Had we known that October 13 was a national Japanese holiday we would have chosen another weekend to go to Mount Fuji. The only thing worse than the crowds we encountered everywhere we went was the traffic coming and going. It seems that back in 1964 the Japanese government kicked off the new holiday Taiiku No Hi to commemorate the Olympic games in Tokyo that year. Since then the day has been celebrated on the second Monday of October. In English it is called Health and Sports Day and it has evolved into a long weekend for the nation. Nevertheless, it was worth the aggravation. Mount Fuji is overwhelming, awesome.
The tour bus pulled out of Yokota at 7:30 this morning and did not return until 8:30 tonight. Here's what we visited.
The Shiraito-no-taki (White Thread Waterfalls) are a series of closely clumped waterfalls on the lower slopes of Mount Fuji. These falls are actually thousands of rivulets that trickle then plunge from the rocks into a large arch-shaped basin. Only the tourists outnumber the droplets of water that come crashing down. The white cascade wraps around the viewing area in a 600-foot embrace.
We ate lunch at the Fuji View Hotel. It's an absolutely gorgeous place that stands on the shore of Lake Kawaguchi, the closest of the five lakes around Mount Fuji. It sits in the middle of the Fuji Hakone Izu National Park. Mount Fuji is supposed to dominate the view right in front of the hotel, but that's a rare sight this time of year. We were told that the huge mountain generates its own weather and today it was mostly cloudy skies.
The tour bus took us up to the 5th Station of Mount Fuji. The drive/climb up is divided into 10 stations, the 5th being the farthest you can reached by road, and of course, the 10th being the peak. The place is called Kawaguchiko 5th Station. It sits at 6,900 feet and it is cold up here.
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