Sunset over Syojiko in Matsue

26 December 2009 (Matsue, Tottori): It is not fun to wake up to the sound of rain outside. This happened today, so I decided to sleep in. For japanese breakfast, Yoshitaka-san I just realised is their name, made grilled Kare fish and rice. A little bottle of yakult yogurt tops it all off.

Took a kilometre walk to Matsue-jo castle this morning, passing by the lake for another crack at shooting the little island by the art museum. Again it started to rain little hailstones. On the way across the main bridge, the hail storm intensified and mixed with a little snow. Once that quickly cleared, the sun was out in full force.

Matsue-jo Outer wall & moat

Matsue-jo is on top of a hill. It is just after a large hospital, and you know you are there when you see a hill and a moat going around the area. The entrance of the castle is on top of the hill, accessible by going up a few flight of stairs. A cub baseball team was training on the grounds the morning I was there. Made to run up the staircase.

Matsue-jo

Matsue-jo requires an entrance fee to get in, and if you are a foreigner, it is 280Y and half the original price local pay. It must be a limited time promotion. There is nothin special about the garden although it is a nice little stroll and has nice views being perched on top of a hill. To enter the castle it is necessary to remove shoes and there are ample lockers with locks to store them too bad they are not made for shoes sized 11 or more. I had to get creative to fit my shoes into the locker. There are about 5-6 storeys in this castle and the interior has a rustic feel to it. It is quite clear they did replace some wood here but generally the original interior stayed intact. The most interesting part for me is how they take a bunch of wooden pillars and staples them together with a giant piece of steel brace to form a larger pillar. The wood is darkish in colour and on the outside the mortar is all bright white, which kills the exposure on my camera, you have pure white and black wood, so impossible to get details in both. Back to the interior, on the first floor is the storage area and this is where they store the original building materials when they are renovated, and also a really deep well to get water in times of a siege. Second floor is a museum with a nice collection of samurai costumes and hats. The other floors are empty which explains why I lost count of the floors after the third.

After Matsue-jo, I went out through the back of the castle to the northern exit towards the home of Lafgadio Hearn but I don’t intend to enter it. The street directly circling the castle moat clockwise from the home is quite interesting. The houses here are constructed in the style of the olden times and it is just charming. I passed the preserved house of a Samurai but I have to get back to Terazuya’s Ryokan to pick up my items and catch the train to Tottori. I would say Matsue is a nice walking city.

Continuing with the nice train names, after lunch, I’m on a Super Oki train to Yonago. At the time I wanted there are no express direct train to Tottori so I will have to spend 1 more hour on the train by going to Yonago and taking a non reserved local train (more like a metro!). Considering the next available direct train from Matsue to Tottori leaves 2 hours later than Super Oki, I will still get to Tottori an hour earlier allowing me to visit the dunes before sunset.

All towns in Japan begin to look similar. They all seem to be built around a JR train station where all life seems to happen. After checking with the tourist center at JR Tottori, I picked up the bus timing to the sand dunes and based on the first couple of bus back tomorrow morning, proceeded to book an early train and Shinkansen back to Tokyo Shinagawa station. This will allow me to have some time shopping in tokyo before I return on Sunday. So, train tomorrow leaves before 9 am.

Then its time to go look for the bus terminal just in front of the JR station and berth 4. The bus ride to the dunes is not too far, 15 to 20 minutes at the most and costs 310Y by the meter. Only worry is that now the sky is starting to get dark and it is not even 4 pm yet with sun setting almost 5 pm. I get off at the cycling terminal entrance and proceeded to look for a hostel to stay for the night among the stars and dunes. I start to have a sense that here no one seems to understand a single word of english, and being able only to count in Japanese surely does not help for me.

