Jeff

I climbed Mt. Fuji on Thursday/Friday. I did an overnight climb so that I could see the sunrise from the top. It was a very worthwhile experience and I highly recommend that anyone who can try do so. The climb was a very strenuous one, probably one of the most I have done. The trail itself wasn’t that bad, but climbing in the dark makes it a lot more difficult since you cannot see where you are going, just trust it is in the correct direction. Often times I would glance over with my light and see that I was climbing in the harder section and that a few feet over it was a lot easier. I made it to the top at midnight, it took me just around four and a half hours to make it to the summit. The usual time to ascend is 6 hours, so I guess I haven’t lost the athleticism and ability to climb mountains I once had. It has been two years since I last climbed a mountain. I was one of the first 10 or so people to the summit. It was a lot colder on the top than it has been in Yokohama this trip. I was shivering and it was a long 4 hours until the sunrise. I found a bench and waited out the time in boredom. Around 4 the shopping stalls and things opened up on the top, a lot of the people who run the stalls climb up each night to sell their stuff on the summit. I waited around for the sunrise (you can see many pictures of the sunrise in the album) and got to experience a truly beautiful piece of nature. I have never seen a trail so packed and the entire mountainside of the top was covered in people witnessing the spectacle. There are a number of shots showing the sheer crowd on the top at 4 in the morning. I would think there was around a thousand or so people there to witness it. The trail was packed going up the entire time I was on the summit. I have heard about human traffic jams on the climb and got to see what they meant. It was something to see.

I decided to buy a beer at the summit and enjoy a toast to the highest point in Japan. I don’t think there are many mountains where you can climb all night and buy a cold beer at the top. I saved the can just for that unique souvenir. Around 6 I decided to try and descend, I was freezing on the top as I didn’t bring the right stuff to stay warm sitting around. My gear was for warmth while climbing, this is a first where I climb a mountain and sit around in the dead of night for four hours. Another new experience. I descended in an hour and forty-five minutes, the usual descent time is four. I still have the fast descending legs I used to have as well. It was interesting being able to look over and see the ascent trail in light for once. I got to witness what it was I did the previous night. I arrived at the bottom and got to wait around for 4 hours until my bus arrived. I did some shopping and ate something since I did not have the appetite to eat much while I was climbing. I wanted to try and get a shot of the mountain while we were driving back, but like the drive there, the mountain was encased in a thick fog that didn’t give much to see beyond a vague shadow that didn’t show up on my camera. I got back to the apartment with Kim around 4, showered and got a 2 hour nap before I went with Kim and her family to have dinner with her brother’s girlfriend’s family. It was an interesting dinner, but I didn’t get to enjoy it to the fullest since I was incredibly tired. I was excused early with Kim so that I could go home and sleep. I uploaded my pictures first because I was sure people wanted to see them.

I hope you enjoy them, if you have any questions about them, I will be glad to tell you about them either when I see anyone or when I get around to adding captions.

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This is coming a bit late from my one every two days schedule, but here it goes. Two days ago, we went to Asakusa, which is known for the large Buddhist temple at the end of a long shopping stall street. We browsed around the shops for a while and then saw the shrine. We couldn’t find English translations for the fortunes so didn’t get any since I wouldn’t be able to understand if I got a good one or a bad one. When you get bad fortunes there are large racks to tie them to so that you can keep away the bad fortune. We walked back and I bought some headbands that are typical of Japanese culture, they have the symbols for “victory” or “hissho” and “pass in school” or “gohkaku”. I then got some postcards that I need to fill out and mail soon. I also got some Japanese soft-serve ice cream, they call it “soft cream”. I picked the rose flavor just to be adventurous. Kim chose mango. I have a picture of the flavors in the gallery (or will add it soon). Afterwards, we traveled back to Kawasaki and I got to see a 100 yen store (thats the equivalent of a dollar store in the states). We finally went to a Japanese restaurant in Landmark tower (the tallest building in Japan) where I had Sashimi on sushi rice (this included raw octopus, scallops, tuna, and salmon) and then had some more Ice cream, this time at Cold Stone.

