Mooring in Shimizu, some distance from Fuji and Hakone.
Setting the alarm for 5.15 as the captain has said that if visible Fuji will be on the starboard side at 5.30. With our window facing forward we could just see it faintly from our bed!
We opted for the easy arranged tour as it is quite a distance and a time restriction. Fuji did decide to show, and we were lucky to be able to snap from the bus as we had seats on the that side.
Mount Fuji is the highest mountain in Japan at 3,776m. It last erupted in 1707/8. The snow is likely to remain for about a month. They call the summer “black fuji”.
The climbing season is July and August, with 100,000 people having climbed in 2025.
Traveling from Togendai to Owakudani on the Hakone Ropeway aka cable car.
We needed to split in to smaller groups for the ropewalk, and for some reason she picked Mark to take care of the last group. It’s a good job we were listening when she said not to get off at the first stop. Others didn’t seem to know!
At Owakudani is a volcanic valley and known for their black eggs. Normal eggs boiled in sulphur rich hot springs. The hydrogen sulfide and iron in the water react with the calcium in the eggshell to turn it black.
A natural spring.
We should have had a view of Fuji from Owakudani however the clouds had moved in, with no mountain visibility.
At the Hakone the Kuzuryu Shrine nine headed dragon god. The first Tori gate leading you to the shrine is down in the lake.
Tori gates are generally red, the colour to ward off evil.
The word saiko means excellent, however pronounced psycho, so our tour guide declared we had a psycho driver!
Back to the ship and a little chill time before sail away. Still no reappearance from Fuji.
Sail away and much waving from the land. We even had fireworks, yes in daylight!
This evening’s entertainment was a great show from the in house team. Beforehand, Giuseppe the captian came out for an entertaining chat with the top staff members. Angela, the entertainment manager is English, very funny and a little Dawn French.
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