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Published: July 24th 2018
Me, Mt Fuji
On the way to the Haha-No-Shirataki WaterfallDear All
Greetings from beautiful and majestic Mt Fuji! Well, I’m not actually staying on the mountain itself, but one of the many nearby tourist resorts called Kawaguchiko, attractively situated on Lake Kawaguchiko, one of the Fuji Five Lakes situated to the north of the mountain, and each offering stunning views of the mountain reflected in its waters. That is, if you can see the mountain during the rare times it is viewable from behind its cloak of cloud cover. I was very fortunate that when I arrived here yesterday, you could see the mountain in all its majestic and imposing glory – a real sight to behold, certainly to my mind one of the many natural wonders of the world. It is really quite huge, and so perfectly symmetrical, I understand why it holds a special place in the Japanese heart and culture. Today has been a different case however, as it has been hidden behind the clouds for much of the day, and I haven’t even been able to take a proper photo of it today. I was very glad to have been able to see it properly, and take the photos, yesterday.
As I believe I
Mt Fuji
On the way to the Haha-No-Shirataki Waterfall mentioned in a previous trip, whilst it is quite nerve-inducing at times to make the first flight to a new country, it is often also similarly nerve-racking for me to make that first journey within the new country. This has not been the case here, and although I was sad to say goodbye to Tokyo after having such an amazing time in the world’s largest urban conurbation, as efficient, friendly and welcoming as it was, I was looking forward to moving on to my next destination. And what a contrast it has been! On Sunday I was surrounded by urbanism, people, traffic and buildings pretty much as far as the eye can see, staying in a modern and very efficient Business Hotel; on Monday I arrived in a beautiful, traditional Japanese lodging in the quiet semi-rural suburbs of this lakeside town at the foot of Mt Fuji, surrounded by forest-clad mountains in all directions. The contrast was palpable, and although as mentioned I very much enjoyed Tokyo, I was also very glad to have breathed out a bit yesterday, and breathed in some very clean, very fresh mountain air (although I wouldn’t say at all that the air in Tokyo
felt unclean).
I boarded a bus in the late morning at Shinjuku Expressway Bus Terminal, which would take one hour to leave the Tokyo suburbs, and another hour to wind its way up the valley floors of the foothills of Mt Fuji. Although there were v-shaped valleys surrounded by forested slopes in all directions, we were still travelling along Japanese super-highways, with soaring bridges at intersections and railway tracks and tunnels alongside. This was very efficient transportation still, though through a very rural and dramatically natural environment. Around 1pm we passed the world-famous Fuji-Q Highland theme park, which tempted me to visit a number of times in my planning, and also passing by its huge, beyond-vertical and ultra-fast rollercoasters, but having just been to London’s own Thorpe Park twice just before coming here (going on every single ride there I might add!), I thought my time would be better spent here doing the local attractions and sights. I’m very glad to have made that decision.
Upon arrival at the bus station about 10 minutes later, I was met by the owner, Honjo, of the Umeya Annex, a very small guesthouse, two rooms in fact above the owner’s own
Haha-No-Shirataki Waterfall
A small Shinto shrine nearby, presumably the dwelling place of the spirit of the waterfall quarters, in a traditional Japanese house, whose history actually dates back centuries – more on that below. He took me, and a German traveller who coincidentally arrived at the same time to stay in the other room, to his house a 15-minute drive away from the station, and right into the heart of semi-rural Japan. The place is surrounded by traditional Japanese houses, interspersed with rice fields, an amazing Shinto shrine nearby, and the beautiful, forested slopes of the Mt Fuji foothills. What an idyllic location. And what’s more, my room is also of the traditional Japanese style, with tatami mats, sliding doors, and my first proper Japanese futon which I slept very comfortably on last night and look forward to again tonight. During the day time, the Japanese tradition is to store their futons, pillows and blankets in cupboards so that the space becomes a living area. At night, the room is converted into a bedroom as the futons are put down. I really wanted to stay in a place like this, and am so glad to have found this place, it has been a real experience merely lodging here.
And in addition, the owner himself is actually
Mt Fuji
From Kawaguchiko a part-time priest at the nearby Shinto Shrine – the Kawaguchi Asama-Jinja Shrine. As mentioned, I had hoped to find out more about Shintoism whilst being here, and I feel I very much have done, not so much from learning about it, but from experiencing it first-hand – the best teacher I feel! The building next door to where the guest rooms are, which the owner very kindly showed me around just now, actually dates back 200 years to the Edo period (1603-1869, the last Shogunate, Japanese warlord, era, before the Meiji Restoration of 1868 which modernised Japan). The guesthouse owner is in fact the 27
th generation of a centuries-old family who have been on this site for 27 generations, welcoming pilgrims over the years who came here to climb Mt Fuji. Before they began, they would go to the nearby shrine and climb up to the Haha-No-Shirataki waterfall to be cleansed both physically and spiritually, and then spend the night in the very building next door to this guesthouse, owned by the family, before climbing Mt Fuji. It was, and still is, considered to be a spiritual undertaking to climb Fuji-San. What history merely in this guesthouse alone, it
Umeya Annex
From the street has been an honour to stay here, and meet with the 27
th generation of this family who have welcomed pilgrims here for centuries. In fact, although not exactly pilgrims, he still continues the same tradition today, welcoming travellers such as myself who come to view, and sometimes climb (not me!), the mighty mountain.
