Going Alone

I sometimes found antique trails in the mountains of Japan. Pathways which connected high mountain villages before the age of roads, when the fastest way to the other side of the mountain was along steep ridges and around tall waterfalls; through dense forests haunted by moon bear and fierce boar and giant spiders and resounding with the hum and whir of insects. The best way to pick up such a trail was to ask the oldest man in the village “how did folks in the old days get to

This photo was taken by my friend Paul just before we set off to explore an abandoned farm trail which we think leads to a waterfall wasabi farm. The farmer who created this now abandoned farm went to the trouble of making a wooden bridge which crosses over the top of a five meter waterfall. I couldn’t muster the courage to cross the bridge alone when I first discovered this farm and thus returned later with a friend to try it. Sadly, when we reached the falls we discovered t