  Japan
Click to get the inside scoop from
real travelers here at VirtualTourist. See the Japan Travel GuideInside advice from real people on:Overview, Hotels, Things to Do, Restaurants, Nightlife, Shopping, General Tips, Transportation, Off the Beaten Path, Tourist Traps, Warnings or Dangers, Local Customs, Packing Lists or Sports Travel.
 19614 Japan Tips.38321 Japan Photos.5 Japan Videos. Japan Pages by worldkiwi Best Japan Travel Deals
Japan Hotel
Hotel Photos, Info & Virtual Tours Book with Expedia and Save!
Hilton Hotel Tokyo
Our best rates guaranteed online. Book at the official Hilton site.
Tokyo hotels for 68$
6 min to Ikebukuro terminal station Free Internet line, open cafe on 1F
The Ritz-Carlton Shanghai
Enjoy Shanghai's Exciting Nightlife And Luxurious Shopping Mecca.
Tokyo hotel for 69$
Free breakfast, free Internet line 10 min. to Shinjuku, central Tokyo
Sponsored Links |
 worldkiwi's Japan Travelogues | | | |
|
| Page Views: 115 Last Visit to Japan: April, 2006 | A day trip to Kawaguchi-ko. by worldkiwi - last update: May 3, 2006 |
The place to see Mount Fuji... | Kawaguchi-ko from Mount Kachikachi. |
I should add to that title if it's not smoggy/hazy/cloudy!
I travelled to Kawaguchi-ko, just under two hours from Tokyo by bus, for a day trip and, primarily, a chance to photograph Mt Fuji.
Kawaguchi-ko is a rather faded, yet genteel, lakeside resort town. Apart from the garish swan paddle boats on the lake and a beached and ram-shackle old whale-shaped cruise boat on one shore, the town thankfully lacks the loud and nasty tacky tourist gimmicks that one finds in larger, more popular Japanese holiday places. That said, there is a roller coaster in the neighbouring town.
We enjoyed a leisurely stroll around the quiet town and the rope-way (gondola) up Mount Kachikachi to get a view of Mount Fuji. Although we could see Fuji-san well enough (the longer you stared at the have the more it seemed to come into focus), the white haze managed to prevent us from taking very good photos (as you can see from the apologies for photos that I have here). |
| Mount Fuji on a hazy day. |
|  | Awful photo number 1. This is the view (photo adjusted greatly to reduce the effect of the haze) from Mount Kachikachi straight at the looming Mount Fuji , which really dominates the landscape behind Kawaguchi-ko. |
| Terrible photo of Mt Fuji. |
| | Awful photo number 2. If you walk around the lake from the town you can make a one hour loop, coming back over the bridge. From the far side of the lake, you can get those postcard views of Mount Fuji across water with cherry blossom bordering the photo - if it's not hazy!!
This photo was taken in the middle of the day, but to make the mountain partially visible I've had to play around with photo and you can still hardly see the mountain at all! Awful. |
| | Nasty story of revenge. On top of Mount Kachikachi, where you can sit and gaze at Mount Fuji, you will notice a lot of little rabbit and raccoon figures doing all sorts of weird things. The small 'sculptures' represent a story of truly Japanese proportions!
Basically, a raccoon killed a grandmother and he was hunted down and tortured by a revengeful bunny who then ended up killing the raccoon! Mad. And I thought rabbits were always the naughty ones!
It costs JPY700 for a return trip on the 'ropeway' (gondola) to the top of Mt Kachikachi. But if you can't see Mt Fuji from below, I wouldn't bother going up. |
| A temple in Kawaguchi-ko. |
| | A lovely temple in Kawaguchi-ko. As you wander down to the lakefront from the railway station, where highway buses from Tokyo stop, you will pass this lovely temple. Unfortunately, I don't know its name. |
> Add to your Custom Travel Guide [What's This?]
| worldkiwi's Japan Travelogues | | | |
|
 Comments for worldkiwi about Japan | | | | |
dolores10 Tue Feb 26, 2008 16:20 UTC
To add to the comment about money - if you come from the UK, many of our bank machines are not configured the same as Japanese banks. However, you should be able to extract money from the ATMs at Citibank. | BarbaraForza Sun Feb 6, 2005 08:15 UTC
Japan and its castles...fascinating! I'm thinking of Japan as one in my future travels... | bkoon Tue May 25, 2004 09:24 UTC
1.5 days to explore Kyoto is defintely not enough. I was there for a few days and still, not enough time. | vigi Tue May 25, 2004 09:13 UTC
Hey, we got the same picture (almost the same angle) of Japanese garden at the Palace!!! |
|
Best Japan Travel Deals
San Diego Hotel Packages
Up to 20% off stay, Free Gas Card & More. View Hotel Getaway Packages!
Japan Hotels
Our Best Japan Hotels Discounts Number 1 In Asia Hotels, Book Now!
Tokyo Hotels
Book With The Hotels Experts Save on Top Rated Hotels in Tokyo
Sponsored Links |
email me
add as friend