After checking in, and finding out that in this off season, no meals are included in the room rate as the restaurant is closed, I lighten my load and brought only tripod and camera and it is time to explore the dunes. As Murphy’s law would have it, just after I left the hostel it started to rain,and not just rain, being pelted by ball bearing sized rocks of ice was not fun, which is all I can say. Gore-Tex hood on, and rain cover comes on; on the camera bag and it just wouldn’t stop. As I got closer to the beach on the sand dunes the wind started to be gale force and hail stones travelling almost horizontally. I couldn’t face windward without getting battered by ice rocks. No desert for me today it seems, the sand is now compact and starting to have a snow buildup on it, accents of white snow building on the throughs in the sand dune ripples. Just as I had hoped, the wind and snow then stopped all of a sudden and I set my camera bag down and took a series of photos with the 17-35 f2.8 mounted on my camera and thereafter switched to the 28-70 f2.8 before quickly packing everything up as the snow, hail and wind picks up again. Saw a really nice scene with half the sky bright and puffy clouds and the other half dark and moody, but I couldn’t shoot with the hail stones hitting the lens front element at this rate. When it died down the scene was gone.

Hurried back to the hostel and left my camera bag there and decided to take the bus to Tottori JR station for some seafood but once in the bus realised I forgot my wallet so its going back again. Once back I had no mood to take the bus again so decided to hike 20 minutes to the nearest convenience store along a road I have not gone before.

So for 10 minutes, the road goes through a dark woods, and here I am, hiking in the dark, with only a slight moonlight as my only source of illumination while listening to a Melvin Braggs podcast on science of time. This road could be haunted for all I know but I was hungry so nothing will stop me. After passing the halfway point, the road starts to pitch downhill and there right in front of me was an excellent night view of Tottori city.

27 December 2008 (Tottori and the trip back to Tokyo): Ah, it had to end like this. Woke up early at 0530 this morning to have morning coffee and wait for the sun to come up, hoping for a dry and sunny morning but it was not to be. It snowed overnight. It stopped raining by 0700 but taking a stroll on the sand dunes only yielded compacted sand, dark in colour. As the skies doesn’t seem to be clearing anytime soon, low hanging clouds dampening the mood early in the morning and all hope is lost. Its time to make it back to JR Tottori and to hope for better luck next time.

Sand Dunes at Tottori. This is about the best I could do with the 2 days of storm when I was here.

Taking the 0853 Super-Hakuto 4 train to Himeji where I will switch to the Hikari shinkansen to Tokyo. Along the way on the Super-Hakuto, the countryside was all white from the heavy snow fall overnight. In large fields it was possible to see small tracks of little 4 legged animals going through it. Too bad a moving train presents a difficult shooting environment for DSLR so I took snapshots with the point and shoot and mobile phone. As the train weaves through tunnels and tightly spaced valleys and hills, in some area there are low hanging clouds which will make for good photo mood but only if I was outside the train. So I could only look this time. At Himeji there will be a 30 minutes stopover before the train I am supposed to take arrives. It seems that Himeji has a nice large castle in town, and has its own festival, a float being displayed inside the Shinkansen terminal waiting area in JR Himeji. Maybe next trip.

Sun setting over Tottori

Passing through Kyoto, it was clear that the snowfall overnight was quiet heavy. All the buildings in the city was blanketed with heavy snow and for a while the sun was out giving a nice glow to the whole city. I wished I was out there with my camera. It was not possible to do it from the train and hope for a photo nice enough for publishing, at least technically. If only it was like this in the morning in Tottori sand dunes, and my trip would have been 100% perfect!

The Shinkansen

The rest of the journey was quite uneventful. For the first time I didn’t sleep in the bullet train. It took another 3 hours to get to Tokyo, and for me the stop was Shinagawa as it is closer to Shinjuku, my next destination. For a country that prides it self with being green, the trains seem to be very heavily heated. At least for me, it was impossible to feel comfortable in the Japanese trains with any jackets on. The temperature has to be cranked up to at least 25C! I think they can save a lot of energy reducing the temperature by at least 5 C and still make commuters feel comfortable.

Once I got to Tokyo, it was time for a last minute shopping. As this is already Saturday, my flight back is on the next day and one of the first flights out of Tokyo. So in short, a shopping spree that started with Shinjuku, then on the Chuo Rapid service to Nakano (Fujiya Camera!), and back to the Chuo Rapid/Yamanote JR line to Akihabara (had to visit the large toy section at Yodobashi Akihabara, Yodo Akiba in short, for my little niece), and then back on the Yamanote JR to Ikebukuro to visit BIC Camera’s original store, and then back to Shibuya to spend the night.

