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?

Let me start by addressing the two most popular ways to go up Fujisan. Total, the climb up will probably take between 5 and 8 hours, just depending on what kind of shape you are in. To be honest, it is a fairly easy and safe climb as in anyone can do it (I saw kids as young as about 10 to adults who looked to be about 60); however, don’t get me wrong, it is not in anyway way an enjoyable experience. Back to the two ways to climb, both start with taking a bus or somehow getting to the 5th stage then starting the climb from there. Some choose to go during the day, climb as high as you can, get “sleep” at one of the huts until about 3am, and climb the rest of the way to see the sunrise from the top. The other way is to arrive at the 5th stage late, like 9 or 10pm and just climb through the night, without staying, and arrive at the top in time for sunrise. Basically, both options are miserable and you will be exhausted either way.

Next the nature issue. Yes Mount Fuji is a beautiful mountain… from far away! Once you get up to about the 6th stage there is nothing beautiful about it. Just rocks, gravel, dirt, close to price gouging concession stands (yes you read that right and yes I know the supplies have to be carried up the mountain) and mountain huts. I will admit that there is a nice view of the surrounding area, the stars at night (and even the Milky Way on a clear night) and the sunrise is beautiful, but you can get just as good of view from the 5th Stage (you can take a bus there from Kawaguchiko Station or Shinjuku Station), and the sunrise isn’t much more (maybe not at all even) beautiful from the top than it is from a lot of other places. Furthermore, it depends SO much on the weather. There is a good chance because of cloud coverage you will not be able to see anything!

But wait, beauty is in the eye of the beholder right? Maybe I just didn’t appreciate what I saw and maybe you will. Even if I am right, at least you can be at one with nature and just relax right? Not exactly… Besides the fact that you will be “climbing” with thousands of strangers (it isn’t really climbing, but instead, more like walking up a very long outdoor staircase while sometimes waiting in line) so you will not be able to enjoy the “nature” or pitch a tent, camp out and just relax.

Ahh! But there are some hotels/mountain huts! This is true, there are lots of places to rest (average price is about $30 per person for 3 hours) or stay (average price $60 per person) but good luck getting any real rest. They all have the same set up. Basically there will be one big room with futons/sleeping bags placed next together so there is no privacy. Also since there is only one room, and other climbers will be arriving at different times and making plenty of noise as they find their place to lay down. Not to mention these huts are all right next to the path to go up the mountain so there is noise from those climbing through the night. I am not even going to describe the toilet situation, I am sure you can imagine (although I will say I did find some western style toilets).

What about a sense of accomplishment? Really? Are you serious? I got more of a sense of accomplishment from climbing a 20 foot wall at my fitness club when I was 14 years old than climbing the great Mount Fuji. I just told you that I saw kids that were 10 years old doing it! Seriously, just about anyone that is in decent physical shape can do it. The only thing to feel good about after getting to the top is that you are able to climb down.

Oh and about coming down, that is no picnic either. Mainly because you will be exhausted, hungry, dirty, and in some cases wet and grumpy. Not to mention the soil/rocks feel about as stable, as well, lots of small, loose rocks/pebbles on a steep mountain. Good luck not falling at least once. Actually, if you can get the courage to go down quickly, I felt more stable going down swiftly with big steps rather than taking small slow steps. Still be careful. Total, coming down will probably take between 4-5 hours.

So what is my best advice? Don’t climb Mount Fuji at all but instead spend some time close to Mount Fuji in either the spring or fall. The Fuji Five Lakes provide a much more spectacular view of the mountain than the mountain provides of the lakes and surrounding area. If you insist on going up, I suggest without doing any “climbing” at all taking a bus to the 5th stage where you can get good photos with a great view. The top photo was taken close to the top of Mount Fuji and the second one was taken from the 5th stage. It depends more on the weather rather than actually where you are on the mountain.

Seriously, Mount Fuji is much more beautiful from afar, even without the lakes.

