Embedded Files
Here is our last week! Full of last minute errands and climbing Mt Fuji. :)
Leaving Asahikawa
After Echizen, we returned to Asahikawa with two days to pack up and sell some of our things before one last week in Tokyo and returning to Canada! Unfortunately, I woke up with a sore throat that first morning back in Asahikawa, so my body really just wanted to sleep.
The biggest thing to do was selling the extra household items we had bought. There were things like drying racks for clothes, pots and pans, and an extra textbook that we decided to sell at a second hand store. We didn't get much for it, but it was better than nothing. We also wanted to sell our bikes which was a much bigger hassle. The second hand store was close to home, so we started by going there and dropping our other things off, but the clerk told us that we had to have the police deregister our bikes before they could be sold. We went to the local koban. It is translated as "police box" but they are essentially very small 1 or 2 room police stations found in neighbourhoods or on street corners which are very accessible to the public. We had both passed the local koban many times but never gone inside so we were disappointed to find it only had a telephone with a note saying it connected to headquarters. After a google search, we went to the koban in front of the station to see if they could help and thankfully we were in luck! However, because our bikes were registered in Tokyo, there was a lot of calling back and forth as they conferred with the Tokyo branch to confirm that the bikes were indeed ours in the first place. I don't remember exactly how long we waited, I think it was about an hour and at that point they said we could leave and come back in another hour if we wanted. I was exhausted, so we went home and I happily crashed for as long as time allowed before we went back.
Thankfully everything was in order when we returned. We thanked them profusely, and then returned to the second hand store to try and sell the bikes. However, the clerk in charge of bike sales said he could only accept road bikes (rather than our commuter bikes) because it wasn't the right season. At this point I crashed at home while Jesse found another second hand shop not too far away. He took just his bike first, and thankfully they agreed to buy our bikes, so he sold his before walking home and returning with my bike to repeat the process.
After that all we had to do was pack up our remaining things, tidy up the remaining garbage, and be ready to leave the next morning!
Tokyo - Shinjuku this time
We flew out of Asahikawa airport on the 14th, with 2 suitcases and 1 duffle bag (having mailed one box of clothes home to Canada on the way). Did you know that flying with a stuffy nose isn't fun? Thankfully it was a relatively short flight.
Jesse had found a hotel in the Shinjuku area since the tour bus for Mount Fuji was leaving from Shinjuku station. It ended up being in Tokyo's Korea Town which certainly made for an interesting ambiance. It was very trendy and touristy, with plenty of K-pop and Korean fashion to go along with all the Korean restaurants.
We found a few last gifts for friends and family, and I spent a lot of time reading, sleeping, and blowing my nose. On the morning of the 16th I saw Jesse off to the station, but promptly went right back to sleep so I will pass the blog over to him for Mt. Fuji! (The only interesting thing that happened for me was that it rained while he was gone and walking around such a touristy area was much more enjoyable with fewer people in the streets.)
All our magnets on our fridge before we left Asahikawa
FUJI!
It was an early morning to head out for the Fuji trip because the bus was leaving at 7:10am. After a 20 minute walk (with a stop at a conbini to stock up on snacks/drinks). They recommended you bring 2L of water, so I got a 2L bottle of Pocari Sweat, which is a tasty electrolyte drink.
Arriving at the busses, there were already some people waiting. We ended up splitting into multiple groups, with foreigners in one bus and locals in another bus. Initially the seat beside me was empty (because it was reserved for Marlena), but there was someone I was chatting with and he decided to sit beside me. Turns out, he was a very chatty individual and I learned a lot about his photography / service life in the previous few years as he recounted all of his hobbies and pasttimes. Sometimes this would be nice, but I was really hoping to nap on the bus to Fuji 🥲
In total, the peak of Fuji is at 3776m. The bus took us along some windy roads all the way up to 2305m, so that was nice! It was interesting getting out and you could already tell the air was a bit thinner. So at our starting point, oxygen is 75% compared to sea level. At the peak of Fuji it'll go down to 63% relative oxygen!
Our windy road bringing us up to 2305m, to the "5th Station"
Sign at the 5th station when we departed. You can already see that it isn't a bright shiny day outside...
