September is either a good or not a pleasant month for Japanese hikers. Within this short window, most climbers are expecting to see a breathtaking view of mountain ridgelines, and if lucky, spread with bright maple red and yellow colors under clear skies. My trip to the Northern Alps 1 was cancelled again this year to give way for a typhoon to pass by, again.
Tanigawa-dake was only a rebound hike after being rejected as unworthy of the Northern Alps. On this day the skies opened up just for a little while. The decision to come here was vague, unsure, and ambiguous, but among other days, it was the least rainy. The peak is within reach from Tokyo, and a day trip would have sufficed to bury my disappointments of the week.
Peaks under 2000 meters in altitude commonly not hard to conquest, but Azrael 2 is the deadliest here claiming over eight hundred lives in the past century 3. The peak is not only famous for its alpine view but also well-known for the number of accidents and deaths. It is very common to see hikers’ journals referring to this peak as the mountain of death.
One may consider have started the journey ascent when he arrives at Doai Station, the deepest train station in the country 4. It was dark and ghostly, with echoing sounds of water droplets. Anyone could imagine being in a big underground sewer somewhere in Europe, such as those in Paris or Brighton. The stairs lead up to the only natural source of light, instinctively the only way to submit to Tanigawa-dake.
Typhoon made this week’s weather unpredictably unstable. The clouds change their mood every twenty minutes, it’s either too misty, sprinkling rain, or sunny clear skies. The climb was challenging enough for casual non professional climbers. I ran out of water midway, and was offered a bottle of unopened drink by a father-son duo, native climbers of the peak as I was told.
Witnessing two different weather conditions at the summit was something unforgettable. On the left side of the ridgeline is Gunma prefecture of Japan which was having a clear sunny day, while in Niigata prefecture on the right side was having a pouring rain, with sea of clouds. This was at Toma-no-Mimi peak, where the path forward to the next peak, Oki-no-Mimi was not visible.
Only those who conquest both Toma-no-Mimi and Oki-no-Mimi peaks are considered to have completed Tanigawa-dake’s Mimi-Futatsu, which literally means the Two-Ears. Rather than accepting this as a failure, it felt more like she wanted me to come see her again someday. At a time much later than today, then she would lend me her Two-Ears and listen to the stories I have to tell.
The Northern Alps of Japan, also known as the Hida Mountains, is a mountain range in Japan that runs through the prefectures of Nagano, Toyama, Gifu, and Niigata. Among the famous mountains in these Alps are Shirouma-dake, Tateyama, and Yari-ga-take. ↩︎
Azrael is the angel of death in Islam and is also associated with the angel of death in some Judeo-Christian traditions. Link ↩︎
In the past 90 years, over 800 people have died while climbing Tanigawa-dake. Link ↩︎
Doai station is the deepest railway station in Japan, at a depth of 70 meters, requiring a descent of 486 steps. Link ↩︎