you strike off on foot up the valley toward Asama-yama, Mount Asama. The afternoon is clear and chilly, and you consider taking a bus, but the prospect of walking focuses your restlessness, gives it a pace and a direction.
an old nature trail, signposts with peeling pictures of wildlife, follow its erratic switchback up and down the sides of ridge and gulley. You meet no other hikers.
Every now and then you pass a gap in the bare branches and catch a glimpse of Asama-yama, still snow-topped and glittering.
New signs begin to appear. You cannot read the Japanese, but what they picture looks very much like a bear. neither cute nor cuddly– the first animal you have seen in Japan that is not a cartoon. If You Encounter a Bear, Do Not Run, Back Away Slowly. The staples holding the sign onto its post are clean and bright.
The forest is suddenly luminous with peril.