Japan - Day 2 (Part 1)

Japan – Day 2 (Part 1)

Thursday, 23 May 2024

Today I have a full day tour to see Fuji Mountain and Lake Kawaguchi. As I still hadn’t figured out how to use the public transport system in Japan properly, I did the ‘spoilt brat’ shortcut of taking a taxi to the meeting point, which was somewhere in Shinagawa.

It was about a 2-hour drive by bus to the Lake Kawaguchi area, and on the way I saw the Tokyo Imperial Palace (more about this later) and the Tokyo Tower. The Tokyo Tower was built in 1958 and reaches a height of about 333 m. It is a broadcasting tower, and was once the tallest tower in Tokyo, but was overtaken by the Tokyo Skytree Tower (634 m) in 2012.

Heading towards the lake, we could already see the easily recognisable Mount Fuji (about 3,777 m) from the bus, which was pretty exciting. According to our guide, the Shinto religion believes that there is divine spirit in everything, including in Mount Fuji, who is believed to be a goddess. So, on days that the mountain is covered by clouds, the goddess is said to be shy. Lucky for us, the mountain goddess was not shy today and we had beautiful views. Mount Fuji is inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2013 as “Fujisan, sacred place and source of artistic inspiration.”

Mount Fuji is still an active volcano, but it last erupted in 1707. The mountain is situated between the Yamanashi and Shizuoka prefectures. There are five lakes surrounding the mountain: Lake Kawaguchi, Lake Yamanaka, Lake Saiko, Lake Motosu and Lake Shoii. Once upon a time, there was only one vast lake, but was broken up due to volcanic eruptions, but surprisingly the depths of all five lakes remain the same.

About 11,000 years ago, a large amount of lava began to erupt from the west side of the top of the ancient Fuji mountain. This lava formed the new Fuji which is the main body of Mount Fuji. Since then, the tops of the ancient Fuji and the new Fuji are side by side. Then about 2,500–2,800 years ago, the top part of ancient Fuji caused a large-scale landslide due to weathering, and finally, only the top of the new Fuji remained. The eruptions also produced a network of caves made of hardened lava. The lava is loaded with iron and magnet.

At the northwest base of the mountain is the mysterious forest named Aokigahara, said to be haunted. In the 19^th century, this forest was one of many places poor families abandoned the very young and elderly. Many people go into this forest to commit suicide, which perpetuates the legend that it is haunted.

Our first stop was at what used to be a quaint little village now known as the Saiko Iyashi Village (Saiko Iyashi no sato Nenba). The area used to be called Nemba, Ashiwada Village with about 41 households mainly doing farming. In 1966, there was a typhoon and terrible mudslides which destroyed the entire village, except one house now known as the Watanabe historical house. Now it is turned into a tourist destination, where houses in the original style were re-constructed, and which now sold souveniers, silk, tea, and other touristy stuff. There were some lantern carps hanging at one place in the village, and the guide informed us that this was a dedication or a reminder to the children of the original village to be as strong as the carp because carps usually swim upstream against the currents.

Then on to Lake Kawaguchi, and on the way we passed the much smaller Lake Saiko. There are beautiful views of Mount Fuji from Lake Kawaguchi. There is also a very big and beautiful flower garden by the lake, with many flowers I had never seen before, including the nemophila or ‘baby blue eyes’ flower that is simply gorgeous and abundant. There was a souvenir shop selling the cutest stuff, and I chose a few items to buy but the line was SOOO long and since I had to be on time on the bus to the next destination, I had to give it up. So sad.

Next, to lunch, and I chose the traditional houtou noodles, a local specialty of the Fuji lake town. These noodles are large, flat noodles that resemble udon but are said to be prepared slightly differently, with a different shape and texture, more ‘mochi’ (sticky). It is cooked in miso broth and mine was served with vegetables and chicken. Unfortunately, I found this meal a little bland for my taste, I ordinarily stay away from all things soupy anyway (except rasam – yes, I am my father’s daughter).