Mount Fuji and Kawaguchi City from Mt. Kachi Kachi Ropeway

Woke up to another beautiful morning as the sun shined in through the blinds. This may sound hard to believe but I managed to have a very fulfilling sleep last night; no joke, as claustrophobic as it seems to some I certainly enjoyed it. At the top floor was an was an open men’s bath facility, which meant you had to get naked with your other capsule neighbors. I’ve gone through it once in Hakone, what’s another couple minutes anyway!
No plans were set so I decided to visit Kawaguchi Lake, but before leaving I made sure to move the luggage to my next awesome stay at the Capsule Inn in Akihabara! It saves me the trouble of paying for a locker and moving it all twice later that night. I’m going to apologize for how much this blog journal might lack today but i’ll make up for it with good photos. I don’t think you want to hear what I was doing for 3-4 of those hours traveling there and back anyway.

Arriving in Ostuki was the end of the JR Line and the beginning of the Fujikyu Railway which is made for a steeper climb to a whole new noticeable elevation change. As the train pulls up beside you can’t help but notice the strange mountain paintings all over the side and front of it – definitely creeping yet visually pleasing in a way. Surprisingly along the way there were a few towns and villages the train stopped in and the further it went the snowier it got. On arrival in Kawaguchi City, I locked up the laptop and stopped into the tourist center to read up about the city and some of it’s hotspots to view the moutain from. The small city had a couple buses which cirlced through and around the city to each location, but just 15 minutes walk from the center was Mt. Kachi Kachi Ropeway. Opened in 1959, the line climbs Mount Tenjō from the shores of Lake Kawaguchi. The observatory has a view of the lake, as well as the city, Aokigahara forest, and Mount Fuji. As the tram started it’s steep incline up the side of a mountain, what was revealed was a snowed in city banked along Kawaguchi lake. There’s just a sence of quietness and a pause in time when a entire city is blankeded by fluffy white snow. I couldn’t unglue my eyes from the view.
At the top, Kachi Kachi Ropeway entertained even the young ones by placing cute characters of a rabbit and bear in set positions which made photo ops or just to entertain the kids. There was also The Bell of Tenjō; when struck while watching Mt.Fuji granted your wish. Here is a PDF I found online which describes a bit more about the rope way.

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Lets not forget the whole reason I came here; the view of course. Providing a beautiful grand landscape any individual can admire, the city was covered in snow and the monstrous mountain surrounding it.
Something unusual and out of context where four Thai monks dressed in traditional orange robes with only gloves on their hands and a hat on the head to protect them from the below freezing temprature. Just looking at them made me cold, and I was well prepared – they weren’t, at all! These weren’t no ordinary monks either, they spoke great English and came equipped digital cameras and cellphones. You can see from one of my photos, one was actually taking a picture from his cellphone. Looks like these monks keep up with the grown market demand. As the sun was heading down over the horizon I decided to stay till the very end. The next view point was out of the way and a bit far from here. When the sun dipped under the mountain there was nothing else to see; I walked back to the railway station and made my way back into the city.

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Mount Fuji from Fujikyu Railway at 7:00pm

Back at the Inn I met a young fellow also staying in Tokyo for his holidays. We talked for a bit, agreed to be both a little hungry and went out for dinner. He knew of this small little joint which served some of the cheapest conveyor belt sushi he’s seen in town. The belt served sushi from a range of the cheapest 50Yen to the most expensive at 500Yen sushi dishes. Cheapest didn’t necessarily mean bad quality or small portions either; just a cheaper fish but still good going down! With so much to choose from I had to be careful because these plates added up quickly! I had to just try them all, no matter the price I came out happy and full; defiantly have to drop by again!

I was pleased to spend the day in Kawaguchi. The day flew by quickly, so if your thinking of coming down to spending the day I recommend staying an additional day. You’ll spend a lot of the time traveling there and back so make the most of it by spending an additional day as time flies by quickly when your here. I don’t think theres another place better spent viewing the famous Mt. Fuji then here.