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After the cable car, we headed to Fujiyoshida Retro Shopping Street (富士吉田レトロ商店街),
about a 15-minute drive from Lake Kawaguchi. There aren't any large car
parks, but there are plenty of small 'coin parking' (similar to
pay-and-display car parks in the UK) nearby, so parking isn't much of an
issue, provided your car isn't too big! |
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When I drove here and was looking for a place to park, I saw several instances where a large SUV was stuck in small car parks. They twisted their steering wheel left and right several times but couldn't park properly and even ended up driving out of the car park. In the end, the whole car park was blocked. From my personal
experience, people from China seem to love driving large cars wherever
they go in the world – things like Land Rovers, Lexus GX and LX models.
Whether buying or renting, these cars seem to be the standard for meeting
their 'high-end, classy, and stylish' criteria! In Europe and America,
that's fine, as the roads are wider, but in Japan, with its narrow road,
it really is quite unrealistic (China has not signed any conventions
regarding international driving permits; how are they able to drive in
Japan?) |
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Fujiyoshida Retro Shopping Street is the nickname given by tourists. Its
proper name is 'Honchô Street' (or Honchôdôri,
本町通り), and
it's the high street in the city of Fujiyoshida. The street still
retains many features from the Showa era (pre-1970s), such as the
electric wires, streetlights, and signage, giving it a nostalgic vibe.
Plus, you can enjoy stunning views of Mount Fuji right from the street,
which is why it's also referred to as 'Fujimich' (富士みち, literally 'Avenue of
Fuji'). |
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Fujiyoshida Retro Shopping Street (though Mt
Fuji is covered by clouds!) |
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Today, Mt Fuji wasn't particularly cloudy, but there was one
cloud stubbornly sticking to the eastern peak and wouldn't
budge. The rest of the clouds had dispersed, but that one cloud
stayed in place, perhaps it was the mountain's airflow causing
it. It just happened to block the view of Fujiyoshida, so I
didn't get the
iconic shot. |
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| Beside the
Lawson convenience store near Kawaguchiko
station, this shopping street is another place where tourists
forget about safety for the sake of a good photo! While we were
there, we saw people standing right in the middle of the street
for a long time, completely oblivious to the moving cars. I just
quickly snapped a photo while crossing the road, not expecting
much from the result! |
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After wandering around for a bit, we found a tea shop –
Harukiya
(春木屋, I haven't taken a photo!) By the time we arrived, there
were already many tourists shopping and enjoying tea. Aside from
the tea, they also sold tea snacks and matcha ice cream. It's
really hard to find quality green tea in Britain, as British are far more focused on black tea. I've tried several green tea
brands, but none were particularly impressive. So, I took the
opportunity to buy some green tea and genmaicha (brown rice tea)
to take back to Britain. |
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| While exploring, we noticed a tourist information centre, so
we popped in to see what travel information they had. It was
around lunchtime, and I remembered that Kawaguchi is known for a
local speciality – hôtô (ほうとう
or 餺飥), so I
casually asked the staff if they had any recommended places for
hôtô. The staff gave us a paper map, circled the restaurant they
recommended – Hôto Fudô (ほうとう不動),
and simply explained how to drive along the shopping street in
the direction of Mt Fuji, turn right at the T-junction, and
continue for 4 kilometres. |
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The Kanadorii (torii gate) on the shopping
street (photo taken by Todd from the car) |
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Starting to see Mt Fuji (photo taken by Todd
from the car) |
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| Driving further up the shopping street, we passed under a
torii gate that crosses the street –
Kanadorii (金鳥居).
'Kana' in Japanese means 'gold', but why isn't the 'Kanadorii'
actually gold? It was originally called 'Karakane Torii' (唐金鳥居),
with 'Karakane' referring to bronze. The term refers to metal
imported from 'Kara' (the ancient Japanese name for China). The
gate was first built in 1788, initiated by the priest
Nakaganmaru Yoshida (中鴈丸由太夫).
After fundraising by local worshippers, it was completed as the
entrance to the Kitaguchihongu Fuji Sengen Jinja (北口本宮富士浅間神社),
and it's also the first torii gate at the Fujiyoshida trailhead,
known as 'Ichino Torii' (一ノ鳥居,
the First Torii). |
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| What we see today is the 4th-generation gate. It has been
destroyed by storms twice in 1831 and 1877; and in 1944, it was
requisitioned by the government as scrap metal during World War
II. The current gate was rebuilt in 1955. It stands 9.7 metres
tall, the crossbeam is 13.4 metres long, and the pillars have a
diameter of 0.88 metres, with the two pillars spaced 7 metres
apart. The inscription 'Mt Fuji' (富士山)
was written by Edo-era calligrapher NITTA Michizumi (新田
道純). The sacred rope (shimenawa) is replaced every 5-6
years and is currently about 15.6 metres long, 60 centimetres in
diameter, and weighs around 120 kilograms. |
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The photo of Mt Fuji and Hôtô Fudô (the round
building on the left) taken by Todd yesterday from the car |
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When we arrived at the recommended spot, I realised we had
passed it yesterday when we drove from Mishima to Lake
Kawaguchi. Todd had even taken a photo of Mt Fuji from the car,
with Hôtô Fudô in the shot too! When we arrived, the car park
was completely empty, which seemed strange. Looking into the
restaurant from a distance, it was dark inside. When we walked
up to the entrance, we saw a sign saying 'Closed Today'.
