Our original departure time was 11:20am, but once JAL had updated their flights with the longer route, we were scheduled to leave at 9:25am. With needing to be at the airport three hours before take-off we had no morning left before needing to leave the hotel. We always stay at Hotel JAL City Haneda, about … Continue reading Japan 2023 Summer Day 15: Flying home from Haneda
It was a sad day, the day we left Kawaguchiko. We woke up to a white sky and no Mount Fuji in sight, but checking the webcams from higher altitudes showed Fuji wasn't completely covered. We rushed to the car and drove straight up the nearby mountain. Just in case the clouds changed their minds … Continue reading Japan 2023 Summer Day 14: Goodbye to Mount Fuji, hello Tokyo
Almost like she was apologising, when we woke up Mount Fuji was completely visible! This is so unlikely in the summer, but I was so hopeful we'd get at least one morning when the waether was clear. I got ready in absolute record time and was out of the house on the way to Oishi … Continue reading Japan 2023 Summer Day 13: Breath-taking Mount Fuji
I left the last post on a bit of a cliff hanger about this night being a bit of a nightmare, and it truly was. Chojo Fujikan is the weirdest, dirtiest place I have ever stayed. After we checked in we were shown to our futon for the night, and were able to take off … Continue reading Japan 2023 Summer day 12: Descending Mount Fuji on the Subashiri trail with altitude sickness
The alarm went off at 3am, it was still pitch black outside, and time to get ready for a really important day, when we finally try to reach the summit of Mount Fuji. We had chosen the Subashiri trail for our ascent, which is one of the least popular trails with only 8% of climbers … Continue reading Japan 2023 Summer Day 11: Climbing Mount Fuji via the Subashiri trail
We woke to a cloudy sky, the webcams showed that even at altitue Fuji was hiding and so we had a slower morning than usual. For a few moments Fuji did appear in a gap in the clouds, but before we could get out of the house, she was gone again. With the weather saying … Continue reading Japan 2023 Summer Day 10: Seeing Mount Fuji & a bear scare
Statistically, the chances of seeing Mount Fuji in August are quite low compared to the rest of the year, but not nothing, and so with hope we were out of the house and driving up a mountain before 5:30am. Often the clouds can be more low-lying so from a higher altitude you get a clear … Continue reading Japan 2023 Summer Day 9: A Canoe trip on Kawaguchiko with Mount Fuji
Kawaguchiko is my favourite place in the world, and so staying for another week in summer after a week in winter is a treat. One thing about summer is that the chances of seeing Mount Fuji are much lower, but still 40% chance in the morning, and so we woke up early just in case … Continue reading Japan 2023 Summer Day 8: Kawaguchiko in summer, shy Mount Fuji
It was an absolutely sweltering morning in Kanazawa, even though we were packed and out of the house by 7am, the humidity was intense. Our plan for the day was to get to our rental house in Kawaguchiko, some 200 miles away, with plenty of stops along the way. We couldn't leave Kanazawa without visitng … Continue reading Japan 2023 Summer Day 7: Kenroku-en, Ainokura & Gokoyama
We were out of our lovely townhouse before 7am so we could get to Higashi Chaya and experience the old town without any other tourists around. Even though it was so early the day was already incredibly humid, the Sea of Japan coast is hot!!! It didn't take too long to get to the tea … Continue reading Japan 2023 Summer Day 6: Fantastic Fukui
My Nihon 