Shinjuku JR West Entrance

And suddenly, as fast as it started, it was time to end this week long trip. It is my first time moving around multiple destinations in Japan. I have been spending quite a lot of my time in 2008 in Tokyo for business, and this only allows day trip trekking in the mountains and forests around Tokyo, but it is always back to the hotel in the evening. This time I was able to move around from town to town, staying in tatami floored room. What do I think about the traditional Japanese way of being comfortable? I actually love the tatami floor and it is extremely comfortable, if you have the right heating for the room of course. And the room is a lot more neat when after getting up, basically everything seems to be chucked into the cupboard leaving a clean and neat straw mat floor. For sure next time I am in Japan I will insist on being given a Japanese style room and not a Western one. Japanese style toilets are another thing. I dont like squatting when carrying out my business. I get cramps when doing so.

And while looking at the Map of Japan at the end of my trip, it looks as though I have conveniently covered Hiroshima, Shimane and Tottori prefecture, majority of Western Honshu. Thoroughly enjoyed the trip and language was definitely an issue in this part of Japan, but gives me more incentive to at least learn some Japanese before I return next time to cover other region. As usual, I love the food here, and especially the fresh and light taste unlike more western stuff. Like I said, nothing like a hot bowl of soba in the morning. Or natto. Wrapping up this blog posting, its amazing I have managed to typed so much in a week on my Nokia E71, and still only scratching the surface of how I really enjoyed this trip.

*end*

Shinkansen! It is always exciting to be taking the bullet train, no matter how many times you have been on it.

JR Hiroshima Station

Arrived on time in Hiroshima and right away I booked the train for tomorrow to Matsue. I let their super computer system choose the best path but will leave after lunch. Should make it to Matsue before sunset.

Time then to get on the JR line to Miyajima-guchi station to look for my hostel for the night. Will drop my things there before going roaming streets of Hiroshima till night time. Miyajima is an island that is quite popular, possibly just because of a floating Torii gate. Since the moon will be up during the morning tomorrow, I have decided the plan would be Hiroshima today, and if I get high tide tomorrow morning, I can catch the first ferry across to Miyajima to shoot the gate in the morning.

Hiroshima JR station looks rather bare for a large city. And rather devoid of commuters too, strange considering it is now lunch time. I was hoping to grab some GPS plots of the JR trip but we have an overhead highway along the track so I doubt there will be any useful signal. Nothing special about the local train that serves the Hiroshima suburb which I am taking to Miyajima-guchi.

JR Train Station at Mijajimaguchi. The Ferry stop is 100m walk away.

After leaving my bag at the spartan hostel, its back to Hiroshima city center, with the train taking about half an hour to get there. At the Hiroshima JR station 6th floor there a couple of restaurants, all serving only japanese menu. A lot of sample dishes on the front display but no pictures to point to in the menu. I settled for kamaneshi oyster with tempura. Not exactly at random but.

Inside the Hiroshima tram

First destination while there is still light is the A-bomb dome, which probably doesn’t require any introduction at all. From the train station, tram number 2 gets there for a flat fee of 150Y, I mean, flat as in it gets you wherever you want to go in Hiroshima for a flat fee. Back to the ruin: it is what you would expect, that’s the problem with heavily photographed buildings, when you get there you are disappointed. Its cordoned off by a metal fence so tourists will have to admire from outside. I walked a around and found that the area behind the dome is the best to shoot as there are not too many towers or building in your background. Nothing more unconvincing than a world war two building it skyscraper behind it. Later than evening I would return to shoot the dome at night when she sun start to set. Best time is around 1830 to 1900 where the sun has already set and the sky is still crimson and the dome has been lighted up for the night. The balance of lights in the sky and dome makes for interesting scene. White balance for fluorescent seems to work best for me.

