Mr Fuji! Fuji-yama or Fuji-san!!-- this mountain, the highest in Japan, is very special to Japanese people.
We would like to introduce the beauty and people's glorification of the Mountain, and its viewing spots while providing its brief anecdotes and some pictures.
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| This is the view of Mt Fuji seen from the Lake Tanuki (discussed below) |
Mt Fuji has been glorified and even worshiped as a spiritual mountain in Japan. Japanese people believe that they can get some spiritual power from this mountain: some people climb up the Mountain to soak up the glorious sunlight on the New Year's Day, and others (probably almost all) hope to grow as big/high as the mountain, which is 3776 meters high, reading as "mi na naro" (English: everyone should be as high as this mountain).
Some others pray to the Mountain (as if it were God) with their palms put together as soon as they see it from the train window. If you happen to be on a Shinkansen (English: a bullet train), you should pay a close attention to Japanese people around you to notice such the worshipping behavior.
We are very big fans of Mt Fuji and love to take every chance to view its different "faces" over the seasonal changes. The picture just below does show a little bit snow on the mountain top (taken at the beginning of December), but in colder days in January and February, Mt Fuji shows its distinctive features with more snow on top. Also, when driving around the Mountain, you will notice its different "faces" with less or more snow from different locations.
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| A closer look at Mr Fuji with a little snow on its top |
5 Viewing Spots of Mt. Fuji:
There are several popular viewing spots of Mt Fuji in Shizuoka Prefecture (which lies BETWEEN Aichi Prefecture, where OUR Nagoya is, AND Kanagawa Prefecture, next to Tokyo). See the map below to get some idea of these locations.
1) The Five Lakes:
The five lakes (namely
Lake Motosu,
Lake Shoji,
Lake Sai,
Lake Kawaguchi, Lake Yamanaka, shown in the map below) provide magnificent features of Mt Fuji from different lake angles.
2) Viewing Spots at and near JR Train Stations:
Fujinomiya and
Gotenba (JR train stops) are also great viewing sites of Mt Fuji. Mihono
Matsubara
near Shimizu (one of our favorites), which lies between Shizuoka and Fuji JR train stops, should not be missed. (See the following map.)
Depending on what you would like to do besides viewing Mt. Fuji, you can enjoy devouring inexpensive gyoza dumplings at
Fujimiya, shopping at the
Gotenba shopping mall, and eating great sea fish at
Shimizu.
3)The very best viewing spot we recommend:
Last but not least should you definitely try to visit
Lake Tanuki (Japanese: 田貫湖). Even though it is less known than the five lakes (mentioned above), which surround Mt Fuji,
Lake Tanuki provides the breath-taking views of 'standing' Mt Fuji on its back AND reflected on its pristine lake water (actually, the first picture shown on this blog top was taken there. See how great this location is, right?)
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Lake Tanuki reflects Mt Fuji
Can you see the ripples of the Lake? |
When you stay at
Kyukamura Fuji (Japanese:休暇村富士;
make sure to click the video clip on the lower right-hand side of the web link), you can enjoy viewing Mt Fuji from literally every window of the Inn: your room window, the public hot spring bathroom window and restaurants/cafes windows.
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| The road leading up to the Inn |
The above road, with camp sites on the left and lodge sites on the right, takes you to the entrance of the Inn.
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| English: Fuji Lake Tanuki Hot Spring Resort |
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| Kyukamura Fuji |
Sorry that it is too dark to have a clear view of the Inn. We really wish you could get a better sense of this Inn.
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| One of the Lodges operated by the Kyukamura Fuji Inn |
These lodges, 3- to 5-minute walk away from the Inn, can accommodate up to 5 people with an easy access to the Inn, where you can enjoy the its facilities, such as the Mt Fuji-viewing hot spring bath, and dinner and breakfast.
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| The dining area in the Inn |
From the window of this spacious dining area, you can enjoy Mt Fuji if you are lucky enough to take a window table (shown in the next picture).
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| Mt Fuji seen from the window of the above dining area |
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| All-you-can-eat Dinner |
For dinner, a variety of sea food, such as tuna sashimi, shrimp sashimi, deep-fried shrimp and a lot of others, is available along with other hot food items. We strongly recommend tuna and shrimp sashimi, which are extremely fresh and mouth-watering!
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| A night-view of Mt Fuji |
If you are a big fan of Mt Fuji like us, you could take your time in the Inn while just enjoying different features Mt Fuji shows as time goes by, but you can go hiking around the lake.
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| Near the camp site |
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| Walking trail around Lake Tanuki |
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| Another picture of the Trail |
4) Asagiri Koen Viewing Spot:
Yet another best spot near Kyukamura Fuji is
Michino Eki Asagiri Kogen (
Roadside Station Asagiri Kogen in English and「道の駅」朝霧高原 in Japanese). Only a 5-minute drive from
Kyukamura Fuji (Japanese:休暇村富士 takes you to this magnificent Mt Fuji viewing sight.
Just follow the sign from Michino Eki Asagiri Kogen (you have to take a few steps up to reach this viewing point, but you should not miss the "viewing spot' sign.) The first two pictures were taken there and the last of the following three shows the inside of the Michino Eki, where you can buy fresh vegetables, fruit, souvenirs and others.
The next picture shows Mt Fuji in the actual
Asagiri Kogen, where cows are bred in the free-range pasture. The green pasture is pretty spacious and located near the Michino Eki, which is between
Lake Tanuki and
Lake Motosu. When you approach this place, you won't miss noticing some buses and/or cars parked there so that the viewers (or tourists) can take pictures of Mt Fuji!
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| Mt Fuji seen from Asagiri Kogen (English: Asagiri Pasture) |
5) Shiraito No Taki (English: Shiraito Falls) and Otodome No Taki
Shiraito No Taki, which is part of
Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park, shows what is believed to be "sacred" waterfalls. Each water fall looks like Shiraito (English: white strings) and its water is gushing out of the cliffs as you can see in the following pictures.
The water source is Mt Fuji (seen in the back of the first picture).
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| Waterfalls with Mt Fuji on their back |
When you climb up stairs from the waterfalls, you reach another waterfall called "
Otodome No Taki" (see the picture below), which carries a legend that this waterfall discreetly stopped making its gushing noise (meaning "otodome") so that the revenge talk between Kamakura worriers (1185 to 1333) was successfully done.
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| Otodome No Taki (Otodome Waterfall) |
Additional Pictures of Japanese Green Tea:
Since Shizuoka is very famous for green tea, which has different kinds, you can pick your favorites for yourself and as gifts.
We sincerely hope that foreign and domestic travelers can share our passion for Mt Fuji. Anytime is a great time for Mt Fuji. However, we strongly recommend early Spring (when snow is still on the mountain top), when you can enjoy cherry blossoms along with this beautiful mountain! You can also get some sense of Japanese delicacy which is very closely tied to nature!!
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