Asia Trip 2024 - Japan Pt.2 - Fujikawaguchiko
June 29
Daybreak arrives early during the summer, even on a cloudy day it’s light outside before 5am. And on a clear day it’s light before 4:30am. Between the jet lag and the excitement of being in Japan, I was anxious to get out and explore. I really wanted to see Fujisan (Mt. Fuji) but after my first view out the window, I didn’t have high hopes.
It was early, but I didn’t want to sit around the house so I decided to grab my camera and go for a walk. The gray skies made for a somewhat gloomy mood, but the cool morning air quickly lifted the mood. It was nice to be able to go for a walk and not sweat.
I quickly found myself enamored by the little differences that were all around me. From the style of the architecture and landscaping to the different types of trees and wildflowers. Even things as mundane as manhole covers, fire hydrants, or moss and lichen on various surfaces grabbed my attention. Perhaps the gray overcast day made some of these things stand out with their color catching my eye in a lot of cases.
In a way I felt a little guilty photographing people’s houses and yards. I just hoped at the very least they’d forgive me and maybe even understand my motives.
2024/06/29 04:50 JST – View from my bedroom. Facing West.
View from the living room. Facing East.
The building on the left is where we stayed.
The first random vending machine of the trip.
Also, the blind corners of many roads in the area required these dome-shaped mirrors to be installed. These were quite prevalent here and in the neighborhoods of Tokyo.
A little later in the morning we walked to the local Toyota car rental facility. It wasn’t long before I saw one of the things that Japan is famous for. The seemingly random vending machines scatter around cities and towns. This, I have to say, is more practical and useful than I would have imagined. Especially in the summer in Tokyo. I found myself using these quite often to grab some water or tea. I don’t know how they manage to keep these things full. I never once saw a machine being restocked. But I sure am glad they exist.
Of course while I was walking I was constantly seeing interesting cars, all of which, were in fantastic condition. I found myself stopping way more often than first realized to make photographs. There were several times that I wished I would have been able to stop and meet the owners so that I could selfishly learn more about the car and see more of the car. I say selfishly, but I think most of these cars that I saw were likely own by car enthusiasts and it’s almost guaranteed that these types of people are willing to talk for hours about their cars.
As I continued to walk I saw more beautiful homes and landscaping. Even if the person didn’t have a yard, they were sure to have lots of potted plants that were all well taken care of. Organized beauty seemed to be most places that I looked.
Eventually – thanks to me slowing everyone down – we picked up our Rav4 rental car from Toyota. As stupid as it sounds, I was excited to be able to drive in Japan. And to be able to drive a right-hand drive car. Both of which I never expected to do. By this point in the trip I wasn’t too surprised that when I did a walk-around inspection of the Rav4 I found no flaws to speak of. However, one thing I did discover after driving it around the narrow village roads is that the Rav4 is a fairly big vehicle by Japanese standards. There were several times that I had to be really careful with oncoming traffic. Thankfully the local drivers were calm and polite. Not something I’m used to.
Lost in translation possibly?
Did Banksy use the same Toyota car rental as us?
Rav4 not looking so big now.
A modified Toyota Century in perfect condition. I would have loved to meet and talk to the owner.
Any view is better than no view. I was lucky to be able to get crammed into the back of the cablecar.
After picking up the rental car we were off to our first sightseeing destination, Kawaguchiko, Mt. Fuji Panorama Ropeway. It was a bittersweet experience due to the weather. And looking at the upcoming forecast for the next few days, it didn’t look like it was going to get any better.
Despite not being able to see Mt. Fuji it was still a good time. The whole area was mostly serene, or about as serene as a tourist spot can be. There was a trail to hike on, although I’m not sure what the length of the trail was. If we had more time, I would have liked to do some hikes.
Not the best view of Mt. Fuji. Taken from Mt. Kachi Kachi observation deck.
Walking past this rice paddy on the way to Shinkurayama Asama Park.
Next we headed to Shinkurayama Asama Park. Since I was the driver for this trip I didn’t know what exactly was awaiting us. All I knew was that it was another tourist destination that I had to get us to. As a result, I completely missed out on the Chureito Pagoda. The view is said to be one of the best views of Mt. Fuji. Needless to say, I was pretty upset once I found out.
Getting to Shinkurayama Asama Park turned out to be fairly tricky. The roads in Fujiyoshida were narrow, twisty and hilly. There were a lot of blind corners and although a lot of the roads seemed only big enough to be one way, our GPS told us they were two way roads. And yes I did look for signs indicating one way and didn’t see any. Fujiyoshida was a pretty town that I would have loved to explore, but our schedule was too busy as it was.
The shrine at the beginning of Shinkurayama Asama Park. I really wish someone would have told me there was more than this.
Our next stop of the day was Oishi Park, a beautiful garden along Lake Kawaguchi. The more I drove in the area the more I became used to some of the narrow roads and blind corners. I tried to take in as much of the scenery as possible, but being the drive I wasn’t really able to. As I drove, I remember thinking to myself, boy, wouldn’t it be nice to spend a week or two in just this area. And even then, I’m sure that wouldn’t be long enough. I made a joke to Kim, “You know how there are exchange students programs? Do you think there are any exchange husband programs?”. I got a little “Ha.” and “Suuuurrree.” as a response.
When we arrived to Oishi Park it seemed as though we might not be able to find parking. The lot seemed to be full, although there were a few cars leaving. There were a few open spots but they were really tight. We could barely open our doors enough to squeeze out. The first thing I did after getting out was take photos of our rental car with the expectations of returning to dents in the doors. Fortunately that wasn’t the case. No dings or dents.
The first sight upon arriving is a beautiful field of lavender. It looks like we missed the peak or perhaps we were tool early. I could only imagine how beautiful it must look at peak bloom. Walking a little further and you come to a souvenir shop and an ice cream store. I can’t remember the flavors, but I do remember some being unique so we decided to get some. Turns out, the line was very long.
The lavender field that's adjacent to the parking lot. A great way to start.
After scarfing down the quickly melting ice cream – it was purchased for me while I was out taking photos and was late returning – we decided to explore the gardens together. Everything was just beautiful. I’m sure this would be a great place to visit in different seasons to see all the changes. I wish I would have had a macro lens so that I could take some closeups of some of the smaller flowers and to isolate some of the flowers that had large gaps between them. It was very crowed in certain areas which made it difficult to make photos. Still, I was able to come away with some decent photographs.
The backdrop of the lake in one direction and the green, tree-covered mountains in the other made for a soothing experience despite the crowds. There appeared to be some small hotel that was right next to the garden. I can only imagine that was a nice scene to wake up to.
At the end of the garden there was an access point to the lake. We stopped here to watch the wakeboarder enjoying their time. It must be so cool to have Mt. Fuji as a background on a clear day. Would make for some great wakeboarding photos.
The whole Yamanashi Prefecture was just beautiful and by the end of the day I even found myself browsing the internet trying to find housing prices for the area.
