Mt. Fuji

This post is coming almost a week after the event blogged about below, so my apologies, please. I want to keep this updated every week so that I don't get behind posting about what I'm doing. But I have good reason: Carly and the Browns arrived to Kyoto on Tuesday the 24th! We'd been celebrating their grand arrival to Kyoto and their adventures in Japan for a good three days, and there was no time for anything else, which was just perfect. Now they have gone back to Richmond, all except for Carly, who is still here with me in Kyoto until the 2nd of September, after which she will move it on to Yokohama, her new home for the year.

So, about what I did last weekend; I climbed Mt. Fuji! Dan, Jessie, and I made a weekend trip of it so that we could meet up with other JETs from Toyama prefecture, one of whom is a Canadian friend of Dan's. The three of us met up in Kawaguchiko, a small resort town at the base of Mt. Fuji. Aside from the mountain, there are some beautiful lakes around it that many people unfamiliar with the area probably don't know about. But they are a great vacation in their own right. Here is Lake Kawaguchiko, where we had a swim upon our arrival.

The Lake looked like a resort, lined with hotels sporting porches and lounge chairs. There were paddle boats in the form of pink swans, and a handful of motor boats even whizzed by from time to time. Later that afternoon, we moved over to Fujiyoshida, another town at the base of the mountain and closer to our embarkation point. We stayed the night at a youth hostel and had a meal at a small sushi restaurant in town.

We were the only patrons of the restaurant that evening, as far as we know. The chef's daughter, who must have been around 35, spoke great English and entertained us throughout the meal with questions about where we were from and what we liked about Japan. She told us all about her town, and as it turns out, she revealed that she was a Japanese teacher for local English speakers, and that she had a class that night at the community center. So, after the meal, we ran back to our hostel, dropped off unnecessary belongings and met back outside to be picked up to go to the lesson. There, we met two other Americans, one Brit, and a woman from Ireland. They were all English teachers like us. We had a fun time playing some Japanese language games, and after, we returned home to get some rest for the long day of hiking ahead. This one is of Dan and me before arriving to our hostel earlier in the day.


Behold Mt. Fuji. After leaving our hostel the next morning, we walked up the main road of town with this in our sights: the summit rising above the clouds. Our plan, as we decided the day before, was to hike up to stage 5 of the mountain, about half way up and the typical starting point for tourists. Dan's friend was getting a bus to stage 5 that afternoon, arriving at 3:30, so that she and her Toyama friends could climb that night. So we had to do the first half of the mountain in the morning to get to them.

We stopped before our initial ascent in order to fill our empty stomachs with a piping bowl of fresh udon. Here is the restaurant where we stopped, and where many Japanese were both breakfasting and lunching.

The map at the base of the mountain, or at stage 1, detailing our route is below. We walked for at least an hour and a half on paved road with cars passing us on the left. This was not the high point of the journey (no pun intended).

As we arrived to stage 1, we were greeted by three Japanese women beckoning us to come and drink some cold tea and water. Thinking it was a profit seeking setup on their part--no doubt because of our Western experiences--we nearly passed them by waving, "no thanks." But, luckily, they communicated to us that it was "free," so we stopped for some cold oolong tea, some hot, fresh matcha, and some little sugar candies for energy.

Here we have Dan, Jessie, and me, having made it to stage 3. We took photos like this at every stage up until 5.

Here we have reached "a stage 5," but it was not the meeting point decided upon by Dan and his friend. So we walked another 25 minutes around the mountain via a small path to the main starting point.

We arrived here, at the "base camp" of Mt. Fuji, to find many gift shops, outdoor supply shops, and a small bus terminal. We crashed here after an exhausting 5-hour hike to stage 5 for approximately 4 hours, from 4:30 to 8:30. We just layed down on the ground after changing clothes, had some more snacks, and tried to recharge our batteries.

The Toyama JETs were about 25 large, so we split up into different groups according to approximated speed. One group left at 6:30, another at 7:30, and we left at 8:30. There were 6 of us in the group.

I was geared up with some waterproof pants, a couple layers of shirts, a waterproof jacket, hiking stick, handkerchief, hat, and head lamp. Boy, was that head lamp helpful. You wouldn't believe the jagged rocks we had to climb over, and with few hand railings. The path was easily a treacherous route, where much peril could have occurred. Thankfully, none did. Here we are at stage 7, getting some brandings on our walking sticks and stopping for water. This must have been about 3 hours into the night, at 11:30 pm.


I love Carly... and wish she had been with me. She was bummed not to have been able to come since she had not yet arrived to Kyoto.

