Nijo Castle

I arrived in Kyoto and had a lot of time to kill. Next to the place I was scheduled to stay was Niko Castle the palace of the Shogun at one time. A big place, they let you walk inside the palace (no shoes and pictures), but all the rooms were empty. The focus were the painted panels in each room, unfortunately they were all reproductions.

The place I am staying at is called Jam House a bar and restaraunt that is attempting a hostel on two other floors. The restaurant was randomly closed so there was trouble checking in. I wandered to a huge nearby park to kill more time. The inside of the place is put together with spare wood, with the quality that of children making a tree fort. They used screws for the wood floors and they are not flush. A carpenter would have a fit here. When I got in a bunch of Brit's left so I had the whole floor to myself last night. Nice.

The beer in Japan has been... Meh, so time for something else. Last night I remembered I have never had sake. Better time than any, so I look around. I ended up at Sake Bar Yoramu. A small place run by a guy from Israel who came here on a whim 30 years ago. I tell him I never had sake, so he poor's me three different kind to find out what I might like From clear and sweet to more golden and less sweet. I liked the first one the least and the last one the best. I order pasta on the menu and gives me a free shot of sake, because this one complements the food. A really awesome find.

The inner palace.

The ground is all moss.

Jam House or more like building code violation house.

Mishima

My bus does not leave until around 9:00 pm so I did a bit of wandering. I ran into this very cool canal that had lots of small bridges, plants, and even some large koi in some spots.

This whole section had koi.

This koi was gigantic.

A local park.

Stopped to eat lunch here.

Fuji Day Three

Camping a lake Shoji was about the same conditions as before. Another hiker an I left at the same time from camp. We are both going to Lake Motosu, so we talk along the way. He is going up the mountain there (pictured below) over along the ridges for a total of two eight hour days of hiking. I ask what was the longest he had ever hiked? "14 hours one time. I started at 1am" he says. Crazy. He works at Narita airport so maybe I will see him again to hear about his hike.

I was going to camp again The blisters on my feet are bad, there is nothing here, and there is only one bus out if here that only comes four times a day. I decide it is time to head a long way to Mishima and get a hotel. The bus I need for Kyoto leaves from Mishima and cannot miss it.

When I finally get to Mishima I am starving. I need a lot of food for cheap. What is the best place? Denny's of course, and Japan has them. Chicken fried steak I can't wait. Well no actually. Denny's is totally different in Japan, it is not the cheap crap hole we are used to. Not only is there no chicken fried steak, there is no grand slam breakfast, just average meals that aren't that cheap. A Denny's menu with no grand slam? Unthinkable. They most likely have it in the morning, but it's probably more of a base hit. I order based on high weight to low price as that is the true American way. I end up with a hamburger paddy on rice covered in cheese and curry something. It was OK. On the way to the Denny's I ran into a big shrine which was cool. A shower and bed wait for me at the hotel.

Lake Motosu and the moutian for the hiker will trek.

A bunch of deer at the shrine for some reason.
A hunters dream.

Men feed the large Koi.

Fuji Day Two: Aokigahara The Suicide Forest

Yesterday I walked through a small portion of the forest to see what it like. Today I was going to hike through as much as I could. Aokigahara was always called the sea of forest, but it now goes by a new name, the suicide forest. It all started in the 60's when a book was written had the main characters kill themselves in this forest at the end. Then it got worse in 1993 when some guy made a guide book on how to kill yourself. In the book he says Aokigahara is the absolute best place to commit suicide, and they find a lot of bodies with the book. Around a hundred bodies they find a year here, but that is only the ones they find. The foresters do sweeps all the time and carry the bodies out, which is hard, but not the worst part. One of these guys has to sleep next to the bodies at night. They believe the soul is restless or something if you die alone at night the body will wander looking for company. People also come to find bodies so they can loot them or just for a thrill. Me I'd rather not have the image of a dead guy hanging from a tree burned in my memory. I stick to the main trail.

There are four caves in the area, the first I found was the Lava Cave. Then I worked my way down to the wind cave, they want money to see it, and I pass. So I walk over to check out the Ice cave. I pay to see this as I heard it's the only one worth seeing. They said watch your head and it is slippery. I figure yeah sure, but when I got down there they weren't kidding. At one point the path was so small I had to drag my pack behind me and crawl. Then on the way up was rocks were used as steep steps and extremely slippery. I thought for sure I'd slip and crack my head.

Now the forest. All of the ground is volcanic rock. There are cracks, little caves all over, and the tree roots twist around the rocks trying to get a hold. Hiking off trail would be a nightmare as the ground is so uneven and there are roots all over to to trip on. It is very quiet, only one or two birds and no other animals. It is a really nice place. They closed off most of the other trail to stop people, so unfortunately the long trek to the lake mostly followed the road. It was a long walk, but at the end I come out of the forest into Shoji village and am greeted with a clear view of Mt. Fuji. I hike more to lake Shoji and find a free camp for the night.

A man drives by then stops, looking at me in the rearview mirror as I stand at the entrance.
The first trail from the town to the lava cave.

The lava cave. There is a small shrine inside.

Caves like this are all over.

The roots never go into the soil only rock. This looked like a board propped up when I first was walking to it.

A flower at the wind cave.

The Ice Cave. Yeah it was really cold.

One of the closed off trails.
These paths are the ones people take to go into the forest to die. 

So tired, but almost to Shoji village.

The end of Aokigahara, and oh Mt. Fuji

Camp at Shoji Lake