Magatama no Oka Course

2.8-kilometer loop trail at Shinshuu University's nature education institute, taking around two hours with a 165-meter elevation change. The trail leads to a hill shaped like a magatama, the curved comma-shaped bead from ancient Japan used as jewelry and in ceremonies from the final Jomon period onward. Magatama appear throughout Japanese mythology, most notably in the Kojiki, where one is used to coax the sun goddess Amaterasu out of a cave. A bead said to date to that story survives today as part of the imperial regalia, seen only by the emperor and select priests.