Encouragement of Climb (ヤマノススメ)

When I was in middle school,

I would have never guessed that I'd be climbing mountains.

Yet, here I am now.

I walked all the way here on my own.

I'm tired, yet I can't sleep.

But it's unlike that one night I spent in a mountain shed.

I wonder what scenery I'll see tomorrow.

My mind's abuzz with excitement, and I can't sleep.

Aoi-chan.

Aoi-san.

Could you come outside for a second?

The sky cleared up.

It looks like it'll be nice tomorrow, too.

Kaede Saito-san.

She's one year ahead of me at my high school.

She's my senpai in mountain climbing, too.

The fox, the dolphin, the foal...

I can't believe they're so visible.

Kokona Aoba-chan.

She's knowledgeable and ladylike.

She's a dependable middle schooler.

They're both my precious friends.

My mountain buddies.

But the reason I started mountain climbing...

The first person to invite me to the mountains...

was her.

Hinata Kuraue.

It all started when I ran into Hinata again.

Wareiwa Bridge

"First Date at Mt. Tsukuba!?"

Summer break felt so short.

September 1st

Shimada Furuhashi

Mt. Tanigawa

Oh, yeah... I haven't given Hinata anything to thank her

for the gift she gave me at Mt. Fuji.

Morning!

How was summer break?

I mean, we saw each other almost every day.

Morning.

Morning.

Morning!

M-Morning...

It's a new term...

I saw the night scenery from the Sky Deck at Sunshine as a memory of summer.

It was amazing.

Yeah, it was like a chest full of jewels.

It was so windy.

Lucky!

Have you seen the scenery?

Get it?

What the heck?

Have you never seen the night scenery from anywhere, Hinata-chan?

I guess I've seen some during the fireworks festival at Tenran Hill.

Night scenery, huh?

I wonder if I can combine mountain climbing and night scenery for my gift to Hinata.

Hanasaika Susuki

Hikari-san, do you know of a place on top of a mountain with nice scenery at night?

Did you finally find a boyfriend, Aoi-chan?!

Oh, no! We have to let Mom know!

No, I'm going with Hinata!

Oh.

Sure. Right.

The view's really pretty at night from Mt. Tsukuba.

You can get pretty high up by car, and you take a ropeway to the top.

You can see all of Tokyo!

Even though it's in Ibaraki!

Hikari-san knows a lot, surprisingly.

I wonder if we could walk up Mt. Tsukuba.

I could surprise her with the scenery, and...

Come on, it's so boring walking here at night.

Whoa, what the heck? That's crazy!

That's it!

Thank you!

I'll think about Mt. Tsukuba.

Good luck on your first date.

Aoi-chan!

Please keep your relationship appropriate for a high schooler.

Hanasaika Susuki

I told you, that's not what it is!

Mt. Tsukuba...

877 meters above sea level.

It's not that high, but it's one of the top 100 mountains in Japan, huh?

It'll be hard to get to and from Hanno, but there's a shuttle bus from the station.

If we take the ropeway back at around this time...

Mom would just barely be okay with it.

Hey, Hinata, about the break after next...

The sun's setting.

Are we really climbing now?

I wanted to change things up a little.

You brought a headlamp like I told you to, right?

Yeah.

Mt. Nyotai Peak 1.8km

Mt. Tsukuba Shrine 2.1km

Look, it's called Mt. Nyotai.

Maybe it'll give you a nice figure when you climb it.

I doubt that'll happen.

There are toads everywhere.

Toad oil is a local specialty here, apparently.

Why?

It's supposed to be good for your skin.

Free Jumbo Slide

A jumbo slide!

And it's free!

What are you, a kid?

Hello.