Reputedly one of the most beautiful valleys in Japan, the Dakigaeri Valley runs along the banks of the Tamagawa River and it's fairly obvious from the time you pull into the car park that you're in for something special, particularly when the autumn leaves are starting to turn. The tree-covered mountains surrounding the valley would be an attractive proposition any time from spring onwards, and the mail we'd received in town suggested they were somewhere between thirty-three and fifty per cent. If the lower estimate was actually a true assessment, I don't think my eyes could stand the full glory at the height of the season.
You make your way in past the predictable array of stalls offering snacks and regional specialities, and the trail that takes you into the valley starts at a Shinto Shrine devoted to the god of rain before the Kami-no-iwahashi suspension bridge leads you on to the trail along the river valley. The path was originally a railway used by timbergetters and wagons full of cedar logs were carried to Jindai, the nearest station on the main line.