Hiroshima

A-bomb Dome at dusk

Next across the river is a park with many monuments dedicated to peace. Nothing interesting to report so I just go through it quickly.

On the way to Hiroshima-jo Castle

Hiroshima-jo Castle

Up north, a short walk past the baseball stadium and a large library/sports center is Hiroshima-jo or remains of what used to be a castle. When you come to a body of water that is it. The moat marks where the castle used to be and only one tower seems to remain. I set up my tripod here and waited for the light to fade in the evening. Difference in light in the sky and on the tower seems too much to shoot properly so it was time for a little HDR. When it got too dark to shoot, its time to look for Okonomiyaki place at the Parco shopping center end of the pedestrian mall not too far from the A-bomb dome. How can I come to Hiroshima and not try it. it is probably more fast food than gourmet, pancake with noodles, beansprout, lettuce and toppings of your choosing. And of course the black sweet sauce. I can’t say it is my favourite food or something I can have all the time. Oh yeah, forgot the bacon.

Shooting Hiroshima-jo in the evening

Okonomiyaki at

24 December 2008 (Miyajima, Matsue): It will be an early morning today. I stay close to the Miyajimaguchi ferry terminals so taking the second ferry of the day at 0705 hrs. Sun is just coming up but considering the populated part of the island is on the western side of Miyajima, I guess I will be in the shadow of the sun till 10 am at least. Over the horizon, amber skies greet me while this JR ferry covers the 2 km of waterway separating Hiroshima and Miyajima.

Miyajimaguchi Ferry

Miyajimaguchi Ferry station early in the morning

Miyajima JR Ferry

Morning ferry to Miyajima from Miyajimaguchi

On Miyajima itself 7 am seems to be the best time to be out shooting. Sunlight is not too strong and has the warm feel to it. I unload shutter clicks on Itsukushima Shrine’s floating Torii. Already over shot in the media, I will contribute to it. The shrine is also worth a visit and entrance fee is 300Y. Somehow I feel like I know this place, and it could be the countless japanese shrine shots I have seen in brochures. Wild deers roam the island, none in the shrine but present just about anywhere else. I took my time at Itsukushima Shrine, and before long, managed to put more than 100 photos in the mornin alone, which is a lot from me.

Itsukushima Shrine on Miyajima

Itsukushima Shrine Torii gate

View of Floating Torii on Miyajima from Itsukushima Shrine

On the way back to the ferry, I passed by Senjokaku Temple and the five storied pagoda. What caught my eye was that it is made with wood, and not renovated in the recent century. I have not seen such an old original temple in japan before. Possibly in Nikko but in terms of size, Senjokaku is sprawling. Inside it is a large open hall suspended above the ground large pillars. The pagoda however looks new. Maybe it is the paintwork but I think I have seen too many of them.

Impressive looking cookie stamping machine in one of the high street stores on Miyajima

Worlds largest rice ladle!

At 1100hrs it is time to head back to Hiroshima and look for a nice soup soba after staying out in the cold for the last 4 hours. Pretty standard, hop on to the JR ferry to get to Miyajimaguchi, then walk 5 mins to Miyajima JR and take the passing trains towards the right to JR Hiroshima. There is a shopping place called ASSE, an unfortunate name, with restaurants around it.

The trip to Matsue today will involve a Hikari Shinkansen to Okayama and then switching to a smaller Yakumo train that goes directly to Matsue. No, I didn’t plan this myself. It is again thanks to the magic of the JR computers. I have had a look at the JR line map and it was impossible to make out which is the quickest way. Truth is, the quickest way is probably driving as a signboard I saw yesterday indicated less than 200 km to Matsue while my train journey today will take 4 hours. Most of it on a local train.

Waiting for the train to Okayama in Hiroshima

Got to love this place. Arrived in Matsue on time down to the minute. It is possible to program a robot to get from one place to another in Japan. The train from Okayama passes through forested hill area almost all the way before reaching the coast and very very soon, Matsue.