Yesterday was a stay-in day. Everyone has been walking around so much that it felt good to just relax. Kim and I met her friend Lily for dinner at this udon place in Minato Mirai, but she had to leave soon after to talk to her serious boyfriend. We then walked back to her apartment (Kim’s that is) and stopped by Osanbashi pier, where I got some good photos of the Yokohama skyline at night. I found a new favorite setting on my camera that holds for some time to overexpose the light, giving a dull gray sky a very vibrant color. I have used this on many of my nights shots since.

Today, we went to Odaiba, its a recently developed area of Tokyo where they have many new and nice looking buildings. We took the monorail through to the end and then stopped in Aomi where the Toyota showroom is. We looked around some and then headed to Daiba, where Kim and I explored the mall for a few hours. We finally headed back to Shimbashi where we walked through Ginza. It’s the big area that reminds me a lot of Fifth Avenue. Lots of big flagship stores for many recognizable names. A very glitzy and expensive strip of road. We finally headed back and stopped at Kawasaki to have dinner, Kim’s mom and I each had two beers along with dinner and then we finally headed back to here. I have a small glass of plum sake waiting for me in the fridge, that I am going to have when Kim gets out of the shower.

Also, I will add captions when I get home cough (KIM) cough because it is too difficult to do major coding over the internet using SSH. But if you have any questions about the photos, just message me in some way and I can tell you about it. Also, just click the thumbnail and it should enlarge to full size, I have tested it on Firefox 3 and IE 7, so get up to date on those.

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On Saturday, we went to the Kirin Beer Village. It’s the Yokohama brewery for the Kirin brand of beer. The tour was kind of interesting considering the fact that I couldn’t understand a word the tour guide said, but knowing enough about the process I could figure out the rest from the pictures and sites. We got to taste the mash water before the yeast is applied to turn it into beer and it tastes like Wheatabix, it was kind of appetizing. At the end of the tour we got 2 free glasses of beer, Kim gave me her second so I got to try all three types of beer at the brewery and had a good buzz going for a bit. We met up with the rest of the family for dinner in the giant mall at Yokohama station and I ended up having Katsu-nabe. Its breaded pork served with all the breading stuff, so the eggs and onions and stuff are all still in the cooking pot thingy, it was great. After we got back, we went to Misty, its this hole in the wall bar that doesn’t card. It was Kim, Dexter (her brother), myself, and Chrissy (Dexter’s girlfriend). We sat around talking, I taught them euchre, and enjoyed different cocktails. It was a very pleasant bar, no crowd, very chill, nice atmosphere…

Yesterday, we traveled to the Meiji shrine and Harajuku. Harajuku is known for the street performers and such. Outside the shrine on a bridge there are often lines of people in weird outfits just hanging out, but because it’s so hot these days, there were only a few. We went and had lunch at the shrine, I had beef curry rice, it was fantastic. Then we saw the shrine. It’s a large monument constructed in memory of the Meiji emperor and his wife. Its a largely pagan shrine meant to honor nature. It was quite beautiful. We got to see a Japanese wedding take place, the groom was a Caucasian so I could identify with him a bit. I wouldn’t want to have a wedding in such a public place =. Afterward, we walked along the side street of Harajuku and saw the street performers. There were a lot of Japanese bands playing, there one was in particular that I found funny which seemed to emulate the Ramones almost too much. There are pictures in the gallery of these bands. We walked around Harajuku some and then went and saw the Shibuya intersection, its a major shopping area where the street overflows with people when the signal goes on, there are a few shots of this intersection too.

We were supposed to climb Fuji today, but the weather report says that it is almost guaranteed to rain, and I would rather climb the mountain on a nice day, so we are delaying until Thursday night. Hopefully mother nature smiles down upon me.

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