After the bus deboarded, we had a quick briefing on how to get equipment and where to meet up in an hour or so. Some people brought everything they needed, but I wasn't that prepared. Instead I rented all of my equipment: Coat, rain pants, backpack, backpack cover, boots, gaiters, headlamp and gloves. It took some back-and-forth, but eventually I got everything in my right size!
After getting suited up and getting used to the altitude, we all gathered outside with our guide. He led us through a nice warmup, then we headed out! Unfortunately, it had started raining a bit and wasn't exactly pleasant picture weather. Instead, we all just went on our way along the path. We made one quick stop to name our group, and we settled on "Lucky Cats". This was named after the mascot on the pin we all got, which is a cute little cat. He also explained how to properly walk with the boots, carefully explaining that you go "heel to too" (mispronouncing "toe" in a way that we all found funny).
For the first couple hours of the climb, there's not much to report. It was grey and rainy, so no good views. Morale was also pretty low as people thought to themselves "Am I really climbing up for nothing?". None of the climbing was particularly difficult, but that's because our guide was making sure to keep us at a slow, sustainable pace. After-all, it was supposed to take us 6-7 hours to get to our mountain hut for the night.
Along the way, there are a bunch of "pit-stops". These are mountain-huts staffed with a few people, where you can get snacks and drinks as well as use the washroom (for a price of ~$2-3). These huts also had "stamp" stations where you could get symbols stamped into a staff! I didn't know this, so I didn't come prepared. Good reason to go again though 😀
Sometimes it cleared up enough for us to see the path ahead of us. Neat to see the mountain foliage!
We weren't the only group taking breaks at the mountain huts, and sometimes it could get a bit busy! Here you can see that pretty much everybody is outfitted in rain gear, but we did see some people in just drenched T-shirts, which must have been freezing!
Some stations also had the altitude, so it was neat to track how high we had already gone.
Not much chatting happened while climbing, that was pretty much saved for breaks at mountain huts. Even though we weren't going fast, the air is thin and it was cold, so it was easy to get tired. I ended up chatting a lot with some other people my age. 2 from Singapore, 1 from Germany, and 1 from Vancouver(!). We did a pretty good job at keeping each-others spirits up and re-assuring that the sun would eventually come out and grace us. Especially because for one of the climbers, it was their birthday!
For the first 3-4 hours, our guide insisted on leading the charge. But he could see that some people in our group were much slower and that made it less enjoyable for others. So he decided that instead of him leading the charge, he would just tell us to go ahead to a further up mountain hut (e.g. Stop at the 2nd mountain hut and wait). This meant some of us could go faster, and our breaks would be longer at the mountain hut. Both good and bad, because then we would get a lot colder while waiting for everybody else. Fortunately, the huts sold hot chocolate ☕.
Then finally, we got some good luck. After a particularly fierce rainfall which felt like hail hitting my face, the clouds broke and we could finally see sky!! Everybody rejoiced and took pictures.
We ended up sticking around at this station (3,250m) for quite a while. The reason why is that one of the members of our group (the American) decided to hike past the mountain hut we were told to stop at. So once we were doing role call, the guide found out he was missing and had to make a bunch of phone calls to try and locate him. I'm sure the guide was pretty nervous!
It was important that we locate him because our mountain hut to sleep at further up was off the main path, so if he just kept climbing, he would miss it! After the guide called all the mountain huts up ahead, we decided to keep climbing because at this point everybody in the group was cold and eager to get moving again.
My ritz cracker package was really inflated at this altitude!
Once again, our guide let the faster folks climb up ahead. I was near the front of the fast group, and when I reached the next mountain hut one of the people working there looked at me and exclaimed! She had seen the cat pin (that was on my boot at this time), and thought I was the missing climber. With my broken Japanese, I explained I wasn't the climber and that he was further ahead by now. We had a good laugh about it, and eventually more people from the fast group caught up which added some authenticity to my story. Then further on we climbed.
It really was beautiful as the sky cleared up more, with the setting sun starting to peek out behind the clouds. Sunset came and went quickly though, as we rushed to get up to our mountain hut before supper was finished. We had spent a lot of time waiting for the American and were now behind schedule. He still wasn't found by the time we arrived.
