I have been awed by the beauty of Mt. Fuji since I last saw it with my own eyes during my previous trip to Japan in 2011. I had been very lucky in that trip – Mt. Fuji is known to be temperamental and it does not always reveal itself to visitors – and saw it multiple times. During my most recent trip, luck has been on my side again, and I got to look at it and admire its beauty again.
Our first encounter with Mt. Fuji is when we first checked into our Airbnb apartment at Yashio. The listing mentioned “Great view of Mt. Fuji”, so the first thing we did when we arrived is to go to the balcony. Lo and behold, there it is. It’s getting dark and storm clouds are rolling in in the distance. We managed to get a few shots of it before it got too dark.
A few days later, we got up the Mori Tower in Roppongi Hills in Tokyo to get a few night shots of Tokyo from above.
Over at the other side of the observation deck, the sun sets, leaving a nice orange glow in the sky and a silhouette of Mt. Fuji with the city of Tokyo nicely lit up in the foreground.
One of the best places to catch Mt. Fuji in all its glory (if you’re lucky of course) is at Lake Kawaguchi, one of the Fuji Five Lakes. In this trip, we decided to spend a night at the excellent Den’s Inn, which is only a 5 minutes walk away from the lake. We were indeed lucky again, as Mt. Fuji revealed itself, without being covered up in clouds.
The next day, we went to see the Chureito Pagoda, which is part of the Aarakura Sengen Shrine. The pagoda itself is 400 steps up the slopes of Mt. Arakurayama, and along the way, we were treated to stunning views of sakura blossoms, the Fujiyoshida city below and Mt. Fuji in the distance. The view made us forget the long climb up, and certainly made the climb worth it. I shall end this post with 3 final photos of that iconic mountain of Japan.
