D2 Mistumine Jinja

Route: Otaki - Mitsuminejinja and back
Bicycle: 50 km
Total ascent: 1046 m
Average speed: 14,7 km/h
Riding time: 3:25 h
Weather: cloudy and fresh, 22 C

I came here without any specific plan. So yesterday evening on the suggestion of the owner of the guest house I looked into Mitsumine jinja, which seems to be very famous in the area. He said that the climb up was very difficult, but in Komoot it didn’t look that terrible. Just a few red sections but otherwise similar to a lot of other climbs I have done. So I settled for it.

The day started with breakfast out on the street in front of the guest house  and then I collected my cloths I had washed yesterday under the shower and dried over night using the bicycle as a rack. 

The guesthouse apparently was a ryokan in the past when this village (per the information displayed at its entrance) was a thriving place on the main street between Saitama and Yamanashi. However since this region has become pretty remote, although there is still a considerable amount of traffic on the road. 

The house is very old and for sure outside of any building regulations. One needs to tread carefully but it’s very atmospheric. 

I set off after breakfast climbing and climbing. This was a picture somewhere halfway up the climb. 

Before reaching the top there was a long row of cars waiting for the parking lot, but s as a cyclist I passed them all. Surprisingly there wasn’t any bicycle parking space, at least no official one, and well admittedly I did only see 3 cyclists the entire day. It’s probably simply a bit too difficult to reach from Tokyo. 

The entrance gate is a 3 entrance torii, apparently something quite unique, as are the wolves. 

Here people were praying to the 3 high peaks around. If I understood it correctly this is (yet another) origin of Japan. 

The actual entrance to the shrine is this massive colorful gate.

Also the shrine itself is very colorful and full of carvings. 

While I was still looking at the shrine it started raining ever so slightly plus it was surprisingly cold, so I didn’t linger too long and mar my way back downhill. At the bottom of the climb along a dam I met this local family:

These are only 3 members of the family, there were many more around. 

I had thought about riding a bit more to a dam, but the road I had chosen was so small, that I was a bit unsure if it was a good idea to ride there all alone, so instead I continued downhill, had a break at the only conbini of the valley and then entered into Otaki onsen. A simple onsen with 2 indoor pools, however one with a huge open wi Dow over the river and narrow valley. The water was very smooth and silky. 

After this proper test, I continued downhill for another 6 km and returned to my guesthouse and tonight’s dinner outside on the street. 

The place is incredible cheap. 11040 yen for 2 nights and half board.