Day Trip out of Tokyo, Tokyo

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About one hour west of Tokyo on the JR Chuo is a town called Ome, that really gets decked out for plum blossom season. The most popular spot in Ome to view the blossoms is a hillside park called Yoshino Baigo, and its 25,000 white and red plum trees are a must see if you're in the Tokyo area between 25 February - 17 March. Even the town itself goes plum crazy, with flowering trees lining the streets, adorning the shrines and peppering the landscape as you walk from Hintawada Station to the park. Thousands of locals will be out viewing the trees, so you won't be alone!

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Once again because we had limited time to analyze how to go around Tokyo (our first-time), we just lazily had Sunrise Tours pick us up for a tour of Nikko which is a day trip from Tokyo. We only paid about $160 each for this whole day tour 9also includes visit to the Kegon Waterfall and lunch before that).

From the Hamamatsucho train station, we rode a deluxe to visit the Toshogu Shrine, which dates back to 1617 and has been named a World Heritage Site. The site had amazing wood carvings, copious gilding, and brilliant colors throughout along with elaborate architecture and the omnipresent mythical beasts meticulously carved on the various structures and watching over the grounds. I went specifically to the wood carving of the famous “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” monkeys at the Sacred Stable.

We also saw the place where the famous Shogun was buried - you have to climb up a little hill and I think only my sister and I were able to go up because we left the tour for a little while (time was of the essence!).

We also learned how to properly pray using the sacred waters and those little cups with long handles. This shrine is a must-see when in Nikko!

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Ashi-no-ko or Lake Ashi was part of the tour that we took with Sunrise Tours for the Mt Fuji day-trip. This lake was created during an eruption of the volcano over 3,000 years ago, and it rests calmly in the shadow of the great mountain. You will see Disney-like boats (like a 17th century ship which you can ride), and also little swan-like mini-boats for going around the lake.

But we just took the simple boat which brought us in a few minutes to the Mount Komagatake Aerial Cableway. The view was spectacular at the top- the beauty of Hakone National Park can be seen and also Mount Fuji on a clear day, Lake Ashi, and the surrounding mountains. However, the cable car does not seem to be restored and it has been in use for several years - but it still ran okay (but I think it might need some renovations). At the top, there is also some kind of dwelling or museum, but we did not walk up to it but just spent time taking pictures.

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Of course, our trip to Tokyo would not be complete if we did not see Mt Fuji (or Fuji-san since san means mountain). Fujisan though is actually a volcano and I think it was formed about 8000 years ago.

I was intent on seeing this mountain and so I booked it for our first day activity. I was a little worried though because Mt Fuji sometimes cannot be seen when the clouds are covering it (fog). And during this February 2010, Mt Fuji had been elusive and visitors only got up to Level 1 which is the lowest level of the 5 level heights. (Note: Fuji is 12,388 ft or 3,776-m)

While in USA, I booked a Mt Fuji Tour which also included a tour of Hakone and a bullet train ride later (through Expedia through JTB for Sunrise Tours) for only about $160 each.

Sunrise Tour has a list of hotels where they pick up guests and so I chose a hotel where they picked up - Hotel Metropolitan Tokyo. We were picked up at promptly 730 at the lobby by a HATO Bus which brought us in about 30-45 minutes to the Hamamatsucho Bus Terminal in Minato-ku, Tokyo. The ride was pleasant and you get to see a view of the Tokyo Tower which is like a Japanese version of the Eiffel Tower (you can go up there for views of the city).

The tour officially starts at 9 AM and once at the Bus Terminal, you are asked to go to your counter to get your tickets and tour stickers (ours were at counters GHI). The bus was almost full and our guide was Harry who told us the good news - we can go up to LEVEL 4 on Mt Fuji!!!!

Level one is at the gate, then the following levels are at the following meter elevations:
Level II at 1000 m, Level III at 1201 m, Level IV at 2020m and Level V at 2305 -- the fifth level was inaccessible at the time due to snow, but in the whole month of Feb, they had only been able to go up Level 4 up to 4x only. This was a good day!

