Holiday in Japan (Day 7)

We rose at 6.50 and had a bath. We could not see Fuji-san (富士山) due to the clouds, steam in the bathroom, and my steamed-up glasses. A couple of other foreigners came in whilst we were there but they did not manage to stay in for long: it was quite hot. We had a cup of tea and then checked out, but left our bags in reception. The lone boy was there finding out about train times! We had an apple for breakfast and went to find the tourist information office over the road. We were up so early that it was still closed, so we returned to the hotel to get a map.

After walking around for 30 minutes, asking a woman who was putting her washing out, doubling back over our tracks a few times, we eventually found the hiking trail up Tenjyō-yama (天井山). We took a 45-minute hike up the mountain, passing some strange-looking flowers on the way. I was so dehydrated. There was a flat plain halfway that we stopped at for a while up with a good view of Fuji on one side, and Kawaguchiko (河口湖) on the other.

Once at the top, by the cable car terminus, we had the best view. The early morning mist had dissipated and only clouds covered the very top of the mountain. I bought some cold tea, just for the hydrating qualities, not for the taste, and some apple juice from the vending machines at the top, as I was so thirsty. James bought some ice cream. We descended and went back into town, coming out right opposite the place we ate at last night. We climbed on some rocks on the lake, and then I bought some batteries and orange juice, before we returned to collect our bags.

We caught the train to Fujiyoshida (富士吉田) and got a map from a nice lady at the tourist information. We walked up to Fuji-sengen-jinja (富士浅間神社), one of the largest forested shrines in Japan with one of the largest torii (鳥居), standing about 18m tall, which is rebuilt slightly bigger every 60 years. Around the shrine are three, gigantic trees, each over 1000 years old.

When we arrived, there was some sort of ceremony taking place inside. We think it might have been some kind of Shinto baptism as there were people dressed up, carrying babies in white, with sashes around mother and child. After, the priest even came outside and blessed their car with his paper, origami, shaking stick.

Also at the shrine were Ebisu and Daikoku, two cartoon-like statues. There also was the “climbing gate,” the traditional start of the annual 17km pilgrimage to the top of Mt. Fuji. Some people nowadays drive most of the way and only walk the last 6km.

We left the shrine and shared a pizza for lunch at a nearby restaurant, before walking back to the station/bus stop to begin our Kōbe-bound journey. We changed at Numazu, and then got on another shinkansen at Mishima (where there was another partially flattened escalator). We ended up in a smoking car again, though. We got on the train on carriage number two, and then systematically worked our way back along the train in the hope of finding a seat, but no such luck. It took us about five minutes to make it to our reserved, smoking seats. The weather worsened as we travelled: rain, clouds and mist. It got better though at Shin-Ōsaka and the rain had stopped by the time we arrived in Shin-Kōbe. This last train was a quick 15 minute shinkansen ride, though we caught an earlier Kodama instead of waiting 20 minutes for our reserved on a Hikari.

We got a little lost in Shin-Kōbe as the tourist information was closed, so we studied a few small maps for five minutes, locating the general area where we thought our ryokan (旅館 – travelling inn) should be, and heading off in that direction. The main exit took us to an elevated taxi rank with no obvious way off by foot, so we headed downstairs, feigned wanting to catch a bus, and escaped into the city.

We walked to where we thought we should be, found a Lawson and asked for directions. The girl behind the counter pulled out her Lawson-issued area maps (detailing every building’s purpose) and began hunting through it. She stopped to serve another customer, before finally finding the place. We took her directions and easily found the place. My right Achilles tendon was beginning to hurt at this point, probably from all the walking. A nice lady bayed us welcome and rushed upstairs to show us our room. She explained the basics and let us get on.

We left to find some food and found a busy, lively, colourful city street near Sannomiya (三宮) station. We walked up it, found a bakery where I bought a chocolate scone, before walking back down. We came across a NakaU, which looked like a fast food chain but was advertising food that looked edible to us. I had a gyū-don (beef on rice) and James had a katsu-don (pork on rice). We decided to go for a drink, eating our bakery goods on the way, and returned to a Belgian beer restaurant that we had seen earlier. A nice, dark place playing jazz, we sat at the bar. James had a beer and I had a Cuba Libre and a Moscow Mule. We came back home, where we watched the end of Charlie’s Angels II: Full Throttle (an awful film) before bed.