What do Japanese people do?  Of course they do a lot of different things.  They cook different foods, they work different jobs and they practice different religions.  However regardless of the age, type of person or upbringing, Japanese people love sports.  Soccer, Baseball, Rugby, even Ultimate Frisbee; the collective exciting atmosphere really appeals to the Japanese.  In general they also love outdoor activities, especially hiking.  Japan, being a mountainous region allows for a large range of different hiking areas and trails.  In general the Japanese find the mountains to be somewhat of a tranquil place, untouched by society. Therefore, we can assume that Japanese people spend time in the mountains to get away, to think, or to take a break from the stressful life that takes place in the cities below.  Coming from a region that has no mountains at all, hiking was also a personal first for me.  I was always curious why people, especially my Japanese friends love to do it so I decided to try it out myself. 

A friend and I had decided to go to Hoshi no Buranko, a local hiking spot that is about a 30 minute train ride away from Hirakata station.  Upon arriving to the entrance to the trail leading into the mountain, I was surprised of range of different people that had decided to go hiking that day. There were the people that I had expected to be there, the people with the full hiking getup who looked like they were a cutout from a magazine.  However there were also families with babies and children, groups of college guys just having a guy’s day out and even the couple on their Sunday date.  What really got me was the girl was wearing heals even for a hiking date, which I personally could not help respecting because the terrain was not smooth when winding up the mountain. 

I suppose what was the most famous part of this trail was the large bridge that connected the tops of two small mountains.  Standing on it was definitely pretty and as for the couple that strayed behind I suppose that was the goal of their date.  Continuing on with the trail we reached the top of the mountain and had a perfect view of Hirakata and some of Kyoto.  All and all I was not only able to see the different types of people that participate in hiking, but discover for myself why Japanese people consider the mountains to be such an important part of their culture.