Fujiyama

I was looking forward to the trip to Mt. Fuji even before I left for Japan.  Our groups original plan had been to hike part of the way up the mountain on Wednesday, stay in one of the cabin/hostels on the mountain and then rise very early on Thursday morning and hit the summit for sunrise.  We had been unable to contact anyone to set this up and found out why when we got to Japan . . .  Fuji had not yet opened for the official hiking season (this we knew) and hikers were not being allowed past the fifth station due to  . . . 

SNOW!  We had forgotten how different the climate could be from sea level to over 12,000 feet.  Nevertheless, we were determined to go see this icon of Japan so, after braving the sardine like condition of trains at rush hour and a bus ride up the side of the mountain, we found ourselves at station five.  This location is the usual starting point for hikers on Fuji. 

Naturally, since this is one of the most popular tourist sites in Japan, this building contained stores with just about everything one could want for hiking / backpacking as well as some really . . .  interesting souvenirs.  They even had a Star Wars section with t-shirts depicting Darth Vader climbing Mt. Fuji (did not get a picture of that).  

The ubiquitous fog followed us from Nikko so I was not able to get any really clear shots of the mountain.  It was very cool - we were past 6,000 feet - and we even saw some snow flurries while we were there.  Fortunately, the clouds did part toward the end of our sojourn there and I got a couple of photos before the mountain was socked in again.  

In addition to the tourist shops, there was, of course, a Shinto shrine on the mountain although I somehow managed to turn on the 'fisheye' feature of my camera for this one. 

Shinto is the indigenous religion of Japan (unlike Buddhism which came from China) and involves reverence for ancestors and the spirits of the land.  You see Shinto shrines all through Japan and you see people praying at them all the time.  There are general shrines but there are also sites that are specific to a purpose.  I understand that there is a particular kind of shrine that students go to to pray for good grades!  (Did not see one of those but I am told they are pretty common).  

And just to prove that I was there . . .  

here is my intrepid band.  This picture was taken by one of the innumerable, helpful Japanese folks we ran into along the way.