Interesting looking apartment with identical locks and what look like coin slots at the door, in Matsue

10 minutes walk away is my accommodation for tonight, a Ryokan called Terazuya. Run by an old couple it is possible to have breakfast and dinner here. Dinner tonight is an assortment of crabs, sashimi, tempura, suki-yaki and sake for drink. First taste of home made dinner for me and worth every yen. The rooms are all tatami floored japanese style but I am beginning to like it better than western style rooms. After dinner its a little chatting in broken japanese and broken english. Broken english from me so they understand and broken japanese from them hoping that I do too. Pretty sure both sides are doing context based understanding. Anyway, happy to be spending christmas eve at a Ryokan with pleasant owners.

Room at Terazuya ryokan. I just love sleeping on tatami flooring

25 December 2008 (Izumo): Merry Christmas to those that celebrates it. Surely not the town of Matsue as people seems to still go to work. Not a good start today, woke up to a cold rainy morning. Forecast was for snow in the morning but I guess that was more like very early before the sun comes up and in the mountains. Had breakfast at the Ryokan consisting of kare fish and the assorted small dish.

Picked up a 0837 hr train ticket on the Super Matsukaze train (gotta love the train names) stopping at Izumo to see a very old shinto shrine. That is about all Izumo is famous for it seems. Maybe a lighthouse not too far from the shrine, but will see if I go or not. According to the ticket I will arrive at 0905 hr and I am sure I will be there exactly at that time. I was under the impression that Izumo was at least 1 hour away!

Dentetsu-Izumoshi private train line ticketing booth to get to Izumo Taisha shrine

At Izumoshi, right next to the JR station is the private line Dentetsu-Izumoshi train line that goes to Izumo Taisha where the shrine is located. As the line does not go direct from here, there is a small change to change at Kawato station just 4 stations away. Cost for the trip is 480Y one way. They do sell a 1500Y ticket but I don’t know if this is just limited to the private trains. If it is then I will not need it as I do not intend to take them more than twice today.

Izumo Taisha

Izumo Taisha

Its a case of dejavu again. It seems as though I have seen Izumo Taisha shrine before. It is not a big temple compared to the others that I have seen but it has those antennas arranged like an X on the roof, like what I would expect old Japanese buildings to look like but not too common. At least I believe this is the first time I have seen it. I wouldn’t say it is impressive by any means but worth a visit.

Izumo Taisha roof details

For lunch, got to try the Warigo Soba, a local speciality. It comes in small stackable shallow cylindrical plates and depending on how much I feel like eating, 3 or 5 levels of it. Each bowl of Soba is equivalent to 2 mouthful for me. Just soba, chives and soba sauce on it and then its time to chow it down. The soba is a little more al dente than most I have had in Japan answer I just like it that way. That’s how all noodles should be serve according to me.

Izumo seaside, a major storm on its way

Just 15 minutes to the west is the seaside. can’t really imagine without looking at a map that Izumo Taisha is so close to the sea. The weather this week is quite bad and winds are strong so there are white caps everywhere and sand from the beach gets blown into the eyes. Only person crazy enough to be out here in this gale, apart from me, is a wind surfer, struggling to get out to sea. It is not really too easy to set up the camera for a shot at this beach, and the light is not cooperating either. Little rock outcrops near the beach with bonsai-like trees make it a good picturesque setting but not today it seems.

On the bus to Hinomisaki

On the road, a bustop awaits me. Taking the bus to the end at Hinomisaki. The Ryokan owner Mr Terazuya tells me there is a lighthouse there, and automatically that means cliffs. So got to go there for sure.

Drying seafood in Hinomisaki

Bus ride takes 15 minutes from where I got on, hugging the cliff side all the way to Hinomisaki. There are small shops everywhere and they all seem to be drying cuttlefish and squids. First significant structure that strikes the eye is a shrine, in a nice red colour, but in this overcast day, it is not as bright as it should be.

