The trip to Lake Kawaguchiko was our first using Japan Rail passes. We were able to reserve seats as far as Otsuki. The Fujisan View Express from Otsuki to Lake Kawaguchiko was fully booked when we’d done our travel admin a few days ago, so we took a local train the second leg.
There’s no additional cost to reserve seats, and it means you won’t need to move during your journey, so we’ve reserved most of our train trips. Although unreserved seating is pretty simple too - there’s a little red light above each seat that turns orange before the train arrives at a station it is booked from so you know to move.
In Japan it isn’t polite to eat in the street, or on public transport. They are pragmatic people though and it is common to take a bento box or other transportable food on long distance trains, so we stocked up on nibbles for the journey. Trains here are comfortable, easy and on time!
We arrived about lunchtime, to early to check in at our hotel, so we dropped our bags in the lobby and walked back to Shaw’s near the station for some amazing-looking sushi and rice bowls. Adrian and Leo went with grilled eel, and claimed it was delicious. Eleanor, who was struggling with chopsticks when we arrived, showed off her newly acquired skills with lettuce over lunch. She definitely won’t starve now!
Indoor spaces often felt small in Tokyo (restaurants, our hotel rooms, lifts etc. a sometimes I was surprised that we’d all fit, but there was always just enough room). Lake Kawaguchiko is a return to the smaller side of normal size. At Shaw’s there was room to move at and around the table. It made me optimistic for the size of our hotel room too (my optimism was not misplaced!).
That afternoon was sunny with a cool wind. We’d had a peek at Mt Fuji through the clouds from the train as we arrived, but with rain due the following day, we quickly headed up the Mt Fuji Panorama Ropeway (cable car) for a view from a nearby hill. To get to beginning of the ropeway, you walk along the road alongside Lake Kawaguchiko. It felt strangely familiar, like a combination of Queenstown and an alpine Swiss village out of season, and different at the same time.
There’s a delicious-smelling bakery at the near the ticket counter the sells biscuits shaped like Mt Fuji (everything here is shaped like Mt Fuji, including the blue(!) and red curries Eleanor and Adrian had for lunch one day). We weren’t hungry after all the sushi, so didn’t buy one; a decision I later regretted when we didn’t pass the bakery again. I became a little obsessed with trying what we now call a ‘fu-kie’.
Another thing the Japanese are good at is letting you know is the time you’ll be queuing - for the ropeway it was 60 minutes, although it might have been a little less in reality by the time we got to the end. No one minds a shorter-than-expected-queue!! The view across the lake on the way up was pretty, although we were crammed into the car which took away from the experience. We might have felt differently if towards the front of the the cabin rather than the back!
Unfortunately Mt Fuji was hiding behind clouds while we were at the top. We waited a little while without much luck then started walking back down the hill. This was a real treat, the highlight of our little expedition - peaceful with dappled light through the trees and very few people around. There are a couple of good Mt Fuji-viewing spots on the way down as well as beautiful views back over the lake. The cloud even cleared a little so we saw more of the mountain - being 3776m high, Mt Fuji is a cloud magnet. It changes so quickly that when you get a clear view the idea is to grab your camera first then tell your friends.
Not convinced we’d had the best view yet, we jumped on the train for the short trip to Shimo-Yoshida, from where it’s a short walk up hill to the Chureito Pagoda. It’s meant to be spectacular at sunset, but that evening the clouds meant no sunset and no view of the mountain. The cherry blossoms were truly spectacular though. They obviously bloom later in the slightly cooler mountain air because they were beautiful and well worth the visit alone!
The next day it was chilly, and wet, and windy. We started with a quick drink at Haostay Coffee, a cafe run by the same people as our accommodation. The kids continued their search for the best strawberry drink - trying our strawberry soda this time - while we tried our first matcha lattes. Adrian and I both voted it ‘definitely worth trying again’. Leo gave his taste a ‘mediocre’ and Eleanor declared that it tasted like brewed peas (and not in a good way). I guess we won’t need to share our next ones!
We had a damp walk across the bridge and round the lake for lunch. Again Mt Fuji eluded us. In fact at some points we couldn’t see far at all! Chatting as we walked along was lovely, even if it was a bit chilly. Leo even mutter something about trousers at one point, which is virtually unheard of for our t-shirt and shorts wearing boy!
On our way back we stopped in at the Lake Kawaguchiko Music Forest, a museum of automated musical instruments. Its an amazing collection of organs and pianos from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century that play music at the touch of a button. One organ takes up the entire wall of a large room - it was loud too, used for public dances. It was an interesting prompt to think about a period where people were finding ways to provide music without live musicians before recording. It’s definitely quirky, and fun, it reminded us a little of places like the Waterworks on the 309 road in Coromandel. I’m not sure the music forest people would appreciate the comparison though!
The following morning we opened the curtains to a beautiful day, with Mt Fuji visible through wispy clouds. By the time we left for the station on our way to Kyoto the mountain was clearer still. Stunning!
This time we were able to book on the Fujisan View Express. The only remaining seats were in the absolutely beautiful buffet car, so we enjoyed coffee, juice and beautiful clear views of Mt Fuji from the train. It almost felt like a relief to get a clear view given the primary reason for our visit. And they even had fu-kies! It was several days before we actually ate the fu-kie - it was yummy shortbread dipped in white chocolate to create the snow!
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Chureito Pagoda |
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