Mt. Ibuki (伊吹山) is clearly visible from Nagoya most of the year and was the first ‘big’ mountain I went up in Japan. It’s where I did my first hill climb bike race finishing a respectable 20-something out of 140 in my age group.

I was on my way to Osaka this day and purposely chose to avoid using the shinkansen. Wanting to take my time and slow down I remember getting off a local train at Samegai (醒ヶ井) just to the east of Maibara and simply wandering around with a compact Canon G12, with no plans other than to look.

I can’t remember exactly why I chose Samegai — probably because it’s on the Nakasendō — but I do remember spending weekends around that time getting on trains and jumping off on a whim whenever somewhere intrigued me.

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