The lighthouse is a short walk away on top of a hill. The walk there is not too rural, shops and houses are along the way, but many are closed today. When I reached the lighthouse the wind starts to pick up again and waves crashing onto the rocks and cliff sprays salt water up and foams of dirt rises from the sea requiring some dodging. My water proof layer goes on and all exposed camera lenses gets a filter. The wideangles get a slim polarizers but the darn salt water keeps on sticking to the front element, and eventually forming a layer of grime. Trying to wipe it off doesn’t help as the filter turned into a soft filter. Looks like all filters will have to go into a bath tonight and all lenses and the camera will need to get a wipedown as they are all drenched by the time I was done with the photos.

Hinomisaki Lighthouse

Rough seas at Hinomisaki

It is not too easy to photograph a white lighthouse and a dark rock foreground like this scene. I try my best, and possibly impossible to set up a tripod and use a graduated neutral density filter either. I try not to get too close to the cliff edge as well as the wind is so strong, occasionally the gust is enough to push me a few steps.

Heavy cloud cover on the way back to Izumo from Hinomisaki

Got back to Matsue by train with enough time to spare so I went to the art center not too far from the Ryokan to shoot sun setting over Syoji lake. There was already a TV crew of two set up over there and while I was taking my time putting up the tripod, another 2 photographers arrived as well. While waiting for the sun to get close to the horizon, I felt a little rain coming down. The wind has always been blowing hard so for a while I was thinking this has to be the water spray. In a few minutes it started raining hard, and I packed all I could as fast as I could but camera, lenses were all wet. The water proof cover was rather difficult to put on the Think Tank Speed Demon, so I decided to just grab everything and make it to the closest shelter I could find. It is getting dark early in winter, 1630 hr is the hour of last light so it is time to find some place to have a long dinner waiting for the rain to stop.

Mount Fuji from Kawaguchiko

Somehow the end of the year season is now becoming a global holiday. In places where Christmas is not normally celebrated, you have lighting and large trees, especially in areas of commercial interests and where shoppers like to feel like they have an excuse to shop more than they usually do. I don’t celebrate Christmas other than accepting gifts. Somehow I don’t think I will get anything from anyone this year. Self-pity aside, one thing I do during the end of the year season, is NOT be in my country of residence, always preferring to be out travelling during this holiday. Last year it was the toture up Huashan in Xian province, China. And this year in 2008, thanks to free ticket courtesy of the airmiles I have collected on Cathay Pacific, this year the destination is Japan.

With the Japan Rail Pass, trains are now affordable, especially when the trip involves long distance train rides on the excellent Japanese bullet trains and jumping from train to train everyday. Anyone who has been to Japan knows that travel by rail, for any kind of long distance travel there can get quite expensive. The Japan Rail Pass brings flat rate rail fares for multiples of 7 days up to 21 days. For long distances like Tokyo-Hiroshima, a Rail Pass for a week cost less than a return ticket for the same destination. For my case, a return ticket to Hiroshima from Tokyo Station is roughly 18,000Y one way reserved seat while a Rail Pass is 28,000Y for 7 days. Only difference is that with the Rail Pass you cannot use the Nozomi express trains. But not a big issue. So I proceeded to purchase the pass in Shanghai, and generally any of the Japanese airlines like ANA or JAL will sell them. You buy a document the size of an airline ticket way back when they still use paper tickets, and exchange it for the Rail Pass when you arrive in Tokyo. As far as I know, it is not possible to buy the thing when you arrive in Japan. So plan ahead.

20 Dec 2008 (Tokyo, Kawaguchiko): The 1 hour time difference between Shanghai and Tokyo makes the 2 and plus hour flight feel longer than it really is. This is nothing special, I have been doing Narita to Tokyo countless times in 2008 for work it just feels second nature. Since there is no more hotel to go to as before, I take the Narita Express NEX and first stop would be Nakano to have a browse at Fujiya Camera! Right after a quick stop by Map Camera at Shinjuku West Entrance before going to the Keio bus terminal for the 1900hrs bus to Kawaguchiko.

Brian

Kawaguchiko or Kawaguchi Lake is a small resort town at the biggest of the 5 lakes that make up Fuji 5 Lakes on the northern side of Mount Fuji. The lake bank makes for very good scenic shots of Mount Fuji, weather permitting. A quick check with the Japanese Weather Bureau tells me that the rain was going to hit Kawaguchiko area the two days I planned to be there. No good, but chance of rain is 70% so there is still a small chance of nice weather part of the day.