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.

The photo on the left was taken at The Itchiku Kubota Kimono Museum and the one on the right on the grounds of the Golden Pavilion.

There are many sites in Japanese that give more detailed information, I cannot read Japanese very well, but even so, there are some sites that are very helpful. For example rurubu.com has a map of Japan and a small color picture of a maple leaf to represent the current status of the leaves in the area. Another site worth checking out is Yahoo Japan’s site that looks like it encourages user submissions. If you want to find a different site, simply go do a google search for “紅葉” followed by the year (紅葉 2008) and you will get more sites in Japanese. The photo below was taken at Kinkakuji in Kyoto.

The bulleted list below are places I have been to and personally recommend for the fall season.

• Arashiyama(Kansai)
• Fuji Five Lakes
• Towadako (Lake Towada, Tohoku)
• Oirase Strean (Tohoku)
• Kyoto
• Nanzenji (Kyoto)
• Naruko (Tohoku)
• Nikko (Kansai)
• Tokyo

The gorge is nice because you can get a nice view from above, walking along it or as you can see from the photo, you can rent a row boat…for a hefty price, I think it was about 2000 yen for 30 minutes! Despite the price, if you go on a weekend or a holiday and do not get there early you WILL have to wait, possibly for a while. I went at the end of summer, but wish I went during the fall as I am sure it is fabulous.

There are many hotels and a few hostels around Towadako so finding a place to stay isn’t really a problem unless you plan a last minute trip to go during a holiday or peak season (fall). While the lake is beautiful be sure not to miss Oirase Stream. If you live in Tohoku it is definitely worth a visit.

The easiest way to access Towadako is to take a bus from Hachinohe, Morioka or rent a car and drive there. Here are details about taking a bus and here is the story of Lake Towada.

You can see larger and higher quality images at the gallery.

Read more about fall in Japan and check out some of my favorite places to see the autumn foliage after the jump.

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 brillant red in the fall. These red leaves are reffered to as “koyo” or “kouyou” (紅葉) in Japanese. The photo on the left was taken at The Itchiku Kubota Kimono Museum and the one on the right on the grounds of the Golden Pavilion.

There are many sites in Japanese that give more detailed information, I cannot read Japanese very well, but even so, there are some sites that are very helpful. For example rurubu.com has a map of Japan and a small color picture of a maple leaf to represent the current status of the leaves in the area. If you want to find a different site, simply go do a google search for “紅葉” followed by the year (紅葉 2006) and you will get more sites in Japanese. The photo below was taken at Kinkakuji in Kyoto.

The bulleted list below are places I have been to and personally recommend for the fall season.

• • Arashiyama
  • Fuji Five Lakes
  • Kyoto
  • Naruko (Tohoku)
  • Nikko
  • Tokyo

If you can choose anytime of the year to come to Japan, cherry blossom season is the best time (also fall is a great time). During this time, the seasonal flowers can be seen all over Japan and make for great photos. The 2007 cherry blossom forecast will be released around late February or early March and can be seen at the site of the Japan Meteorology Agency.

When the winters are mild (like the winter of 2007 is) the cherry blossom trees tend to bloom a little earlier than normal. While the forecasts are usually pretty close, like the weather, when cherry blossoms bloom are still slightly unpredictable! Also, different factors such as how much sun a tree gets, play a large role as well.

Friends, co-workers and family participate in Hanami (literally meaning “flower watching”). Hanami consists of reserving a space (sometimes as early as the day before in crowded places like Tokyo) with a tarp or blanket, where there are many cherry blossom trees and then having a picnic under the blossoming flowers. Usually large consumptions of alcohol is consumed. Here is an example of hanami.

Cherry blossom or in Japanese, sakura, is Japan’s most famous flower. Sakura bloom once a year starting as early as February in some places in Okinawa and slowly move north. The Kansai (Kyoto, Osaka, Himeji) and Kanto (Tokyo) regions tend to start blooming around late March or early April. Tohoku and Hokkaido in late April to May. About a week after a cherry blossom tree first starts to bloom, the tree will be in full bloom for only a couple of days before they start lose their blossoms.

