Well, well, well…. here we are again! It’s been a LONG time since we could do anything travel related, even just within the local area. We’ve recently bought a house in the country and this post is actually about the local area so while it’s not so much “travelling” it still seems worthy of a new entry! Just as an update, we’re both fully vaccinated however Japan has been extremely slow rolling out their vaccines and so that still affects our ability to travel much and do things. It’s been so long since we’ve travelled that it took a while just to remember how to pack and use my camera! We’re still not interested in being around people (yet) and actually found it tiring even amongst the tiny crowds outdoors and eating indoors even gives me anxiety…. hopefully, that will eventually return to normal once the cases in Japan fall again. In the meantime, we’re still being extra careful whenever we leave the house. Our primary reason for going to this area is because that’s where our house is and there’s a lot of work to be done, but in between working we still could find some time to explore our new hometown and enjoy it a little bit!
For the areas we visited, we had a car and/or just walked from our house, but just for information, here’s all the major bus websites for the areas. I’ve personally ridden all of them and aside from some being pretty infrequent, they were convenient and easy enough to ride:
Highway Express Bus – https://www.fujiexpress.co.jp/highwaybus/
Local Sightseeing Bus – http://bus-en.fujikyu.co.jp/heritage-tour/detail/id/1/
Local Bus – http://bus-en.fujikyu.co.jp/route/
Fuji-Yoshida Town Sneaker Bus – https://www.fujikyubus.co.jp/townsneaker
https://www.city.fujiyoshida.yamanashi.jp/info/1948
Day 1 - Oshino Hakkai Ponds
Since it was actually Golden Week in Japan, Marie’s mom was able to join us for a few days which gave us extra reason to get away from the house and sightsee a little bit. Although there was noticeably more people in town due to the holiday week, it still wasn’t as crowded as the peak visiting season for this area (autumn season). After picking up Marie’s mom from Kawaguchiko Station, we decided to explore around Oshino Village area since we’ve never been. We’ve heard this area has been becoming popular with younger families so we had researched the area a little when we were looking at houses. It’s an isolated and quiet village but still has its touristy spot near the pond and great views of Mt. Fuji from higher elevations.
Since we didn’t have much of a plan, we just parked at one of the lots nearby the Oshino Hakkai area (touristy area) and decided to walk around. All the parking lots in the area are supposed to be ¥300 flat rate so it shouldn’t matter which parking lot you choose.
I really didn’t do any research on this specific area prior to going (busy focusing on the house projects) so I apologize if there’s not that much information. Supposedly, there are 8 ponds in total fed by snow melt from Mt. Fuji. Oshino Village itself is actually supposed to be the site of a sixth major lake surrounding Mt. Fuji which has since dried up. If you like what you see, I’m sure Google Sensei can help you learn more!
There weren’t a lot of spacious restaurants without a crowd near the ponds so we walked around a little trying to find some place we could feel somewhat comfortable eating at. After mistaking some “soba factories” as restaurants (in my defense they did used to serve food too) we finally found one that worked for us. It was listed as a souvenir shop on the map but the restaurant is part of it.
Day 2 - Fuji-Kawaguchiko Village Waterfront
For our second outing, we decided to explore our neighboring village of Fuji-Kawaguchiko. We always pass by on the way to Ooishi however never really took the time to walk around together. I would say most of the tourist associated activities associated with Kawaguchiko lake are in this area and it’s especially popular during the autumn season with lakeside views of Mt. Fuji. Fuji-Kawaguchiko city is a merger of all the villages in the area however the actual Fuji-Kawaguchiko village is on the northern coast of Kawaguchiko lake. You can reach this area from Kawaguchiko Station with either the sightseeing bus or the local bus. While there are a few museums in the area, we weren’t really interested in them so we just walked around outside and enjoyed the weather.
If going by car, you can find free parking in front of the Lake Kawaguchi Sweets Garden restaurant (do not park at the 7-11 parking lot).
Since we walked the whole waterfront and didn’t feel like doing any of the museums, we called it a day and headed back home after our late lunch.
Day 3 - Ooishi Village Waterfront
Today was a shorter day since Marie’s mom had to catch the bus back to Yokohama in the afternoon. We just kept it simple and walked around the Ooishi waterfront area again to enjoy the lake views. Ooishi Park is the main area with some small vendors, a souvenir shop, Natural Living Center, and Hana Terrace mall. There’s not a whole lot to do here but it still gets crowded during the fall season, mostly for the views. This is the last stop on the sightseeing bus line but you can also get here using the local bus from Kawaguchiko Station. Ooishi is much less developed than Fuji-Kawaguchiko next door but is still accessible which is one of the reasons why we like the location. We still get views of Mt. Fuji from our house and the water is just a short walk away. Ooishi does lack a good grocery store and reliable conbini but Fuji-Kawaguchiko is not so far away.
Day 4 - Fujimidaira Hike
With Marie’s mom having departed, we put some time into working around the house but still wanted to use our hiking gear we brought to check out some of the local area… all accessible right from our house. For me at least, it’s so nice to have such great hiking, cycling, kayaking, fishing, and even golfing options so close… no apartment elevators, car turnstiles, city traffic… just exit your front door and go. The original plan was to hike up to Mt. Kurodake summit at the top of our valley but after calculating how long that would take and how fat I’ve become we decided to scale it down a little bit haha. We kept it short and simple and tackled the hillsides nearer to the lake instead… the peak we ended up hiking to was Fujimidaira.
Local Area Hiking Map:
https://www.yamanashi-kankou.jp/viewpoint/forest/documents/hos-info013.pdf
Day 5 - Saiko Wild Bird Forest Park
While looking for alternative hikes in the area Marie also found this bird sanctuary forest just one lake over (less than 20 minute drive). Seemed like a good opportunity to use our binoculars and camera a little more since we didn’t see many birds on the last hike!
Well, that about sums up our recent “travels” hehe… can’t say we have anything else planned in the near future with the climate being what it is… hopefully Japan speeds up their vaccination efforts and can start easing restrictions for us sooner than next year. Until then, it was nice to get out a little bit and dust the gear off a bit. Stay safe!
Beautiful photos!!!
Love this blog…especially the “roadside” konbini with honor systems!
Glad you both could get out and enjoy the nature … nice to see both of you in the pictures too.
Can’t wait to be there…take care!