Unfortunately as all good trips go, they must eventually come to an end. I feel like I normally would be more sad about leaving but we already have another trip planned in November to see the leaves turn color in northern Japan with my cousin Become and his wife Yolanda. Google “Post-Japan blues” it’s a real thing tourists get after returning home from a trip.
I had never been to Japan during the cherry blossom season. To hit it when you’re planning a trip months in advance is challenging due to weather conditions and climate change has added a bit more unpredictability to the forecasts. The official cherry blossom season started on the day we were leaving Tokyo last year so we only made it to see about 3 trees with some small flowers on it.
This trip I was determined to find them. Shizuoka prefecture is known for the Kawazu-zakura cherry blossoms which bloom earliest in all of Japan.
When we checked into the hotel, I asked the front desk if I could have a room facing the bullet train station. There was a mixup and they gave the 2 remaining rooms to Become and Vianna.
I don’t watch baseball but this Shohei guy seems to be pretty popular around Japan. He must be really good or something because everyone wants to take a picture of him standing and holding their product. I made it my mission to document every time that I ran into an ad featuring him.
We had another travel day ahead of us today. I think our full day in Kawaguchiko was enough time to do sight seeing, but one additional day to check out the downtown area’s shops and other Fuji views would have been welcome too.
I really don’t think I’ll get sick of this view. I wrote yesterday’s blog sitting here and occasionally turning my head to look at the giant mountain/volcano behind me. Mt. Fuji is a UNESCO heritage site for Japan because of its source of inspiration to Japanese culture and history for over a thousand years. Maybe I’m also feeling the same inspiration with my photography and blog writing?
I had Japanese class this morning so I had to rush down to the hotel restaurant to get an early breakfast before class at 9. We had another sunny and clear day today and I asked if I could sit next to the window to get a direct view of Mt. Fuji. I don’t think I could get sick of this view. It only made my breakfast taste better.
Our hotel included breakfast and dinner so we got back in time for our 6:30 reservation. On the way to the hotel restaurant, I noticed this poster in the elevator and jumped at the opportunity since it was going to be a clear night. The tour was $130 per person and the guide would take us to 3 different locations starting at 8:30 and dropping us off around midnight. I REALLY needed to catch up on sleep especially after a travel day, but the weather report said tonight was going to be clear. I didn’t want to risk the opportunity of a cloudy night tomorrow and risk missing out on a great photo opportunity.
Today was our travel day out of Kyoto and further into the more rural part of Japan. We had a 2 hour shinkansen ride and then an hour bus to Lake Kawaguchiko, an area to the foot of Mt. Fuji. I was anxious about whether we’d have good weather where we were staying so we could get a clear view.
As I had Japanese class this morning, I had a late start to the day but I didn’t want to prevent my schedule from interfering with Joanna’s family’s ability to see the rest of Kyoto on our last full day here.
In fall 2022 I decided I wanted to formally learn Japanese and not just try to scrounge up what I remember from watching hundreds of hours of anime when I was a teenager. I signed up for online classes at the U of M twice a week for the fall semester. It was pretty intense trying to balance everything but I managed with an A and what I learned that semester was really beneficial for us going to the more rural parts of Japan.