And once at the Fuji Visitor Center, we saw a great view of Mt Fuji! So lucky! There was still some snow on the ground, and don't forget to go up the second level of this Visitor Center to see the magnificent view. I jumped of course, hehehe.... The center provides info on the nature, culture, and artwork of Mount Fuji that demonstrates the tremendous historic and religious significance of this mountain to the Japanese.

Then we rode the bus to go to Level IV, and once there we went out and took pictures at the signs indicating the height of the mountain we were at. A man was selling grilled corn for 500 yen (about $5 each), but food was more affordable in the little store a few feet away (hotdog for just 250 yen) - and you can also buy little souvenirs there.

If you do not wish to take the tour, there are buses (from Go-gome or Shinjuku) or trains (faster way and gateway stations are Atami, Odawara, kawaguchi-ko) available - but I will just refer you to guide books for directions since I did not do this personal trekking. You can also climb the mountain if you are adventurous and I do hear that if the weather is right, climbing is not too bad and July 1 to Aug 26 is the official season for climbing with 200,000 people doing so. Climb from Go-gome takes 5 hours up and 3 hours down. From Shin-Go-gome is longer and stonier, but the descent is faster.

JTB Global Marketing at 011 81 (3) 57965454

Fujisawa is the sister city of Florida's Miami Beach. It's about 30 miles south of Tokyo and very entertaining. Long beaches, surfers, suntanners.

Also right there, the island-mountain of Enoshima which is famous for it's temple and nice village.

Go see my Fujisawa page for more details !

ChuckG's Fujisawa page

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Yanaka is a step back in time to the stone courtyards of garden temples, craft shops and crumbling tombs. One of the best preserved older quarters of Tokyo.
Yanaka survived the Great Kanto earthquake in 1923 and the fire bomb of 1945 unscathed. This is a rare enclave of the old city. Observe famous Yanaka graveyards, mossy tombs, buddha stones, cherry trees, leafy walks, resting place of famous literati, actors and shoguns.
Yanaka is the reclusive reteat of artists, writers and designers. Its narrow streets discourages heavy traffic. You'll find quaint shops, run-down businesses, ultra-modern medical school, exquisite paper art shops, many temples.
Walk to the Sensho-en Temple to discover a 20ft high gold-leaf statute "Kannon" after the goddes of mercy.
Follow the main road down to busy Shinobazu-dori and dog-leg to Nezu shrine to arrive at the impressive vermillion Zuishinmori gate, then a second portal, the Karamon Gate with licquered colourful partitions and carvings.

The plan to climb Fuji in April was a non starter. You need proper gear and it would take all day.

In July and Aug, you can easily climb the summit, but it is a long trip from Tokyo to the starting point.

Outside of summer, the best bet is to see it as you go from Tokyo to Kansai on the Shinkansen. On the way there, we saw it clearly, on the way back, it was too cloudy.

The area around Hakone is meant to be nice, but without being able to climb the volcano, we didn't bother going all the way there.

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Before going to Japan, we had set our sights on finding the Monkey Bar as was featured on CNN a few months ago.

It seemed a futile task, but we found it.

For 3000 YEN, you get unlimited drinks, food and the monkey service/show. Some may see this as cruel, but the monkeys live in a large area and seemed more than happy to do their tricks. You will need to decide for yourself.

Monkeys work from 7pm-9pm, bar closed TUE and SUN.

We arrived on Sunday but the owner was very pleased to see foreigners so let us in to eat and drink with his close friends. Ended up eating raw squid and got drunk on beer and sake.

To get there.....

Take Shinkasen (Bullet) from Ueno or Tokyo station. Get off at Utsunomiya station (approx 55 mins).

Exit the main enterance and walk straight ahead. After 50m you reach a main road (Route 10). Turn right. Keep going, branching left at the train track junction (approx 1km). This road merges with Route 4, keep going (to the left). You will come to KFC. Turn right immediately after KFC (small road). Then 3rd left, right at the end, then 1st left. The tavern is at the end of this street.

3000 YEN in taxi from station, or 40 mins walk.