Mount Fuji framed by a tree

Fishing at the banks of Kawaguchiko

The Keio highway bus costs 1700Y and makes about 14 stops before hitting Kawaguchiko and continuing on to wherever. I arrived late at night and took a nice 30 minutes stroll to K’s house hostel, located close to the lake and as I highlighted in my last visit there, is possibly the cleanest hostel I have ever seen. Got a more expensive tatami japanese room this time and it was very very comfortable.

Too bad by the time I arrived at the hostel, started to feel like crap, combination of lack of sleep during the last week and the beef stew I had during the flight. Later it would turn out that I had food poisoning but a day of careful eating and plenty of water would cure it eventually.

Night time in Kawaguchiko

Early day tomorrow morning so will sleep ‘early’ tonight.

21 Dec 2008 (Kawaguchiko): Woke up feeling slightly better, but it was evident that what I had yesterday (and partly today) was food poisoning. Looking at the timelines, it is most likely the airline food, but I cannot be sure and maybe it is better not to put the blame on anyone. However, food poisoning or not, I still got and by 0600hrs I was on my way across the bridge to the other side of Kawaguchiko to shoot Mount Fuji in the morning. This was the same spot I was at earlier this year when I shot with 6×4.5 camera. The sun seems to be rising in a slightly different spot compared to what I recalled from the first trip. But as with any landscape photography, early in the morning is the best time as for a while the light on Mt Fuji is not too stong, at least not enough to cause the snow on the moutain to be overexposed compared to the foreground. Thanks to my new Singh-Ray graduated neutral density filters, I was also able to control the relative exposures of the moutain compared to the lake.

Traditional Japanese door made with paper. No I did not tear it...

Kawaguchi speciality: Hotto

After the photoshoot, it was time to get back to the hostel for a morning nap. It was barely 0800hrs when we were done shooting. For lunch it was time to look for some Hotto, the local speciality. It is mostly a thick udon like noodle in a miso soup base and vegetables. I guess I have never had so much pumpkin in a soup, and I confess I was a little overdosed on it for a while. But Hotto in winter, with the hot miso soup with vegetables in it, was just the right combination. And this is not just any cheap miso soup that you get in Japanese restaurants outside of Japan, but proper artisanale (I hope! for the price we pay for one of these dish) stuff that taste a little richer.

Cycling in Kawaguchiko. The basket was supposed to be for the camera, but the weight of the gears made it difficult to steer!

22 Dec 2008 (Kawaguchiko, Tokyo): The original plan was to wake up earlier and have another photoshoot of Mount Fuji again this morning, but the panda in me reigned today. work up well after the designated 0500hrs alarm that was set last night. As the sunlight bright and overhead already by then, it was not really a good time to do some serious landscape photography. By now I was feeling much much better compared to the last 2 days. Checked out of the hostel and left the heavier backpack in the storage room. Since I seem to be back in Kawaguchiko all the time, decided to make a survey of the lake area. So took a rented bicycle across the bridge again and proceeded to make a circumnavigation of the lake anti-clockwise, just to see what was around the place and to scout for new photo locations in the future.

On the second, cloud cover was think enough to mask Mt Fuji from, making for very bad Fuji pictures.

Overturned boats in winter

There are many hotels around the place, and looks like this is quite a getaway for people from Tokyo. At this time it seems to be off-season, as most hotels have empty car parks. The interesting thing for me about Kawaguchiko is that at every portion of the lake, Mount Fuji, being quite the dominating item in the landscape, appears to be different, depending on what is framing it. There are cherry trees all over, so in spring it shoud be quite interesting indeed. And in Autumn, red leaves framing the mountain should be quite a draw. I entered coordinates of future photo locations into my Garmin GPS and hope to come back again next time.

One last round of Hotto before leaving. Notice the calendar with the Yokosuna Sumo wrestler...

And after lunch it was time to return to Tokyo by bus and to rest before the second leg of my trip begins.