Bandai-Azuma Skyline A look into an autumn crater from Jododaira

I reached Jododaira along the Bandai-Azuma Skyline and stepped out of the car. I’d been driving through the autumn colors, but the mountainside in front of me looked nothing like I’d expected. Before I even headed for Azuma-Kofuji’s crater, I was thrilled to know the drive wouldn’t be the whole story.

I climbed the steps and reached the crater rim. The floor of the bowl opened up below me. “Wait, it’s this big?” I blurted. My eyes tracked the slope down to the bottom, only to find the far wall stretching on beyond it.

I turned to look again, and the wind lifted my hair. I held it in place with one hand and peered into the crater. The sound I’d let out in surprise seemed to have blown away; this time, I just stood there in silence and took it all in.

When I lifted my eyes from the crater floor, the broad slopes of Mount Issaikyo came into view. It fascinated me that the huge crater and the mountains beyond it were all part of the same view. I looked from the pebbles at my feet to the nearby rim, then to the distant ridgeline. Little by little, I understood just how vast it all was.

There were autumn grasses and trees around the outside of the crater, and my gaze returned to Jododaira in the distance. When I looked back toward where I’d come from and realized I’d walked all the way from there, I suddenly felt a rush of happiness. I’d been looking up at the mountain from the road; now I was looking down from here. I knew I wouldn’t forget that change in perspective.

When I let my hand fall from my hair, the wind was still blowing hard. Before moving on, I took one more look into the crater. I’d expected to take home memories of the autumn leaves from this drive, but this enormous bowl came back with me too.