[cofe]

anyone been?

august looks like an ok time to be there. is it worth it? is it relatively close to tokyo - seems to 3-4 hours drive but i can't find where the kerfuck it actually is.

[unclesomebody]

i've only ever been to ogawayama moor.

details of the real thing are available at http://www.ogawayama.com/ including directions on how to get there etc.

and on a map it's nearly here;

[jwi]

This reply may well be a bit to late, but send me an email and I'll mail you a pdf with an accessmap I have drawn to go with the directions on Neil Harrisons ogawayama.com.

There should be an article bout bouldering in Ogawayama up on ukclimbing soon as well, I can mail you the piece as well. Another area close to Tokyo is Mitake.

I have some pics from my trip there this spring on my flickr account:

[r-man]

Just out of curiousity, do you know anything about this?

Banshousha    V15/8C    Ogawayama Crystal Slab    Tokyo Mourai

The problem, Banshousha, was opened by Tokio Muroi on 9th December last year. The problem checks in at 8C and is a SLAB, yes, your eyes are not deceiving you. The problem was climbed with no pad and could almost be considered a highball. It can be found on a boulder called the Ogawayama Crystal Slab. Sick! The name Banshousha means "The Accompanist", which is someone who plays or sings the accompaniement, accompanying a violin or piano for example.

Do you know anything more about Banshousha or Tokio Muroi - both are mysterious entities to the majority of the climbing world. Do you happen to have any pics of the slab? I'm sure lots of people would be intrigued to see what a V15 slab looks like...

[jwi]

Tokio Mourai seems to have put up hard slabs all over the place.  He's not exactly unknown. He's the author of the guidebook for Ogawayama, Mitake, and Mitsumine.

Fukakai slab,  or “Mystery Slab” have two really hard problems. One of them (don't have the guidebook handy, but you may be right about the name, it seems to be a word anyway) is 5-dan which equates to 8b+ or 8c depending on whether it's hard or easy for the grade. It is a straight up version of a 3-dan (7c+ to 8a) slab. When I went up there to worship and admire the slab, there was a lot of chalk on the 3-dan, so it seems to recieve some attention, but I don't know anyone who've done it.

[dontfollowme]

Blimey that grading system doesn't do much for ones ego eh! What happens If you can't climb 1 dan?

[a dense loner]

r-man this slab was discussed at length in previous posts, will be more fun for you to find it

[jwi]

Blimey that grading system doesn't do much for ones ego eh! What happens If you can't climb 1 dan?

1-dan (shodan) is from 7a+ to 7b. But before that they have grades from 9 kyu (=supereasy) down to 1 kyu (=6c+ or 7a)

[mark]

Do Japanese boulderers get coloured belts to show off the grade they climb? That would be great. Though everyone would laugh me off the crag when I turned up at Remergence and was the only one without a black belt.

[a dense loner]

people who turn up to remergence deserve to be laughed at regardless of belt colour

[Johnny Brown]

What belt do you get if you do Danny's problem?

[SA Chris]

Hernia Belt?

[Somebody's Fool]

May be you should be sealed in a barrel and fired through the Van Allen belt.

[Bonjoy]

This barrel would be fired using what sort of cannon exactly?

[cofe]

This barrel would be fired using what sort of cannon exactly?

canon jeffry smith of course!

[Somebody's Fool]

Good idea cOfe but i'm nOt convinced that'S the kind of cannon hE meant.

[cofe]

Get real yOOt. what elSe could he mEan???

[Somebody's Fool]

GOOdness me. Do I have to SpEll it out?

[cofe]

GO On then geniuS boy. sock it to mE.

[Bonjoy]

[Somebody's Fool]

I assume that is the kind of Goose cannon that is made of goose, rather than those inferior types that merely fire geese.  That's a top notch arsenal you've got on display there.

[Bonjoy]

This particular model has been designed to fire purpose bred pygmy greylags. With favorable atmospheric conditions it has proved capable of firing geese into the outer reaches of the troposphere from where they can be programmed to  strike targets half a continent away!

[SA Chris]

How do you know these wild geese go that far? Do you chase them?

[Jim]

Do they undergo a rigorous training regime to strengthen there neck muscles to deal with the recoil or are they one shot disposable geese cannons?

[Somebody's Fool]

I believe the plural of goose cannon is goose cannons.  Maybe an automatic weapon of this ilk could be refered to as a geese cannon but don't quote me on that.