Tuesday, March 31, 2015

長興山の枝垂れ桜 - Weeping Cherry Trees of Choukousan

都心の花見スポットはどこも人だらけなのに比べると、小田原近辺はのんびりしたものだ。僕は二宮の吾妻山公園がお気に入りで既にブログでも紹介しているが、今年は小田原往復の自転車練習のついでに足を伸ばして、長興山の枝垂れを見ることにした。電車なら箱根登山鉄道の入生田駅から少し歩く。幸い敷地に自転車置き場のスペースが確保されているが、スタンドなしのロードレーサーは少々厄介だ。2台くらいは立てかける所が見つかる。目指す桜はそこからしばらく歩いて山の上で、高度差100mくらいはあるので頑張りが必要。僕はヒルクライム嫌いなので、チャリで行く気は毛頭ない。それでも2h走行の後の登りは少々つらい。
太い幹の古木がひとつ、その隣にはもう少し幹の細い枝垂れが並んで立っている。もうひとつさらに高い斜面に一本あって、これら3本がすべて。しばし枝振りを愛でるという楽しみ方かな。花見客はカメラ爺が多かった。



When it comes to sakura watching, you need to deal with the flood of people in Tokyo, but it is more relaxing in Odawara neighborhood. My favorite place is Azumayama Park in Ninomiya that I already posted in this blog. This year, I wanted to visit Choukousan as an extension of my bike riding to Odawara. It is accessible from Iriuda Station of Hakone Tozan (mountaineering) Railway otherwise. 
Luckily, they had a small space for bike parking though it was not ideal for road racers without stand.
The cherry trees in question are further away in the mountain, and you had to gain some 100m altitude: The reward indeed demands your effort.
There is an old tree with a big trunk, and another smaller weeping tree stands next to it. The third one was further up in the slope. Only three trees but you would enjoy their extended branches with full blossoms for a while. 

Saturday, March 28, 2015

Swiss Design - スイスデザイン展


上野博物館のみちのく仏像展の後、オペラシティに回ってスイスデザイン展を見た。BALLY、TIMEX、VITRONIXなど、有名ブランドの商品と歴史を陳列したもので、総じて無菌的なスッキリデザインがスイスらしいと再確認できることは確かだ。スイスエアーやスイス鉄道は基本的にポスターの陳列。正直なところ、規模も大きくないし、商業展示の集まりみたいで、金を取って見せる美術展だろうかとの疑問がわく。最後にル・コルビュジエ関連の展示があるのが美術展としての救いなのか。写真撮影は禁止で、入口エリアの2作品のみOK、ルツェルン応用化学大学による型紙インスタレーションは光とモノトーンの美しい空間だった。


I went to Tokyo Opera City to see the Swissdesign Exhibition. It displayed the products and their history of leading Swiss brands such as Bally, Timex and Vitronix where you could confirm the clean-room-like modern design style that characterized "Swiss". Swissair and Swiss Rail basically showed their old posters. I somewhat doubted if this was appropriate as a paid exhibition considering its size and contents because it was more like a commercial display in a package, but the collection related to Le Corbusier in the end might allow it calling an art exhibition. No photos allowed except two displays in the entrance area, one of which was "Katagami Installation" by the Lucerne University of Application Science and Art, a beautiful space with light and mono tone.

Monday, March 23, 2015

本白根山 Snow Walk - Mt. Motoshirane


冬の白根山歩きは草津国際スキー場と隣接しているおかげで、山のエキスパートでなくても壮観な白銀のパノラマ風景を手軽に堪能できる貴重なコースだ。

まずは天狗山に行ってスノーシューをレンタルする。そこからシャトルバスでロープウェイ駅まで行き、ロープウェイに乗り継げは何事もなく標高2000mの山頂駅に至る。白根山は横手山方向の草津白根山と南に本白根山があり、どちらも2170m程度の山なので雪山登山と言っても獲得高度は200mにも満たないスノートレッキングということになる。

前回登った草津白根山は今回は立入禁止になっていて、代わりに本白根山はOKと言われた。風景はこちらの方が楽しめると思う。本白根山からは下方に万座も見えるし、静可山まで歩くルートもあるようで、調べればいろんな楽しみ方ができそうだ。

The ropeway

See a group of few people in the middle!

アクションカム動画はこちら。A short movie clip:
http://youtu.be/QtOdiC2fzQ8

Thanks to Kusatsu International Ski Resort, Mt. Shirane is a precious treasure to enjoy a snowy panoramic view in the winter for those who are not expert climber.

First thing you do is to go to Tenguyama in the bottom of the ski resort to rent a pair of snow shoes. Then you pick a free-of-charge shuttle bus to the ropeway station where you take a lift to hoist yourself effortlessly to the altitude of 2000m. Actually, there are two Mt. Shiranes here. One is Kusatsu-Shirane in the direction of Mt. Yokote, and the other is Moto-Shirane in the south. Both are about 2170m high, thus it will be gaining only less than 200m altitude when it comes to climbing. A least exacting snow trekking so to speak!

When I visited here a few years ago, we climbed Kusatsu-Shirane, but this time the entry was prohibited and instead Moto-Shirane was available. I tend to think the views are more gorgeous from Moto-Shirane, and there seem to be several routes to try from here for example down to Shizukayama, or Manza is visible fairly close. To go further, we will need to examine more details and risks to enjoy.