Japan in Autumn - Fujikawaguchiko

I have been lucky with Mt. Fuji, able to see it every time I visited, in spite of the notorious fickleness of mountains.  This time is no exception.  I could see it even from the train heading north.  It took a couple of hours even on the Shinkansen and then we have to catch a limited express bus from Mishima to Fujikawaguchiko, the town surrounding Kawaguchiko, the biggest of the five lakes at the foot of Mt. Fuji.

We rented a car for the two days we were here and was able to catch the sunset at least on the first day.   It was a lung-burning exercise attempting to climb the more than 400 steps to tbe top of the Arakura Sengen Shrine in under 15 minutes in order not to miss the sunset.  But the iconic view of Mt. Fuji with the Chureito Pagoda in the foreground is totally worth it.  It would have been a nice spot for sunrise too but I didn't think I could do those steps again in the dark, so was relieved that the forecast was for the possibility of rain the following morning.

The rain was short-lived and Mt. Fuji presented itself in different manifestations throughout the day.  The mountain is considered sacred in Japan and I can understand why - I can't help but be mesmerized every time I saw it.  So you will see a lot of the mountain in this collection with red leaves generously interspersed.  The stunning red leaves are mostly from the Momiji Corridor, a 150 metre stretch of red maple trees.  We also visited Lake Shoji, the smallest of the five lakes, a half hour away from Fujikawaguchiko, but the clouds rolled in and I couldn't get a clear shot of the mountain other than the top.

Fujiyama from the Shinkansen - kudos to the amazing iphone

Fall colours at peak at the lake

The start of the 400+ steps up to the Chureito Pagoda

Half way up 

Near the top

With the pagoda

Hotou, a thick chewy noodle, is a local specialty we tried at a farm to table restaurant.  I love chewy noodles! 

Early morning at the lake

Fujiyama with fall grasses in the foreground at Oishi Park

The start of the Momiji (Red Maple Leaves) Corridor 

The north end of the red corridor

There are some rich browns in the fall colours in Japan that I haven't noticed in Canada

We drove to Lake Shoji, the smallest of the five lakes - it was just a half hour drive but we missed the golden hour.  Still it was great sitting by the lake to watch the last of the light disappear as the mountain top performed its elusive appearance and disappearance act.  It was a lovely end to this autumn tour of Japan.

The Last Supper - a fabulous grilled eel dinner for me and sushi and sashimi for my travel companions

The following morning we took the bus back to Tokyo.  And as luck would have it, our bus drove by what I thought must be the Meiji Jingu Gaien Gingko Avenue and I was able to catch a quick shot of the golden Gingko trees in fall colours.  It was on our original itinerary but we didn't visit because there was little colour change when we first arrived in Tokyo two weeks ago.  What luck to at least see them from afar.

This wraps up our Autumn in Japan trip.  Thank you for coming along.