Checking their website, we found out that all their locations
were closed for a few days (maybe for the New Year holiday!) |
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| We had to find another restaurant nearby. Initially, we
found a ramen restaurant, but Todd said the ramen was very
ordinary, you can get that anywhere! So, we looked up other hôtô
restaurants on Google Maps, and found one still open called 'Kôshû
Hôtô Kozaku' (甲州餺飥 小作).
Since it was the only place nearby serving this local dish, the
queue was massive! |
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Restaurant waiting area (photo taken after we
ate – when we arrived, the waiting area was packed, so I
couldn't take a photo!) |
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Dining area inside the restaurant |
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As with many Japanese restaurants, you write your name and party
size on a list while waiting. The staff will call your name when a table is available. You could tell most of the names were
from foreign tourists – there were names in English, other Latin
alphabets, and even Chinese characters or Romanised phonetic
alphabet. The staff seemed a bit puzzled because they didn't
know how to pronounce them. Some of other guests and I helped
the staff call out names, which seemed to make them a bit
embarrassed. |
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In informal situations where you need to leave a name, Japanese
people usually don't use English because not many of them speak
it. Although most Japanese people names are written in kanji
(Chinese characters), Japanese writing and speaking are
different systems. The writing generally uses 'kanji' + 'kana'
(仮名, Japanese phonetic alphabet). A single kanji character can
have multiple pronunciations, so people tend to use kana for
names to make them easier for everyone to read. |
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The restaurant had menus available in the waiting area, so we
could look at them while waiting. But ironically, even though
most people there weren't Japanese, they only provided the menu
in Japanese. When we sat down, the staff gave us an English,
Chinese or Korean menu as needed! |
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| The menu had à la carte options as well as set meals. The
set meals were priced at JP¥1,900, ¥2,500, and ¥2,900. The
cheapest set included a pumpkin hôtô (worth JP¥1,400), a starter
and pickles. The middle-priced set added horse meat sashimi, and
the dearest set added both horse meat sashimi and stewed abalone. You could substitute
other flavours for your hôtô, but there was an additional
charge. |
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| We weren't particularly keen on horse meat or abalone, so we
opted for the cheapest option. For the hôtô, Todd chose the
spicy pork flavour (with a JP¥600 surcharge), and I went for the
more traditional pork flavour (with a JP¥400 surcharge). We also
ordered a side of deep-fried octopus – originally, I wanted
fried chicken, but the staff said it had sold out. On the menu,
apart from the standard 'pork' (豚肉),
there was also a dearer option called 'wild boar' (猪肉). |
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| When the dishes arrived, we were first served the starter
and pickles, which turned out to be vinegared seaweed. The
deep-fried octopus had a Hong Kong-style flavour, similar to
crispy fried squid legs at dim sum (a dist that many dim sum
restaurants in Hong Kong no longer serve, though it's still
common in Chinese restaurants in the UK!) The hôtô was a bit
like thick dumpling wrapper, with a soft texture – not as chewy
as udon. The broth was a rich white miso soup, and Todd's spicy
version included kimchi. Honestly, neither dish tasted
particularly Japanese. |
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Hotel's free Happy Hour |
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| After eating, it was past lunchtime, and the waiting area
was clear of people, so I finally got the chance to take a
photo! After leaving Kôshû Hôtô Kozaku, we drove to another
famous Mt Fuji site, Arakurayama Sengen Park (新倉山浅間公園).
You might recognise the
iconic photo of Mt Fuji, the pagoda, and the cherry
blossoms. That's right, it's from Arakurayama Sengen Park!
However, when we got there, there were so many tourists that the
car park was full, and we had to give up on the idea. |
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| To get that famous photo, you need to climb 398 steps to the
observation platform. The pagoda at the top is officially called
the Fujiyoshida Cenotaph Monument (富士吉田市戦没者慰霊塔),
but it's commonly known as the Chûreitô (忠霊塔,
or Chûrei Pagoda, literally 'the Pagoda for loyal spirits').