After 5.5 hours of tough climbing, my quads and calves deteriorating under roughly 10 hours of climbing, up 3,776 meters, or 12,388 feet, we made it to the summit around 2:00 am. Relieved to be at the top, we tried to rest and get some sleep before the sunrise scheduled for 4:30, but whad'ya know, it was around 45 degrees F. So we huddled together trying to keep warm, but no sleeping happened. Jessie, Lockey, and me thrilled to be at the top, but also frozen:

Finally 4:30 arrived and this is the view we were working with: (we were beyond fortunate to have camped out in front of a Shinto torii at the summit so we could get some pictures like this.)


It was almost fully daylight before we could even see the sun. Check out those fluffy clouds.


Here is a picture of only a small fraction of the climbers who were viewing the sunrise that morning with us. Dan told me earlier that each night there are around 3,300 climbers who attempt the climb to the top each night. I would believe that. There were a ton of people.

The sunrise! And over the clouds!

Two thumbs up from me:

So beautiful.


This is the crater of Mt. Fuji, not nearly as exciting as the sunrise or the clouds. I even took home a piece of volcanic rock. It's my personal piece of the Aggro Crag... something I never got as a child, since I was never on Nickelodeon GUTS. But now I have a piece!

The walk down the mountain was pretty horrible, you may be surprised to hear. I'm sure many climbers forget the obvious corollary to climbing the mountain: if you climb up it, you have to climb down it. Ugh... I wish they had rigged a ski lift so it didn't take another 3-4 hours of stumbling, sliding, and slipping down the mountain trail of loose dirt and rock. That was not fun, especially getting dust and grit in my mouth and nose. But after taking a bus back down from stage 5, and getting back to Lake Kawaguchiko for a cleansing swim, I knew it was all worth it. There is a Japanese saying about Mt. Fuji that goes something like this: If you never climb Mt Fuji you are a fool, and if you climb it more than once you are a fool. Having climbed Mt. Fuji, I know this aphorism to be quite true. I leave you with a view from the climb down.

My new Japanese chair...

...is AWESOME.

Jingo-ji

This past Sunday a small group of us Kyoto JETs (Dan, Joanna, and I) set out to hike a trail detailed in Dan's 'Lonely Planet' book on the Kansai region. I hesitated to agree to the trip at 12:30 pm that day when Joanna called to see if I were in. I had grand hopes of relaxing, reading, and maybe studying some Japanese. But accepting and dropping everything else was the best decision I've made since arriving in Japan. The hike was insanely awesome; Jingo-ji (a Buddhist temple) could not have been more hallowed and peaceful; and the watering holes along the winding river were sublimely refreshing during a streak of 90+ degree weather.

Dan, Joanna, and me as we were beginning to set out. And here's the view we were working with. Not bad. This could almost be Virginia if it weren't for the Japanese rooftops peeking through the greenery.

Obligatory portrait shot:


We passed through secluded communities and villages in which we found no more than a handful of residents. Surprisingly, vending machines were everywhere to be found, even down steep hills and halfway up an ancient mountain leading to Jingo-ji! I'm becoming addicted to ¥100 iced coffee and espresso shots from these machines.

This food shop below was in the middle of the woods. Coming upon it, I began to wonder: who knows how long it's been here. --Not the actual structure or building I mean, but the site of the noodle shop. Monks in the 9th c. had to eat, too, you know! It would have been only a 100 meter walk from the front of the temple to get a hot bowl of ramen.


Here are a few of Jingo-ji. They wouldn't allow pictures inside the buildings, but the main hall was so beautiful it was hard to agree to the policy. The man inside the main hall (not sure if he was a priest...) had lit incense, which complemented the dimly lit corners of the hall replete with ancient Buddhist tracts and other writings in beautiful, black kanji. The entrance:

I loved these trees. So straight.

Soon after this picture was taken we came upon the swimming holes. They were large pools in the river that widened at random points. Rocks calling out to be climbed surrounded the pool. I enjoyed the small climbs, but jumping or diving was dangerous due to the shallow water. But that didn't stop one Japanese man from taking the plunge... head first. We were scared for his life, and for his son's, who had, moments earlier, been beckoned from family below and urged by his father above to jump. At least that's what it seemed like, since I don't speak Japanese very well.



After a little bit more hiking we came to a clearing and a cliff. Below we could see our passage back into Kyoto, a train stop, which was a number of miles away by that point. And it was 7:30 pm and we were in the middle of nowhere. But it only took 15 minutes to travel back to Kyoto Station and then to Sanjo Keihan for dinner. Best weekend trip yet. Maybe ever.

