Nonetheless, the club is quite old and dates back several decades. I joined the club, as well as the overnight trip without knowing anyone or anything (something I seem to be doing a lot these days). The hut is located in Gunma Prefecture at a town called Minakami. Prior to going there, I did a little research on the place and discovered Gunma is known for it's konnyaku, which is a recent infatuation of mine. Konnyaku is made from the konjac plant, which is a Japanese mountain potato. It usually comes in the form of a block, with a jelly/rubbery texture, and has no taste. However, it is a great diet food--almost no calories! So I really wanted to see the plant or try some in the area, but we were up in a mountain, so we didn't get a chance to travel out into the city, unfortunately. Minakami is known for its onsen and good snow conditions, which makes it a popular area for skiing and snowboarding in the winter. Houdaigi, actually, is a ski resort. Minakami is well-known for outdoor activities, including whitewater rafting, canoeing, mountain biking, paragliding, rock climbing, hiking, canoeing, kayaking, and even bungy jumping. We didn't do any of those this time, except for the short hike to the hut, but I'm looking forward to future events.
We met up early in a morning and traveled out together as a group. The transportation in total cost me ¥7620, which is quite a lot, but the accommodation was free, so I guess it's not too bad. The total travel time took about four or five hours. We needed to take two trains for about three hours, and then a bus for about forty minutes, and the hike, which took about an hour. However, since everyone was new, it was time to get to know each other.
The members of the club were all really nice. Most of the people that went this time were freshmen (first-year students), so there was quite the age gap between them and myself. However, there were some third-year students, and a couple of second-years. I mainly went to the event for the travel. I mean, when else would I ever go to a place like Houdaigi or Gunma? There are just too many places in Japan that I would like to go to and places like this that aren't as well known are way back at the bottom of the list, so I didn't care if I didn't know anyone; I just wanted to go and explore.
When we arrived at the hut, the first thing I noticed was the big black fireplace in the center of the room. It was so cool; I've only seen such things in movies and books. It was used as our source of heat and also to heat up water (for cooking). It was basically a fireplace. We maintain a flame by burning wood. There was even an axe and everything.
The hut was two stories high. The first floor was the living room (with the fireplace), as well as the kitchen, bathroom (men/women separate), and shower. The staircase leading to the second floor was a narrow spiral-up staircase (which I found to be cool, too). That was the sleeping area. There were sunroofs, too, which made it possible to look at stars in the nighttime.
Anyway, so our time was quite free and flexible. Everyone was relaxed and just talking, getting to know each other. We made our own food (well, the senior members cooked curry rice for dinner) and then played an ice-breaker game, where a question or fact was presented and we had to guess who (of the group) it was. It was basically like a multiple choice question. We were broken up into four different groups and the group who gets the most correct would get a prize. My group (Group #2) actually won (yay!) and the prize was alcohol (lol).
After the game, it was already nighttime. I was extremely tired, so I was actually the first to go to sleep (old age?). Everyone else actually stayed up quite late playing games or fooling around; most stayed up all night. That wasn't happening for me. I couldn't keep my eyes open.
We left quite early the next morning (which was today, by the way).
So I definitely recommend joining Wandervogel if you come as an exchange student. So far, this has been the only event, but it left a good impression. We didn't do much, but I had a good time. They have one event every month, so it's not overwhelming, but I think Houdaigi is somewhere they go to every semester (since it was built by them). A few things to keep in mind, though, if you do go:
- There are a LOT of kamemushi カメムシ, which are stink bugs. They don't harm you, but they're everywhere and they crawl on you. We spent the whole night catching these little creepers and getting them off of each others' backs. I couldn't get used to it because I have a bug phobia, but in the end, I guess it was a good experience (unforgettable, let's say!). Well, my biggest concern was sleeping. I mean, what if they crawl on me or godforbid into my mouth or nose (eewwwwww)?? Well, these bugs are attracted to light, so as long as you keep the light on, you'll be fine sleeping. Just don't sleep under the light! However, I couldn't help but be paranoid, so I literally wrapped my head in my sweater and slept.
- Don't bother bringing towels/shower stuff because you won't shower. Unless you can get yourself into the shower with all the dead bugs on the floor. I couldn't bring myself to do it!
- Bring food. There can never be too much food for camping. Just in case.
- Leave your cellphone chargers at home. There's no reception in the mountain, so you won't be using your phone much anyway. I actually liked that there was so reception, since there were no distractions (don't you hate it when you're with someone and they're constantly on their phone?).
- Layer clothes. I said this the last time I went hiking. No matter how warm it is, when you reach the top of the mountain (especially at night), the temperature will drop.
flowers I've never seen before
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| hiking |
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| Winter 1963, Sophia University Wandervogel Club |
memories...and the fireplace, wood and everything
How convenient! You can heat stuff on top.
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| melting marshmallows |
the dining room and kitchen
| the living room; from outside, you can see the second floor and the sunroof |
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| Sophia University Houdaigi Hut |
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| snow-covered mountains in the distance |
outdoor camping site
soo pretty! looks like a painting
cherry blossoms? or some type of blossom |
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| a cave? |
so old!
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| anyone live here? |
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| these patches of snow you see everywhere. It's interesting because it's like 60, 70 degrees (F), yet the snow doesn't melt. |
flowing river
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| the bus back to Minakami Station |
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| canoeing is popular in this lake |
Next time I go there, I will be sure to stop by the famous Minakami onsens! Unfortunately, because our train tickets were booked for a certain time, we didn't go to the onsen. Kind of disappointing, since we came all the way there already... but nonetheless, I'm glad I went!
Thank you, everyone!
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| First-years |
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| The whole club! |
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