Mt. Kurama, Part 1

I'd been to Kurama for the famous Fire Festival, but I'd never been up on the mountain before. Since it was a beautiful day to get out of the city I decided to give it a try.




Sanjo Keihan Station & BOOK OFF!


To get to Kurama I took the Keihan Line from the Sanjo Station to Demachiyanagi (210 yen). At Demachiyanagi I used Exit 5 to leave the underground Keihan Station and crossed the street to the above-ground Eizan Railway Station. From the Eizan Station it was 410 yen for a ticket to Kurama.

The Eizan is fun to ride since it's a bit of a throwback, Instead of electronic tickets at smaller stations you just take a paper slip noting what stop you boarded at, then hand it to a conductor along with the fare on your way out. Since it's an older train line there are also less cars in the train- 3 versus the 5 or 6 cars of a JR or Keihan lines.

I got off at the Kurama stop which is the end of the line. Many people and guidebooks recommend doing the hike the opposite direction, starting at Kibune which means getting off at the stop before Kurama, Kibuneguchi. I think both routes have their merits- more on this topic later.

Giant Tengu head greets you

When you get off the train there are a few huge statues of tengu faces in the parking lot. Tengu are a sort of youkai , a spirit or monster. They are mostly famous for having long red noses, so I have a lot of fellow feeling for them. The wikipedia article has a pretty comprehensive roundup on them, but in addition they have been popularized lately in several shoujo manga as romantic heroes (Love Monster and Black Bird come to mind). I wonder if this means the ever-changing public image of tengu will eventually make them like the sexy vampires that are ubiquitous in the US!