New Quotation

I recently read the following quote in Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. I'm not yet decided on why I appreciate it exactly, but I think it's something worth remembering and thinking about. The following are the words of Francisco d'Anconia to Henry Rearden, one industrialist magnate to another:

"I don't like people who speak or think in terms of gaining anybody's confidence. If one's actions are honest, one does not need the predated confidence of others, only their rational perception. The person who craves a moral blank check of that kind has dishonest intentions, whether he admits it to himself or not."

Foods and Fireworks

So I've been here in Kyoto, Japan now for over a week and a half. A lot has happened. I've been to school for a full week, meeting teachers, students, and staff. Official teaching has not started yet so I'm not in the full swing of my job, but I've been busy working on a self-introduction lesson with giant color pictures of my family, friends, interests, travels, etc. I've been out exploring Kyoto a number of times to see a shrine,





...to eat good Japanese food, and to find household necessities. I've also discovered a number of cultural peculiarities and differences that I would not call shocking (at least to me), but they certainly are entertaining.

Here is a little of where I live. This is the view from my balcony on the 4th floor looking toward Mt. Hiei (Paul Groner of UVA Relg. Studies Dept. would be proud).

And the river that I cross over on my bicycle when I head to the store. To the north of the city the river is pretty shallow. Even in the center of the city you can see rocks that have been layed down at the bottom of the river in a grid formation. It's really pretty and shallow enough to wade in and feel tangibly, but I'm not sure it's allowed.

And once and a while there are these little waterfalls where cranes frequently hang out.

So here is my new office and my desk at school. Pretty standard high school office for Japan. The nice thing about it - not that I've had trouble with this in the past - is that students cannot cross a line more than two feet within the room from the doorway. So no pesky students surprising you at your desk...but how could I ever find these students pesky!? I'm sure there's a good reason forit. It's alright with me.


Ok, so here are some of the weird things I've discovered, some of which I've grown to love through the past few days. First to note: they warn you about hormones and chemicals in some American foods that may affect one's health, but the only foods I have found recently with serious growth problems are those in Japan. What I'm saying here is that size is an issue. Some foods (and their packaging) can be small...

(like this can of Ginger Ale)


And some can be enormous...

(like this Godzilla-sized apple - that is a normal orange as Americans know them; and that apple cost me ¥300, like $3.00!)


Instead of with Power Bars, Clif Bars, and Nature Valleys, Japan has chosen to stock its convenience store shelves with "Calorie Mate," a 1970's era mystery biscuit/shortbread that comes in such succulent flavors as:

• Cheese
• Cheesecake
• Chocolate
• Fruit
• Vegetable
• Potato
• Maple

YUM! Actually, it's ok, but a far cry from protein bars or healthy, moist food.


Moving on. Someone has failed to inform Japan that Andre sparkling wine is NOT quality alcohol and should not be sold as such. ¥880 is more than a 100% price increase from the usual $4.99 that it costs in the U.S. I certainly won't be paying that for some Andre, no matter how much I crave it day and night. Andre - 1, Japan - 0.

I also found seriously hilarious the waver I had to sign in order to open my Japanese bank account. Please read:

Not even "quasi-members" of gangster organizations are safe here! As if some shady individual would think they were in the clear after reading (1) and (2), yet to then find themselves cornered and turned away upon reading category (3)...! No doubt about it; this waver is DEFINITELY going to stop gangsters from using this bank for illicit reasons.

This has been the best sign I've seen thus far in Japan, and I still haven't figured out the choice of illustration, though Carly has informed me it is really a sign forbidding bicycling in the area...

I like to call this piece of work, "George Washington's Tentacle and the Devil Child." Why the tentacle arm on this man with a funny haircut, and why the horns on the child? We'll never know.

Here are a few of our group hanging out by the river in Sanjo district. Good news: it it legal to drink in public in Kyoto. So taking a bottle down to the river on a Saturday night is totally allowed.

Here is one of the back streets of Sanjo where we were exploring when looking for a place to eat one evening.

The view from my hotel downtown for the Kyoto Orientation from August 4-6, and new friends Dan and Joanna:

Kyoto Tower:

The crowd in Otsu (east of Kyoto) near Lake Biwa, where we went to see some awesome firewords (hanabi in Japanese) last night, and an unsuspecting passerby with an unusual message for everyone:

And we ended the night with some delicious matcha flavored ice cream with red bean and some gellatin balls (don't know the official word... anyone?):

In sum, the food has been half the adventure so far. And many of the phenomena are inexplicable here, but they are what make Japan mysterious and intriguing. To close I leave you with an LOL-worthy image representative of my life in Japan currently.