Japan Photo Guide

This is the second of two posts on climbing Mount Fuji with this one giving you the positive side. Super excited about climbing Fuji? You may want to check out the other version here.

This post was written by Greg Logan. In addition all photos were taken by Greg. Greg’s blog can be found here.

Before I go on to tell you that climbing Fuji will make you three inches taller, will give you a full head of hair and put ten years on your life, I feel obligated to point out that a certain photographer/blogger/climber/whiner never actually made it to the summit of the mountain and therefore, in my opinion, lacks the steely resolve and mental fortitude to make a sound judgment on the merits of completing the ascent. And frankly, I don’t know if he would have appreciated the sunrise at the top with all those tears in his eyes.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get down to brass tacks: Should you or shouldn’t you climb Mount Fuji?

Is it exhausting? Yep. Is it crowded? Oh lord yes. Is it freezing on top? You’d better believe it. Is it worth it? Hell yes!

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? See more photos and read the rest of this entry »

My favorite season is coming back! Even though I love cherry blossom season, in my opinion autumn is the best time to visit and travel around Japan. Below is a chart for the average dates to best observe fall leaves in Japan.

Along with cherry blossom season, fall is a great time to visit Japan. In any country, fall leaves are beautiful and make for great photos and this holds especially true with Japan. Japan’s most famous fall leaf is the Japanese Maple Tree which turns brilliant red in the fall. These red leaves are referred to as “kouyou” (紅葉) in Japanese.

Read more about fall in Japan and check out some of my favorite places to see the autumn foliage after the jump. See more photos and read the rest of this entry »

Before you know it, the fall season will be sweeping across Japan and the leaves will be turning brilliant shades of reds, oranges and yellows. Even though I love cherry blossom season, I think the fall is my favorite time of the year. Below is a chart for the average dates to best observe fall leaves in Japan.

Read more about fall in Japan and check out some of my favorite places to see the autumn foliage after the jump. See more photos and read the rest of this entry »

Back in August I had a photo show at the Apple Store in Sendai. Basically, it is a slide show of some of my favorite photos of Japan accompanied by shamisen artists Rika Ooba and Yuya Takahashi. If you are unable to use the sound on your computer I strongly suggest waiting until you have access or are able to use the sound, as their music is beautiful. Enjoy!

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The Itchiku Kubota Kimono Museum is within walking distance of Kawaguchiko of Fuji Five Lakes (fujigoko) and is really a can’t miss place if you are in the area. Itchiku Kubota devoted almost his entire life to developing his own style of making beautiful kimonos and his hard work and devotion can be seen in his works of art. Besides the beautiful kimonos, some of which have designs that carry over between 4 or 5 different kimonos, the museum itself and landscape on the museum grounds are really a site to see.

See more photos and read the rest of this entry »

The Fuji Five Lakes are located at the base of Mount Fuji and weather permitting, offer fabulous views of Mount Fuji. When I went it was really cloudy and I could not see Mount Fuji from the lakes, the area is still nice enough to find other things to take photos of. The photo below is taken from Itchiku Kubota’s Kimono Museum which is close to Kawaguchiko (the biggest of the lakes). Besides having beautiful kimonos the landscape and design of the museum is just amazingly beautiful, especially in the fall.

If you want to climb Mount Fuji, it is not a bad idea to stay here the day before as Fuji Five Lakes (Fujigoko) is a good place to start the climb. Also camping, hiking and fishing are other popular outdoor activities here. If you can, fall or cherry blossom season is the best time to visit the five lakes, but if you want to climb Mount fuji, the climbing season is from June-August.

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

Hakone is close to Mount Fuji and about 100 km away from Tokyo. Hakone is perhaps most famous for the hot springs but also offers great views of Mount Fuji and outdoor activities such as camping and hiking.

One of my favorite places in Hakone is the Open Air Museum, where the above photo was taken. This outdoor museum displays lots of modern, abstract and interesting artwork in the surrounding grounds with mountains, vallies and the ocean as the backdrops. I highly reccomend checking this place out if you make it to Hakone.
For more information please see the Japan-Guide.com.