Arriving at our mountain hut for the night was fairly uneventful. We had a small entry-way to take off all of our wet jackets and pants, then were given a bag to put them in. It was a bit of a struggle to move at this point and took me many minutes just to take off my coat, boots, and pants. Eventually though, everything was off and I could go check out where I was going to be sleeping for the night.
I was on the third floor, and it was not glamorous. Sleeping bags were laid out shoulder-to-shoulder, and head-to-head. No personal space here. I chose a corner, and was fortunate to not have anybody directly beside me! With a short break for supper (simple rice + hamburger), it was finally time for bed.
It was difficult to sleep, there were people making noise and snoring. The people next to me would get up often and chat with eachother, and I was kicked in the head multiple times. The sound of the rain on the roof above me was soothing though. We shut off lights at 8pm, and were set to wake up at 2am to hike up to see the sunrise from the peak. So I took what rest I could and didn't make a big fuss 😅
Once our wake-up time rolled around, the guide came over and woke everybody up so we would have time for breakfast. Unfortunately though, the peak of Fuji was closed due to dangerous conditions (rain + strong winds), so we weren't able to leave when we wanted to. It was also looking like we wouldn't be able to summit at all.
Our climbing group played some games to pass the time, and eventually the guide excitedly and quitely gathered people around to say the summit was now open, and we could climb up if we wanted to. But we would have to be quick and wouldn't have much time up there! It was a pretty resounding "yes" all around as we agreed that some time at the summit was better than none. So we hurridly started getting dressed and heading out. This is also where we saw our American member again, so he eventually made his way to the right place.
And so we made the final trek up. The weather was nice, no rain, and beautiful views. Something rewarding about climbing as the sun rises. It was uneventful, and the photos tell the story.
And after a ~3 hours of climbing, we passed through the final Tori gate which marked the summit
Marker denoting the summit of Fuji
Words and pictures can't really express what it felt like at the top. It truly felt like I was on top of the world. It was just like looking out the window of an airplane, but instead I was standing on solid ground, breathing fresh air. It was noticeably thinner up here though, as combined with the bad sleep, I was exhausted and easily out of breath.
Now that we were at the summit, we all went around taking pictures since the weather was nice. There was also a shop there where you could get a stamp, or other memoribilia. I ended up getting a keychain, and they stamped the day I climbed into it!
We had some time to eat any snacks, but then it was time to start heading down so we didn't miss the bus. While the rest of the group started heading down, I decided to leave the group (with permission, I had to sign a form), and traverse a bit further up Fuji, hoping to catch up later.
This lives on my keychain now!
Fuji is a Volcano, and at the top there is a crater. Now, where we stopped as a group we couldn't see the crater. If we didn't leave late, we could have gone as a group around the crater and reached the true peak of Mt Fuji. As it was, we still reached "pretty much" the peak, just a couple dozen meters from the true peak.
When I left the group, it was because we were very close from a place where you could see the crater, and I very much wanted to see that! Wary of taking too long and missing the bus back, I quickly hiked up as high as I could and looked around. Even though it was just a bit higher than where we stopped as a group, the view was even more breathtaking. Especially because now I was above even the huts, and could see sky in every direction.
Everybody else stopped at the mountain huts visible here.
Rocks of all different colors and textures!
Picture of the crater. It looked much deeper in person! The true peak is across the crater, about 30min away.
Panoramic View
After the pictures and videos, I hurridly started going down. The path down was very different compared to the path up. While the path up was mostly steps (either rocks or actual stair steps), the path down was purely flat and windy. This meant that it was a bit tough on the legs as you constantly had to slow yourself down, but I was still able to make good time and quickly passed by other members of my group.
As I headed down, it got significantly warmer, and eventually I was down to just a T-Shirt! Very different compared to the way up, where I had 2 Jackets + a sweater on. It took 2-3 hours for me to fully descend, and I made it with plenty time for the bus. Along the way, I just had to keep stopping and taking pictures though. The weather was beautiful and I could see so far!
Here you can see the zig-zagging path
Starting to get some life again on the mountainside
Even more greenery now! This was quite a few hundred meters down
Turns out, this is also the path that staff takes up to swap out water and goods at each station. So that's how they get everything up!
