Japan Photo Guide

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This is the first of two posts on climbing Mount Fuji with this one playing devil’s advocate. Having doubts about climbing Fuji? A more positive post, can be seen here.

There is a saying about climbing Mount Fuji that goes something along the lines of, and I am paraphrasing here,

You would be a fool for not climbing Fujisan once in your life, but only the dumbest of all idiots climbs Mount Fuji a second time.

Well I didn’t wanna be a fool, so in August 2008 I “climbed” this mountain of all Japan’s icons and I have a new phrase.

I cannot think of one reason good enough to climb Mount Fuji and the person who thought up the other phrase probably had some financial incentive to start that rumor.

You might be thinking that I had a bad experience on the mountain, for example, had bad weather, or got sick but it was neither of these things that led me to my new saying about Mount Fuji. So what is the deal? Read the rest of this entry and see more photos »

Hakodate is the 3rd largest city in Hokkaido and is at the southern tip of Japan’s largest island, about 3 hours by train from Sapporo. Hakodate is most famous for the spectacular night view it has to offer of the city and Tsugaru Strait from Mount Hakodate (334 meters). I was there for two days but only one night and at night it was too cloudy to see anything from the mountain, but here is the view during the day time when it was still a little cloudy. You can take a rope way up to the top, take one of the many mountain paths or you can drive/taxi. For more information about the ropeway, here is the homepage of Mt. Hakodate Ropeway.

Besides the view it is also famous for some old western style buildings. To me they are not that interesting because I am from the west, but maybe you are more interested in them than I am. I was told before I went that sometimes Hakodate feels a little like a ghost town and while I wouldn’t go as far to agree with that, I can understand why one might get that impression as there didn’t seem to be much going on when I was there. Also if you are a fan of seafood, Hakodate’s Morning Market is a great place to enjoy fresh fish and seafood in the morning. Below are some of the western style buildings.

For more information, please see the Japan-Guide.com.

Mt. Fuji (or Fuji-san) is Japan’s tallest (3776 meters) and most famous mountain and is perhaps the most symbolic image of Japan. Fuji-san has been popular among artists as long as art has been in Japan. Mt. Fuji is a dormant volcano which has been so since the early 1700s.

On a clear day (which isn’t often) you can see Fuji-san from some places in Tokyo, like Roppongi Hills Tower, or Yokohama. Also while taking the shinkansen from Tokyo to Osaka, after about 30 minutes from leaving Tokyo you will get a nice view of Japan’s most sacred mountain.If you want to get a little closer I recommend stopping by Hakone or the Fuji Five Lakes (Fujigoko). Climbing season is during the summer months of July and August. If you want to avoid the crowds you should go on a weekday around the middle of July, when Japanese schools are still in session and before the summer holidays. The photo below was taken from the 5th stage of Mt. Fuji looking away from the summit.

Interested in climbing Mount Fuji? That is one of the things I have on my list of things to do before leaving Japan. To be honest, I know close to nothing about this (other than the peak season is July and August. If you want to climb Mt. Fuji, Japan-Guide.com has a climbing guide to Mt. Fuji, which seems like a good place to start.