves. The whole place smelled of hot oil. Luckily, Carla and I both find that scent enjoyable. We managed to pass the first dozen stalls just fine, our resolve faltered during the next dozen, and then we finally caved in and bought some. I noticed that the deep frying of maple leaves is a job only entrusted to elderly Japanese women.


I didn't see one lady with naturally non-grey hair, nor one bloke manning the deep fryers. The leaves themselves were just fine. Crispy yet tremendously greasy. Tasted like crisp grease with a hint of sweetness. Kinda good. Better than anything involving sweet red bean paste at any rate. Beans should never be considered a part of dessert, in my opinion.


It's fall over here in Japan. Which means that the leaves are starting to change colour, unlike Saskatchewan, where fall means the leaves fall off the trees in a week and then it snows. I think we've mentioned that the Japanese people are big on going out and admiring the leaves as they change colour. Well, there were leaves along the path to the waterfall, and there were plenty of camera carrying Japanese, out to enjoy the fall foliage.


Not that I blame them, I may subtly mock them, but I don't blame them. The leaves in the fall here are quite splendid. So many different colours, some are muted yellow, some are nearly neon. When the sun hits them just right, they glow. I don't remember many glowing trees back in Canada. Maybe I just hung out in the wrong neck of the woods.


Near the beginning of our not short hike to the waterfall, we saw some steps off to the left. Consulting our handy-dandy map, we couldn't quite figure out what it was. Probably a temple. We decided to investigate. The steps looked a lot less crowded than the main path we were on, which meant there was a much better chance of seeing some actual wildlife. And by wildlife, I mean monkeys. And maybe tanukis. So we started climbing the steps.

There were a lot of steps. We were quite sweaty and a little bit winded when we finally made it to the top. So we relaxed and took in the view. Not quite sure if it was worth the hike.


The view was not bad, but not awe-inspiring either. The whole city of Osaka stretched out as far as the eye could see all along the horizon, but smog obscured a lot of it. Would probably look better in the winter, or at sunset, or if I could figure out how to take a good photograph. Any hints or tips, Cory?

The climb down was much easier than the climb up. Which is usually the case, I guess. Still, 398 steps ain't no cake walk no matter how you slice it. It took longer than expected to walk up and down all those steps so we figured we had to boogy to make it to the waterfall before the light went away. Still, I had to stop and take a few pictures. That's when I noticed that my battery was just about dead. I should really get better at recharging it before big sight-seeing trips. What I didn't take pictures of: blossoming trees. Like, trees with roses and other pretty flowers on them. Pretty.

Not as pretty was the massive amount of shops and restaurants and booths and stalls along the path to the waterfall. We'd be walking, enjoying the sights and sounds of nature when we'd see booths up ahead and go, "Oh, the waterfall must be right up ahead!" Nope, just a clump of shops because the last clump of shops were now out of view.


We finally made it to the waterfall and it was not the greatest waterfall I've ever seen. Nor the worst. It was interesting. It kind of leans to one side. I'm not sure why, it wasn't windy or anything. Also, since the day was mainly overcast, it made everything look kind of muddy and smudgy, which went well with the surrounding vegetation. Looked kind of like a painting. The oil painting filter on our phone camera is laughably bad. That was an aside.

I should probably mention that all along the path there were signs warning us not to feed the monkeys. What monkeys? thought we. Later, as we sat near the waterfall, eating a jumbo frank, Carla noticed a monkey up in a tree. Then she noticed more in other trees. I think we saw five monkeys in all. All up in the trees, none down on the ground. Not sure how they trained the monkeys to not bother the tourists. But monkeys can be trained.. Everyone knows this.


For example, the monkeys at Mino-o have been trained to not stay still when Canadians try to take their pictures.