Beppu has marketed some of the largest–and hottest–bodies of water as “The Eight Hells.” These are not for dipping, however. Most of them are well beyond boiling point and serve better as a great place to take photos. While each are unique, the most noteworthy are Umi Jigoku (Sea Hell) — a vibrant cobalt blue — and Chinoike Jigoku (Blood Pool Hell) — which is a deep red and bubbles to the surface just below boiling point. Tourists can purchase tickets to each of the “Hells” for 400 yen, or they can purchase a ticket that includes all eight “Hells” for 2,000 yen. An afternoon is plenty of time to catch a bus to several of these “Hells,” although the more ambitious can walk to all of them.

The onsens at Beppu comprise some of the most diverse onsens in Japan. Sand baths, mub baths, fluorescent baths, outdoor and indoor baths, scented baths and more can be found here. One of the outdoor mud baths is so reputable, that even Mother Theresa paid it a visit. Beppu has mastered the zen of relaxation.

The steam has not only produced some of the best onsens in Japan, but it is also nature’s best boiling pot. Street vendors sit straw baskets of corn and raw eggs over cracks in the sidewalk for several minutes, and sell the finished products to locals and tourists. I have never had a juicier corn on the cob in my life. If you’re in western Japan, why not go to heaven in Beppu…or one of the hells?

For more information see the Beppu City Guide.

Finding the dock in Kameoka can be a little tricky as there are no signs (in English anyway), but if you ask anyone about Hozugawa (gawa means river) they should be able to point you in the right direction. It is about a 8 minute walk from the station. Basically, after leaving the station turn left (you should be walking in the direction the train just came from). You will go strait and follow the road as it curves to your left. Crossover the railroad tracks and keep walking strait. You will then see a bridge on the right, pass the bridge (do not take it) and you will see a small road with a huge parking lot (which is kind of underneath the bridge if I remember correctly, but I could be wrong).

To get to Kameoka, you can take the regular JR line which I did, but if you have time I recommend taking the Sagano Romantic Train Ride which runs slower and less frequently but offers great views (especially of the river) and if the weather is nice has open windows. Below you can see a photo of this train hidden behind the Japanese Maple trees.

The boat ride is nice, but actually, the best part is at the end of the boat ride when you get off in Arashiyama. Here you can walk up the bank and there are some great photo opportunities as you can see below. In addition if you do not want to go to Kameoka, there are a few boat rides you can take from the Arashiyama end, but they just stay in the area and do not go up the whole river.

Boat Donations BoatAngel Uses Boat Donations to fund Life changing media -check www.Carangel.com/projects.html

A little information about the deer; for the most part the deer are really well behaved (some even seem to bow after or before you feed them–really I promise!) and pose no threat to you but there are some things to take caution about:

• • Avoid deer with antlers–there is a festival in October where the deers get their antlers cut off, but there are still some that do have them (as you can see in the photo below I did not follow my own advice but I do not recommend approaching deers with antlers). Obviously you do not want to get rammed by a deer but even more so by a deer that has sharp and hard antlers.
  • Do not make sudden movements–not only will this make the deer uneasy and maybe run away, but you also might anger another person who is trying to take a photo of the deer (this happened to me a couple of times and I was not too happy about losing my subject!)
  • Be aware of baby deer–if there is a baby there are likely to be parents close by and nothing angers a parent more than if the parent feels their child is in danger!

The deer are really used to visitors and a lot of times will pose nicely with you. If they find out you have food to give them they will follow you around for a little bit and sometimes call their friends over. Also, I was somewhat surprised at the whining sounds deers make. Check out the video of the deer to hear it.

Want to see more photos of Nara Park? Take a look at the gallery to see more photos of Nara Park!