Upon arrival and after a short lie down on the tatami mats (the futon had not been put in place yet!), I decided to visit the Kawakuchi Asama-Jinja Shrine across the road from here. Just walking through the grounds was an experience of Shintoism itself, and I have since read more about the religion. The word Shinto itself literally means “the way of the gods”, and before the arrival of Buddhism in the 6
th century from the mainland, the Japanese had worshipped, and many still do, the deities and spirits of nature, mainly of trees, rocks, waterfalls and mountains. I find this beautiful, and quite compatible with my own beliefs of encountering spirituality and God in nature and Creation. Wooden shrines are built in areas where these deities and spirits are believed to dwell, in order to make them feel welcome to dwell also in the
Umeya Annex
Kawaguchiko shrine itself, so that pilgrims and visitors can pray to them for protection and guidance. The grounds of the shrine itself were very much intertwined with the beauty of nature all around, particularly the trees, with really quite enormous cedars, Japanese horse chestnut and Japanese fir trees interspersing the various small shrines dotted around. A walk through the grounds felt very spiritual, surrounded by nature and a sense of the supernatural (in the most positive sense of the word).
From the shrine, signposts pointed towards an intriguing place called the Haha-No-Shirataki waterfall, which at the time I actually had no idea about, so I decided to follow them. After a couple of false turns, I ended up on the right path which actually followed a mountain road. I had no idea how far it would be, but really felt the desire to carry on walking. I really felt that the forest I was walking through was alive, with its beautiful pine scent filling the air, and the sounds of chirruping cicadas, and towards twilight unusual bird calls, all around. I can completely understand why the ancient people here would have found spirituality and the divine within nature – the
Umeya Annex
Kawaguchiko Japanese forest is unlike any other forest area I have experienced in this regard – so fresh, so pure and so aglow with energy. I can also understand now the constant references to such forest and other natural spirits in various Studio Ghibli films which I have seen. I can see how Japanese culture is so intertwined with nature, merely from this short walk I took through the forest to a waterfall. After about 30 minutes of climbing, a car actually came, and I asked the lady driving it how far it is to the waterfall. She spoke no English, so our communications were all in Japanese. She told me it was about one kilometre, but she would give me a lift if I wanted. I indeed wanted, and she was such a lovely lady – so friendly and welcoming. She also had an adorable dog in the backseat, who really responded to me when I said his name in Japanese (I forget what it is now…!). She was going in the same direction to walk her dog, and took me right up to the small parking area before the falls. There was also a simply sublime view of Mt
Umeya Annex
Kawaguchiko Fuji and Lake Kawaguchiko from up there, where I just sat and contemplated the beauty of such a scene, alongside an old man who very kindly took my photo. The waterfall itself was gorgeous, and right next to it was a very small shrine, presumably to welcome the deity of the waterfall to dwell there. It was in fact there where the pilgrims of old times would go to purify themselves both physically and spiritually. I spent a good hour or so up there and walked further up the falls, to an even smaller shrine at the top. I also washed my face physically, and felt a really cool, refreshing breeze from up there. Again, I could completely understand why the Japanese of old times would believe that spirits dwelt in waterfalls. Also spiritually refreshed, I continued my way on foot back down the hill and back to the road in front of the shrine where I had “parked” the bicycle I had borrowed from the guesthouse, before cycling to a nearby restaurant for dinner. Upon returning back to my guesthouse, I was drawn to the sound of drumming from the afore-mentioned Kawaguchiko Asama-Jinja Shrine just opposite, and witnessed a
Umeya Annex
My traditional Japanese room for two nights in Kawaguchiko beautiful dance, drum and flute session performed as a practice for an apparently important festival which is happening here this coming weekend. It was then back to my room and newly-laid out futon for a beautiful night’s sleep Japanese-style.
