3,333 Stone Steps

If you are one of those people who think life is all for naught if you haven't climbed the tallest mountain, swum in the deepest lake, or haven't been to the largest desert in the world, you will definitely be interested in Misato, a town in central Kumamoto Prefecture. And even if you are not, you still need to visit and climb "3,333 Stone Steps", the longest set of stairs in Japan, if only to enjoy the beauty of the forest and relaxing freshness of this unusual hike.

The staircase is enormous. Although not the longest in the world – it can't compete with the Niesenbahn funicular in Switzerland with its 11674 steps open to public only one day each year for a stair run – it's quite enough to pose a serious challenge even for an experienced hiker.

Most people never make it to the top and decide to turn around and go back down after they reach the stair number one thousand. But as you ascend you can feel the incentive to continue climbing building up: each new elevation offers yet a better view of the green mountains all around, while wilted trees left by the base of the staircase give place to curved trunks and intricately bent branches of the forest at 5 hundred meters' height.

According to the sturdy granite posts along the stairs, 3,333 Steps were built in 1986. Construction of this magnitude was sponsored by numerous companies whose names look oddly out of place on the coarse surface of large grayish-green stones covered with moss. As you continue to walk up though, you notice that among sponsors are not only companies, but many organizations and even countries as well! Here are 20 steps paid for by the Japanese Post, and there are the steps built courtesy of the USSR. Other stairs were made with the help of Korea, Australia, and other countries and, significantly enough, generosity of the richest country in the world covered but a tiny staircase of some measly 6 steps.

The top of the mountain is barely visible in the mist, through which silhouettes of smooth branches emerge as though they were limbs of an old monster too tired to move. With a shrine-like structure in the background, an ambiguous state lottery advertisement promises "the power of wealth", – whose power, one wonders?..

At long last, with only a few dozen steps left to go we can finally see a light in the end of the tunnel through the hanging branches all around the path, and a little further – our goal: the post that reads "step #3,333". Once you have been here you are not likely to have ever forgotten this mysterious, meditative place. I must give a prompt warning though: it is the way back that will make your legs hurt for a few days. Nevertheless, 3,333 Steps is in my opinion a must-go trip for anyone who can appreciate good hiking in a beautiful setting with a clear goal at the summit (besides a shrine some distance above "the top"), and a blessing scarcity of fellow hikers, – a perfect place to contemplate at peace and set your heart at rest.

You can access Misato, Kumamoto by car or by bus from the Kumamoto city Bus terminal.