Jared and I wanted to hike Mt Fuji during this tour. Unfortunately, the trails closed earlier than last year so we missed out. Again. Such is life and given Jared’s schedules, we might have been doing some wishful thinking anyway. Oh well. We make do, we overcome, we adapt to circumstances. The mountain was out but there remained the lakes.
We chose Lake Motosuko. It is a beautiful lake. It is so iconic to the Japanese, it appears on the ¥1000 note.
The weather did not cooperate with us that day so we were unable to witness sakasa-Fuji, which is seeing the reflection of Mt Fuji in the lake as it appears on the note.
There are many things to do beside hiking. One can windsurf (no thank you), cruise the lake on a yacht (too expensive), or canoeing. There are many campsites around the lake.
We elected to just continue our hiking. The breeze at that altitude was a bit chilling and the last thing either of us wished to hear was complaints of being cold and wanting to go ashore. Especially with the cost of renting canoes. There is also the “Yellow Submarine” which is not submersible but does have a see-thru bottom.
To the forest we went to continue hiking. I suppose a warning is due. Part of the trail we were on went through Aokigahara, the Sea of Trees. You might know it better by the many videos of it found online; The Suicide Forest.
Turn the wrong direction and you will find yourself in a forest so dense, the trail is difficult to find, much less follow. But it is a beautiful forest with an unfortunate reputation. It is the second most popular place for suicides worldwide. It is eerily quiet since animal life is near nonexistent. I told Sobo of our trip and she insisted that we carry Omamori, just in case.
Omamori is a charm to protect one and if we were going near the forest, we would need one so we purchased one at a store nearby. Amazing how there is a store ready to supply all the Omamori one may need. We experienced no spirits or anything else so I must conclude they work.
I will give credit where it is due. Our surprise for this trip was June. We expected Jared would be required to carry June after a short time of hiking, but she surprised us very much by being on her own feet for the entire day with only the occasional rest. Jared took home a pocketful of stones and sticks again. This time he was wise enough to keep them.
Most trails at the lake are rated beginner to intermediate unless you take the trail up Mt. Fuji which is rated as intermediate+ all the way up to advanced but since those trail were closed, there were no worries of taking one of those accidentally. Trails can take 3 hours or more depending on which you take. To decide, it is advisable to purchase a trail map. If you cannot read Japanese, pay close attention to the kanji on the map and the signs.
This was not our climb of Mt. Fuji that we had promised ourselves, but at least it was a day spent with all the family. Someday we may return and make our climb but for now, I am satisfied we hiked as a family.
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