Beautiful
I believe that is Kawaguchi-ko in the distance, one of the 5 lakes of Fuji that gives magnificent views of the mountain on nice days
I don't have any pictures from here-on-out though. I was pretty exhausted by now. The rest of the day went quickly. Everybody eventually descended, and then we boarded the bus to the onsen. It was great to soak in a hot bath at the end of those two days, and finally get truly warm (and then dry!). Luckily, I had left my change of clothes in a locker at the base of the mountain, so I actually had a dry set of clothes to change into. Some people brought their clothes with them on the hike up, and they got soaked.
For the bus-ride back, I was once again next to the chatty guy (who was also the American who got lost). I was hoping to just nap, but he chatted my ear off the entire time.
Overall, this was a fantastic experience. I'll definitely be doing it again too! I need to get a staff with all the stamps in it, and also go to the true peak of Fuji on the other side of the crater. If anybody wants to come with, let me know 😁
Last Visits - Second last day
Before we left we wanted to revisit Koto which is where the sharehouse is and is a lovely neighbourhood to explore, plus we needed to deregister as residents at the Koto City office. We (very) briefly discussed staying there for our last week but uh... no. We both like getting at least a passable night's sleep, so we got a room in a hotel nearby instead.
We revisited Sette (our favourite cafe) and had a tasty lunch and then said goodbye to the owner. They made us promise to stop by whenever we are back in Japan. ❤️ We also tried to visit the sushi place we went to at the very beginning but they had closed the location permanently citing not enough workers, so instead we headed to our second Tokyo neighbourhood (Akasaka) and revisited the restaurant we call "the Pub". I had dipping noodle curry while Jesse ordered the shabushabu pork. We also made sure to get the best tayaki one final time from Oyoge.
Last Full Day - Sendai
For the last full day we took a daytrip up to Sendai from Tokyo. It's a 4.5 hour drive one-way, but the Shinkansen makes it perfectly doable as a day trip. It was one last full day to have fun and revisit our old neighbourhood! I visited Yuko at her work at the International Center and she had the chance to tell me all about her trip to Shiretoko. Then I met up with Jesse at the Mother Port Cafe, and had lunch before walking a few blocks to say one last goodbye to Hiro at his cafe as well.
Then, we relaxed at the main library branch nearby because it is on the way to Paraiso Curry, the Indian place that we have been desperately trying to revisit since we left Sendai but they have always been closed. We were in luck and they were open this time! It was so nice to see the owners again, especially since we hadn't gotten a chance to say goodbye to the wife last time so she was particularly happy to see us. We also met an American who has been in Sendai for a couple years on the JET program. We had seen him there before, but as we learned, he took Japanese studies in university, so his Japanese is much better than ours so he chats with the owners and other customers. After supper, we hurried back to the station to catch the last train back to Tokyo, and enjoy our final shinkansen ride of the year.
Flying Home
Our flight was scheduled to leave around 5, so we had the morning to spend in Tokyo. Hiro had told me about a neighbourhood with lots of cooking supplies called Kappabashi, so we walked around there for the morning. I found a tayaki pan so we can try and make our own, and they have lots of really intricate cookie cutters too! It is getting so hot (34 degrees C, 46 with the humidex). Asahikawa had such lovely weather, but it is truly sweltering in Tokyo.
After our morning excursion we headed back to Koto to pick up our bags from the hotel, and then took the Skyliner to Narita airport. Jesse had found that Narita has showers available, and they were absolutely worth 10$. They were spacious and clean, everything was included, and we felt so much better afterwards. And then we flew home! The flights left pretty much on time, and while we had to hurry a bit through Montreal to catch our Ottawa flight, we still arrived with 20 minutes to spare. And then we were back in Ottawa!
Thank you for following along with our adventures! I feel like I should have some substantial conclusion, but we have mostly just been busy these past few months as we try and pick up all the threads of life that we set down before we left. Jesse has a new job, I am teaching again, and we have both been visiting family and friends around the province.
We are looking for an apartment (or maybe a house?) and staying with my parents in the meantime. Honestly, it feels almost surreal, like it didn't actually happen? Or maybe it was a dream? Since we are picking up so closely to where we left off, the "before" and "after" seem so seamless. We both had an amazing time. If there were no consequences, we would need very little convincing to do it all again! If anyone is travelling to Japan, send us a message!
All the best from Canada this time,
Marlena & Jesse
Google Sites
Report abuse