JR East Japan sold a special and cheaper ticket last month. This ticket is available from 13th of January to 4th of February. And it can be used for only continuous two days, Saturday and Sunday, because generally speaking, passengers decrease after new-year holidays. The price is only 9,000 yen. Passengers can take any train, including Sin-kansen, as much as they like during two days, as for JR East Japan area, from Tokyo to Aomori.

  There are a few necessary conditions to buy this ticket. Persons who want to get it need to be the member of JR Holiday Club for senior, more than 65 years old as man and 60 years as woman. In addition, we can't buy tickets on that day. When we buy tickets in advance, we have to show the members cards and credit cards of JR to the clerk at the window.

  It was necessary for us to keep exercising for the coming Nepal trekking. Therefore we bought the tickets again to go climbing to Kanto area on February 3. This was the last chance to be able to get it.

  We went to Tokyo by Sin-kansen last week end. We transferred to Odakyu-line at Sinjuku Station and went to Isehara in Kanagawa prefecture, of course paying the fee.

  We got on a bus for Ooyama, from where we took a cable-car up to the top station, which height was about 750 meters. From here we climbed Oo-yama which height is 1252 meters. It took two hours for us to do so.

  Oo-yama is a spiritual mountain for people with a shrine on the top. People have respected this mountain since long time ago.

  Following another trail, we descended to the Yabitsu Pass with the height of about 750 meters. We put up an inn with a tea house near the pass. It was called Seizan-so. Mama-san, woman's manager, waited for us. Except us, nobody stayed at the inn. She came up here from the foot only for us. She prepared a heart- warming supper and breakfast for us. In return for her hospitality, we bought a music CD sung by her daughter Grace Mahya.

  Next day we headed for the more popular and higher mountain called To-no-dake which means Tower-mountain. On our way up, we gave up climbing and came back down the same way, because my wife was pretty tired and we both were satisfied with the marvelous view from San-no-to at middle point.

  We took a bus for Hadano from Yabitsu Pass, from where we came back to Tokyo. We returned Niigata with this special ticket. It became to be a good exercise for us, because there was no snow on the ridge and easy to walk.