May 23-25: Return to Fuji

PLEASE NOTE: I have not had the chance to watermark all of my photos, and it will take me a great deal of time, as I published this and my other blogs between 2010-2017. I ask you to respect my property. Feel free to use them as long as you credit me as follows: Photo by Jody McBrien, learningtheworld.org. Thank you.


When we went to a town near Fuji in April, it was just one overnight, and we learned of other things to do there that we did not have time for. So we decided to go back during another beautiful season, that of the moss festival, or Shibazakura Festival. Shibazakura are small flowers that grow in a type of moss and resemble sakura, or cherry blossoms. About 800,000 of them bloom over 2.4 hectares of land in a place that foregrounds Mt. Fuji during May. On a clear day, the views are spectacular, as you can see by our photos.

There are also other flowers planted in this area:

The festival was how we enjoyed our first day back. We stayed at a hotel in Fushiyoshida - tiny room, but nice hotel with a good onsen (public hot baths).

The weather forecast indicated clouds for Wednesday and rain for Thursday. We decided to take the bus up to Base 5 of Fuji on Wednesday morning. The summit was elusive, sometimes in clouds, and sometimes peaking out. Sometimes we were in the clouds. We snapped a few photos and did some souvenir shopping. 

When we returned to town, we thought we'd check on the roller coasters at FujiQ Highland Park. The wait times were too great, so we headed out instead for Chureito Pagoda, near the Fuji Sengen Shrine in Fushiyoshida. You climb 400 stairs to arrive at the five-tiered pagoda, the place from which most of the iconic photos of Fuji surrounded by cherry blossoms, are shot. There were clouds, and now those cherry tree branches are covered in green leaves, but it was still beautiful.

Ritual place to cleanse before entering the shrine

Instructions for showing respect at a shrine

Afterwards, we went back to Kawaguchiko to a place where we enjoyed a meal in April, called Gen. When we went back to our hotel, I caught a couple great shots of Fuji through the roller coaster.

Because of the forecast, we didn't expect to get any rides at FujiQ. However, on Thursday morning it was overcast but not raining. After breakfast, I suggested we walk to the park. If it was closed, at least we would have gotten in a walk. 

The biggest coaster was closed, but others were opened. So we went in and tried, with some frustration, to figure out where and how to by tickets. Because the weather was uncertain, we decided to buy priority tickets and skip the long line. We went on one of the Guiness record holders, Takabisha, the steepest roller coaster in the world, that goes up at a 90 degree angle and down at a 120 degree angle. 

It was hard to pass on the others, especially after the major one opened, but they were just too expensive! Dick really wanted to go in the horror house, so that was our other attraction at the park. 

We went back to the hotel, me to do some work and Dick to do his thing on the computer. We ate at the hotel restaurant, challenged to order what we really wanted. But it was good in the end.

Friday morning was dreary and rainy, and we left early and got "home" to Soka by noon. that gave me plenty of time to do some work AND finally catch up this blog!

NOTE: June 2018 date on post is republish date, not date of the event.