Today I have enjoyed another amazing day in Kawaguchiko. After a delicious traditional breakfast served by the guesthouse owner, of miso soup, tofu and salad, washed down with iced green tea, I took the bicycle which I had used yesterday and set off on a day-trip to a couple of places around the lake. First up, a cycle around the easternmost corner of the lake, along a walking path with stunning views across towards Mt Fuji, which would have been even more stunning had the cloud not been covering it. I can only imagine how beautiful it would have been had it been visible, but happily consoled myself with the fact that I was able to see it in all its majestic glory yesterday. There was instead a really beautiful view of the lake and surrounding hills. It is in fact rare to see the mountain completely cloudless apparently, and I imagine that many visitors come away from their couple
Umeya Annex
My futon laid out in my room for the night - traditional Japanese-style! of days here disappointed not having seen it. I was happy. I was heading towards the Kachi Kachi Yama Ropeway (cable car) which would whisk me up a vertiginous gradient towards the Fuji Viewing Platform. The small area at the top was heaving with tourists, so I walked a short way away from the hubbub to a very tranquil spot amongst the trees, and again felt the vitality and energy of the forest all around me. Beautiful. Although Mt Fuji again was not visible, there were lovely views over Lake Kawaguchiko, and even back towards the amazing-looking Fuji-Q Highland! Indeed, tranquil cicada song was often interrupted by the very distant thundering sound of a rollercoaster train looping around its tracks. After a very pleasant time up there, I headed back down the cable car, and had a couple of hours to kill around the tourist centre of town before I was booked into a Sake Brewery tour at 3pm.
I happily whiled away the time having a delicious udon-noodle lunch at a nearby eatery, and sitting in a shady spot overlooking the lake – it is still very hot here, about 36 degrees today, though it doesn’t feel quite
Umeya Annex
Breakfast room, in the 200-year-old building next door so hot as in Tokyo – probably the lack of concrete reflecting the heat back at you.
And at 3pm, my tour at the Ide Sake Brewery began. You can only visit by making reservations, which I was able to do the day before, and I was very glad to have done so. Myself, and six other tourists, were shown around the small brewery, and it was really very interesting to find out how sake is made, from initial rice grain to final, clear, alcoholic product. The Japanese guide really honoured me by saying in front of everyone that I spoke such good Japanese, and that she would turn to me if she had any difficulties speaking English (though I was really hoping she wouldn’t, as her English was far superior to my Japanese!!). She didn’t, but I was pretty much able to ask all my questions on a one-to-one basis with her in Japanese, which I felt very chuffed with. I am really enjoying practising my Japanese here, and learning more as I go, and I also really like the reaction of the people when they see that I speak Japanese with them. It is something that I
Umeya Annex
The 200-year-old building next door, winter heating system have always believed in doing, though not always been able to do – learning the language of a country and doing my best to communicate in it whilst there. I will try to also learn a bit of Korean in the week’s run-up to my arrival there, using my amazing LingoDeer app too.
Incidentally, the guesthouse owner caused a couple of really quite funny moments since I’ve been here. His English is fairly good, but anything that he or I have not been able to communicate, he has gotten out his mobile phone which has a translator app on it. Yesterday he was trying to tell me that he was a priest, but the translator spoke out loud “I am a new cheerleader”, then “I am a nurse”, before it actually got to “priest”! I found that hilarious! Then today he was trying to tell me that he had originally planned to make the 200-year old building next door the actual guesthouse for visitors, but the translator instead spoke “I wanted to make it into a brothel”. I really felt I had to explain to him what a brothel was, and that he had probably meant to say “hostel”
- that was also really funny!
Anyway, at the end of our Sake Brewery tour, we were given three different sakes to try, each of which I enjoyed very much, and I am so glad they were so different to the one time I tried sake back in England which I thought was pretty awful – it must have been a bad make or something. The sake there was really nice, and I enjoyed buying a couple of souvenirs also from there.
After the Ide Sake Brewery tour, I cycled back the 4 kilometres or so to my guesthouse, whereupon my backside was telling me it had had enough of being in a saddle – what a relief to have gotten home when I did. I am now back in my room again, lying on my futon with the air-conditioning turned on full-blast writing this.
I have enjoyed an amazing two days in Kawaguchiko, in the presence of the impressive and imposing figure of Fuji-San. Tomorrow I continue my travels through Japan by taking three local trains, and then I believe a Shinkansen (bullet train, my first one!) to Kyoto, the ancient capital of Japan. Tomorrow begins
Umeya Annex
The Guesthouse owner Honjo, also a Shinto priest my two-week Japan Rail Pass, so from hereon I will be travelling by train – yay, as I love train travel! I will be staying in Kyoto for four nights, with plenty of time hopefully to see some sights there and around. I'm hoping to write my next blog entry towards the end of my time in Kyoto.
So I will finish this one here for now. I am continuing to have an amazing time travelling in this amazing country, and am so very much looking forward to exploring further.
Thank you for reading, and all the very best for now.
Alex
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holamundo
Nina+Markus
Japan and the mid range traveller
Loved this blog! So far we have not given much thought about visiting Japan. It is fascinating for us, but we have been more on trips for a lower budget so far. Lately, travelling through India, we discovered the comforts of the more midrange traveller and really enjoyed it. But this blog made us really curious and hungry for Japan. Looking forward to your next blogs from Japan and also Korea! Happy travels and many more spiritual moments!