While it looks like the pagoda at Osaka's Shitennôji (四天王寺),
it's not a religious building. It was built by the city of
Fujiyoshida as a war memorial to those who born in Fujiyoshida and died for Japan,
including soldier from World War II. In that way, it's a bit like the
Yasukuni Jinja. |
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The guest welcoming sweets are different today |
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| Since we couldn't visit Arakurayama Sengen Park, we decided
to head back to the hotel and rest a bit earlier. The front desk
had mentioned that there would be a free Happy Hour in the
restaurant before 18:30. Since we arrived earlier than expected,
we decided to sit in the restaurant for a while. The Happy Hour
serve beer, and red and white wines from Yamanashi
Prefecture, the Kôshû wine is the birthplaces of Japanese wine,
after all! Of course, there were also snacks to go with the
drinks. If weather isn't too cold, you can enjoy your drinks on
the garden terrace while having the footbath, all while enjoying
the view of Mt Fuji, it's very relaxing. |
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| Back in our room, everything had been tidied up! The water
had been drained from the footbath on the balcony, but I had
seen the staff fill it up yesterday, so I decided to top it up
myself. Arount 17:00, the staff came to refill the footbath, but
its was already full. They also mentioned that tonight's dinner
would be different from yesterday's. As we were settling in, we
were also given welcome sweets. Yesterday, it was apple crisps,
called 'Ringo
Otome' (りんご乙女),
and today it was adzuki bean paste cakes called 'Fujisan
Awaseyaki' (富士山あわせ焼).
How thoughtful! |
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Dinner's apéritif: seasonal fruit liquor |
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Starter (1): Pumpkin tofu, horsetail mushroom
and wasabi |
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Starter (2): Japanese omelette with Kujô leeks,
spicy and roe, shrimp and mushroom dumplings with seaweed
flavour, and the cheese egg castella with cucumber and turnip |
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Starter (3): Green soybeans and sweet potato
with mashed tofu salad |
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Soup: Shrimp dumplings, wheat gulten, winter
melon and rapeseed flower |
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Sashimi: Assorted seasonal sashimi |
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Hotpot: Wine pork shabu-shabu, variety of
vegetables |
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| Since there was still some time, we decided to enjoy a hot
spring bath in the public bath before dinner. As before, dinner
was at 18:00, and the staff arrived promptly to tidy the table,
set the utensils and cutleries, and serve the course. After four
days of kaiseki (traditional Japanese fine dining) dinners at
the hot spring inn, Todd said it was starting to feel a bit
much. This was our last kaiseki of the trip. The two dinner
menus were very different! But one thing was the same: there
were 11 courses, from apéritif to dessert. |
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| The most noticeable difference was the hot pot – yesterday
it was wagyu beef, but today it was wine-fed pork (Wine Pork).
What is Wine Pork? Just like grain-fed beef is raised on grains,
Wine Pork is raised on wine, grape skins, seeds and lees.
Yamanashi, being known for its wine production, has its own
Kôshû Wine Pork. It's said that wine help boost the pigs'
metabolism, making the meat more tender and sweeter, with much
less of the ususal porky taste. |
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Grilled dish: Chicken wrapped in puff pastry
and baked with tomato sauce and broccoli |
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Boiled dish: Boiled sea bream and potatoes, and
wasabi |
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One of the more unusual dishes tonight was the chicken pastry.
Usually, meals in hot spring inn lean towards a more traditional
Japanese style, but this one was clearly Western. It was
reminiscent of Beef Wellington, with meat wrapped in puff
pastry. While Beef Wellington is typically coated withe mustard
and mushroom paste, this one didn't have that – just the meat
wrapped in puff pastry. The challenge with baked meat like this
is to avoid it becoming dry, but they managed to keep it tender. |
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Staple: Bamboo shoot rice, miso soup and
Japanese pickles |
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Dessert: Apply pudding with seasonal fruits |
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For the past two dinners, the main dish wan't just plain rice.
Yesterday it was broth-soaked rice, and today it was bamboo
shoot rice, both in small portions – just the right amount
(unlike other inns where the portions are far too large). While
the menus were different, the desserts were actually the same –
apple pudding, just with different fruits. If I were to compare
the two dinners, yesterday's dishes felt a bit more delicate and
refined, but there's no denying that both nights were equally
abundant. |
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| After dinner, as the staff cleared the table, she chatted
with us. She mentioned that not many guests stay for two nights
in a row (which, of course, was quite an effeort to book!) After
chatting for a while, another staff came to lay out our futons.
It was my first time seeing a professional make a traditional
futon, and he did it with such speed and skill – it took
less than five minutes! If I had done it, it would have taken me at least half an hour! |
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| Tomorrow, we'll be leaving Lake Kawaguchi, and more
specifically, Yamanashi Prefecture. We'll head back to
Shizuoka's Fujinomiya city, then on to Gotemba Outlet, before
returning to Tokyo. But for now, a hot spring bath before bed! |
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