Lake Kawaguchi and West Lake

Lake Kawaguchi (河口湖), Lake Motosu (本栖湖), West Lake (西湖), Lake Shoji (精進湖), Lake Yamanaka(山中湖) ~ Fuji Five Lakes

First trip of the year.

The trip to Lake Kawaguchi and West Lake last Saturday was totally not up to my expectation. Lesson of the day, never believe in websites or travel brochures. What you see in those photos aren't always what you get. Even with just a low budget, the one-day trip wasn't quite worth it. Which brings me to wonder if it'd have been better had we visited Nikko instead. And, especially when you're the one who arranged the trip, you're responsible to make sure that things go accordingly. In this case, they didn't really go too well.

Since we weren't planning to stay overnight, time was a main issue. Scheduled to leave from the dorm early in the morning; but as usual, there're those incorrigible ones who can never be punctual. It doesn't take a psychic to foresee that, though. So, it had been taken into consideration.

So, we started our trip by taking the 8 o'clock train. A long ride, about two and a half hours, with a few transits in between. Being uncertain of which train to transit to, we resorted to taking the slower one, which cost us an extra hour to get there.

The train ride was generally boring. During the journey, caught sight of this old man reading an English newspaper, while scribbling some notes in the margin. Rare sight in Japan.


Noon. Finally, Kawaguchi Station. Snow-capped Fujisan could be seen from the station. Phew, fine weather, it seemed, even though it snowed in the morning. Thank goodness the weather forecast was reliable.


Diving into the tourist information center, we learned that the only way to get around the place was by taking this thing called Retro Bus. As the name suggests, it was really retro, and the system was rather inconvenient: circles the lake in only one direction. Which means, there's no way to take the bus down the other direction but to make a complete round, one way (that's an hour).

Then, things went wrong - I rushed into the first bus without noticing that it circles Lake Kawaguchi instead of West Lake, which was where we were supposed to be heading. Luckily, the bus driver was kind enough to have let us off at a bus stop where we could transit to the other bus. And again, luckily (I must say), the bus we're supposed to take came 10 minutes later and not otherwise. Or else, we'd have to wait till the next round, which was like an hour more.


It took us 40 minutes, but we eventually reached our first destination in West Lake for the 西湖樹氷の祭り (Saiko Jyuhyō no Matsuri). It wasn't at all impressive.

The "snow decorations" were half-melting because of all those people who ignored the sign at the entrance which said, "Keep your hands away from the decorations 'cos the snow melts, you idiots".


Illumination was to start after five. But we had to keep on with the schedule since the crappy Retro Bus service ends by 5.30. So we had to do with it by having a snowball fight.

Nothing interesting at all.

Unless if you don't mind fooling around with the camera.

Alright, so one hour wasted. Next stop, Iyashi no Sato Nenba (いやしの里根場).

Near the mysterious lake of Saiko, where nature is preserved as it was long ago, lies a unique place where time has stood still.

Lake Saiko, Nenba, where once stood exquisitely-made thatch roof houses accompanied by the breathtaking vista of Mount Fuji, was said to be the most beautiful place in Japan. However, in 1966 an enormous typhoon struck, causing a mud slide which tragically destroyed the village. The town of Fujikawaguchiko decided in 2003 to rebuild the thatched roof village of long ago, and thus Iyashinosato Nenba was born again. ~Iyashi no Sato Nenba Pamphlet

Sounds promising, eh? But again, big disappointment.

What we got to see were houses like this. A "resource center", and the rest of which were mainly souvenir shops. In fact, about half of the place was still under construction.

Mount Fuji could be seen alright. But, not so much as to be called a "breathtaking vista".

Oh, we got stuck with a guy who was a descendant of some big guy in charged of a place somewhere some 400 years ago. He kept babbling away about history, which we listened half-heartedly and nodded from time to time as courtesy, although we couldn't wait to leave already.

Then he showed us this old house, which survived the mud slide and was left in a state of neglect after that.

"No, no! Don't take photos! The spirits of the mud slide victims are resting here!" he warned as we started snapping away. "Shh, can't you feel the aura?"

Oh, uh... Yeah? Erm... (Rolled eyes)

After that, we bid farewell to the great-great-...-grandson-of-Mr-Whoever-He-Was-Big-Guy and rushed for the last bus to get back to Lake Kawaguchi. Had dinner till seven something, and left for the winter festival.

Winter fireworks, this should better be good.

I would say it wasn't too bad. But after watching the summer fireworks display in Tama last August, this wasn't so splendid after all.

Because I was all the time getting ready to snap away at the right moment, I didn't really get to enjoy the hanabi (花火) that much. What really pissed me off was that I could only take crappy photos like this...

...with people blocking me away. And photos like this...

... because I was standing too close.

8.30 pm. Now's the time to worry. No more bus service, and we had to rush to the station by foot to take the last train; we had 30 minutes; it was -1°C. Luckily, with the help of the kind lady at a minimarket and the guy in a restaurant, we managed to find our way 10 minutes early. Phew, saved...

So, there we go. 8,000 yen poorer and tired like rats which struggled in a barrel of beer. While I was worrying whether the rest of the group was disappointed about the trip as I was, they said otherwise. Whether they really meant it or was it a courtesy, I do not know. But, anyway, お疲れさまでした!

- January 27, 2007 -