A Leap of Faith

Date of events depicted: 4 July – 5 July 2010

Two Crazy Chicks Productions, in association with WorldWildPhotoGraphics and What Am I Going to Tell Your Mother? Productions, is proud to present episode 2 of The Adventures of Yumiko and Eden in Japan III...

“5…”

Are you insane?!

“4…”

Look down! It’s 42 meters from up here to the Tone River below.

“3…”

This is you. You who can’t even do a basic “trust fall” into a friend’s arms!

“2…”

But you’re about to launch yourself headfirst off a bridge, trusting that an oversized rubber band is going to prevent you from crashing to your death?

“1…”

You’re the first jumper of the day. What if those guys made a mistake with the ropes, huh?

“Bungy!” the onlookers roar.

And despite the vociferous protests of her survival instincts (which sound suspiciously like her mother-in-law), Eden dives off the Great Bridge of Suwa.

And then she is falling plummeting hurtling down and the adrenaline is surging through her veins and she hears nothing but the wind rushing in her ears and sees nothing but the rocks rapidly approaching and she is terrified and panicked and helpless and just as she is thinking maybe she is going to die she feels a jolt.

The bungy cord pulls her up in a giant bounce and she is flying, soaring, and actually having fun now and she flexes for the camera and gives a war whoop of pure joy.

She is grinning wildly when she is no longer dangling by her ankles. Standing upright on the riverbank, she waves triumphantly at Cathy before bounding up the stairs to Miko, who greets her with a huge smile, gives her a high five, and says, “The photographers were laughing at your antics.”

Honor, however, was not laughing when Eden initially expressed an interest in bungy jumping. Her response at the time was, “No! Absolutely not!”

Bungy jumping hadn’t even been on the agenda when Eden and Miko suggested to Cathy and Honor that they head to Minakami following the interment.  Traditionally an onsen (hot spring) resort town, Minakami has evolved in recent years into a 4-season outdoor adventure destination offering skiing, snowboarding, canyoning, hiking… and some of Japan’s best whitewater rafting.

Honor voiced no objections to that particular activity, so the previous day, Cathy, Yumiko, and Eden donned wetsuits, lifejackets, and helmets and piled into a raft with a playful Kiwi guide named Damon. Our intrepid heroines ran rapids, started splash fights with the two other boats, and foiled Damon’s attempts to knock them overboard.

Until Eden had uncovered it during her pre-trip research, she and Miko had no idea that this kind of excitement could be found a mere 70 minutes from Tokyo. 

And as they head back to the capital, Eden, still pumped from her jump, recalls her last visit to Japan and thinks, Bungy jumping dangerous? Try the Tokyo subway!

© Eden Feuer