Day Five: Mt. Fuji

Hi everyone! This is Mira, a rising sophomore on the trip. Today, I am very excited to tell everyone what happened on Day 5 (Kawaguchiko) for Poly GIP Japan. I’m writing with Isabel.

I started off my day at my host family's home in Da Bai. There I got a wonderful breakfast of onigiri and miso soup cooked by my host family. At 7:20 am, my host students (Shun and Rikka Ito) showed me their daily commute to school. We started off with a walk to the local train station. It was a very clear and sunny morning so we had a clear view of Mount Fuji. At the train station we took a five minute train ride to the stop at Niriyama. Then we took a short walk to Niriyama High School that included a view of the rice fields near the school. 

My host students and I arrived at the high school at 8:00 am and I parted ways with them to go to the conference room where everyone was meeting. At the room most of the Polytechnic students were there as I was the second last to arrive. It was really nice to see everyone. Everyone was talking about what happened last night during their home stays. Then we were ushered onto a bus that would be how we commuted throughout the day. 

Our first stop for the day was the Fugisan World Heritage Site, which was an hour by bus from Niriyama Highschool. Fugisan World Heritage Site, also known as the Kawaguchiko Heritage Center, is a UNESCO World Heritage site that opened in 2016. We started our exploration of the Heritage Center in the North Hall by watching a seven minute video on the history, formation and surrounding sites of Mount Fuji. After the video everyone had an opportunity to walk around the Center at their own pace. The Heritage Center has two main halls, the South and North Hall. The North Hall featured a gift shop (a lot of students bought toy cars there), a photo exhibition of Mount Fuji, and an observation deck to view Mount Fuji. The South Hall included a museum and a library with books about Mount Fuji. Some highlights of the museum included a fifteen meter wide wash paper model of Mount Fuji and a sped up video of an individual’s point of view when walking the entirety of Mount Fuji from the base of the mountain. After taking a photo, we headed back onto the bus to our next stop, the Mount Fuji panoramic rope way. 

After a short bus trip, we got off and made our way to the entrance to ride the Mount Fuji panaramic rope way. The panaramic rope way is a scenic cable car ride ascending 400 meters from the eastern shore of Lake Kawaguchiko (the second largest of the Fuji Five Lakes in terms of surface area). The ropeway leads to an observation deck near the peak of Mount Tenjo. The theme of the cable car and observation deck centers around the Japanese folktale "Kachi-Kachi Yama," written by Osamu Dazai. "Kachi-Kachi Yama" or “The Farmer and the Badger” is about a clever rabbit who takes revenge on a cruel tanuki (badger) that harmed an old couple. The rabbit tricks the tanuki multiple times, eventually stranding him on a burning boat, symbolizing justice and cleverness triumphing over cruelty. 

The ride up to the observation deck took around three minutes and showed a clear view of Lake Kawaguchiko. At the top of the ride on the right side of the observation deck we had a really clear view of Mount Fuji. We took a couple photos as a group and then we were sent off to take a look around by ourselves. One highlight of the observation deck included the Usagi-jinja (Rabbit Shrine), which is a small shrine dedicated to the rabbit from the folktale. Another highlight was the Tenjo Bell, which is a bell suspended in a heart-shaped frame, that included a view of Mount Fuji. Finally, a personal favorite of the group was an anime girl cardboard cutout. We didn't know why it was there but everyone in our group wanted to take a photo with it with Mount Fuji in the background. 

After around thirty minutes of walking around we all started a 400 meter downhill hike towards the base of the mountain the observation deck was on. The trail featured a lot of trees that shaded the area making it a nice, easy walk. We arrived at the ropeway entrance at around 12:10 pm and boarded the bus and headed to lunch. 

Hi everyone, it’s Isabel! After our journey down the mountain from the Panoramic Ropeway we got on the bus and headed for lunch. For lunch, our group had Udon noodles with a side of fresh sashimi, rice, meat, seafood and other various side dishes common in traditional Japanese meals. We finished our meal quickly, so headed out a little early to  Iyashi no Sato, a cultural heritage village located on the north-west shore of Lake Saiko, one of the five lakes. On the bus ride there, we had a picturesque view of Mount Fuji and the forest that surrounds it. Iyashi no Sato, established in 2006, serves as a reconstruction of an original traditional thatched-roofed village that was destroyed in a landslide in 1996. Attractions such as samurai displays, cultural exhibits and small shops offer a view into rural Japanese life. The bus ride was about half an hour long, but once we arrived our group participated in a traditional craft called “Chokin” where we used nails and hammers to imprint dents and create images on a small metal tag. We worked in a small artisan shop selling handmade glass goods. At first it was a little tricky to get the hang of, but after a little practice the designs came naturally. I imprinted a drawing of Mount Fuji on my tag and attached it to a colorful keychain.

Once we had finished our craft, we had around 20 minutes to explore on our own. I walked around the various little shops and even bought some grape jelly candies. It was a great opportunity to take in the views and enjoy all the scenery. The mountains were lush and a vibrant green, a nice contrast to the brown and white wood houses. I saw a couple of samurai displays and explored a small erosion control museum. After the 20 minutes had passed, our group met up at a small ice cream shop towards the entrance of the village. Out of the various different flavors such as, chocolate vanilla swirl, strawberry, matcha, Sakura, grape, peach and many others, I chose mint and chip.  We ate the ice cream on a small table outside. When we finished we headed to the bus to head back to Nirayama High school and meet back with our homestay families. Thank you for reading our blog!