rain, rain...
I am a bit over halfway through with the Appalachian Mountain Club hiking/cultural tour of Japan. The group has stayed mainly at ryokans (one had an onsen) though we spend a recent night in a shukubo (a very odd combination of austerity and luxury). There has been more culture than hiking, though we did hike up Nantai-san off Lake Chuzenji and a loop including Nyuto-san. I will try to give more information when I get back; using WiFi in Japan has proven to be very difficult.