Before work started I went sightseeing everyday but now that I spend 9-11 hours a day in the office these casual activities are limited to the weekend. So, it's important to make the most of the weekend and tick a few more must-see places off my list.
Last weekend I went to the Mt Fuji area with Colin, Euan, Bahariah and Alex. We were interested in climbing the mountain but left our options open. A couple of train journeys starting at Kawasaki station brought us to the Kawaguchi lake area North of Mt Fuji. The bad weather and low visibility were a sign of things to come but we didn't let this dampen our spirits. Here I use "dampen" as a metaphor but we did quite literally get soaked as later paragraphs will reveal.
On arrival at the train station we followed our stomachs to a nearby restaurant and indulged in the local specialty: Houtou. Houtou is a warm soup dish with a miso (bean paste) base and a lovely array of mushrooms, carrots and other vegetables. We also had a round of Japanese green tea to top up our culture meter for the day.
Taking a gander at the tourist map outside the station Euan discovered a nearby tourist attraction called "The musical forest" and was very excited indeed. Not wanted to let him down we all agreed that "The musical forest", whatever it was, would make a good first destination. Unfortunately the last bus was from 7:30 so we had a mere 6 hours to explore.
After a casual saunter around lake Kawaguchi we arrived at the entrance to "The musical forest" which turned out to have no trees in it whatsoever. It did have a lot of music though. "The musical forest" is built like a small Swiss town including a museum dedicated to music boxes and other classic musical trinkets. It felt very strange walking into Switzerland from Japan and I was slightly dubious about paying 1000yen. It was worth it in the end though as we were treated to a performance of the Totoro (a famous Japanese animated movie) theme tune by a Praha Quartet. Even the gift shop was unique with spiral staircases and very pricey looking Western style furnishings.
We let time run on a little too much in this parallel universe and had to hurry back to the station for the bus. It was at this time that I felt a little bit disappointed with the course of the evening. I hadn't even seen Mt Fuji! A group of noisy American tourists heading towards the mountain all wearing matching red caps convinced me that I would not leave this place until my initial challenge of reaching the 3776m summit was complete!!
Stupidity, bravery, dedication? It was most likely a combination of all of these that led me to the mountain with Bahariah and Alex. We stopped at a nearby convenience store and stocked up and water and a special high nutrition biscuit called Calorie Mate. I also borrowed Colin's (massive) waterproof jacket.
Climbing Mt Fuji begins at the 5th station where the lower level forests and fields give way to the serious rocky landscape completely barren of anything interesting or beautiful. We started climbing around 9pm in the pitch black following the multitudes of multicolored mountaineers. One thing about Japan that really strikes me is the importance placed on uniforms. Every job or task has a uniform: traffic directors, department store lobby employees, car park attendants and (more relevantly) mountaineers. The mountaineering uniform consists of waterproof jackets and trousers, hats with mounted flashlight and thick boots. Faced with an overwhelming majority of appropriately dressed Japanese I began to feel slightly uneasy.
One the way up the mountain there are many places where you can stop for something to eat. We stopped at a few of these on the way to the summit for some instant noodles priced at a ridiculous 600yen (3 pounds). There were also many huts for sleeping in but this particular weekend was one of the busiest and there were thousands of people climbing the mountain just like us. There was no room to even enter most of the shelters so we had to persevere and keep climbing.
Surprisingly everything went smoothly up until to the 8th station which was experiencing a mass exodus of sunset seekers. We joined the queue heading up the last section of track to the crater at the top. The weather had progressively been getting colder and wetter as we climbed and the final stretch was horrific. The rain was swirling around us like some malevolent spirit and my jeans became twice as heavy as they soaked with water. I tried to shield myself with an umbrella but it was wrenched repeatedly from my hands. The air was so thin and my breathing became ragged. The queue was moving pathetically slow, I felt like a member of a procession of dead souls wandering mournfully into hell. It truly felt like there was no end as we stumbled up the track in single file.
Sunrise was about 4:30-5:00am and sadly we missed it, we couldn't get to the top in time. When we saw the clouds lighting up above we concluded that we should descend as soon as possible and find somewhere to warm up. I for one was absolutely shattered and it was in silence that we dejectedly began the 3 hour decent. We made it to roughly 3760m.
4 hours later and we were sitting in a restaurant at the 5th station, our wet clothes in polythene bags laughing bitterly at our failure. There is a saying here in Japan: "Climb Fuji once, only fools climb it twice". I agree with this for the most part but I am sure that one day I will climb again to see that famous sunset.
