by At Lake Kawaguchiko 7-eleven it is all gone Fuji. Among the strawberry cheesecake KitKats and mugwort mochi dumplings, there are blue-tinged Fuji bath plugs, Fuji rice crackers, Fuji chiffon cake, bottles of Fujisan Blue Cream Soda and boxes of mold-itself Fujisan Blue Curry Rice. The challenge is to make this edible version of the holy mountain look like the picture on the box, which shows a perfect cone of rice with a flat top and streaks of radioactive turquoise rolling down its side. If you’re visiting and can’t see Mt Fuji, fear not, the mountain has many forms at your local convenience store.
At 3,776 meters (12,388 feet) high, Fuji is the highest mountain in Japan. Many visitors see it for the first time as they speed out of Tokyo on the Shinkansen. A few years back on a particularly clear day I saw it from an airplane – a nearly perfect cone rising irresistibly from the glass and concrete sprawl of Tokyo. I could just make out a semicircular necklace of lakes around its base. I promised to visit.
I didn’t know it then, but the place I was headed was Fuji Five Lakes (Fuji Go-ko), in Yamanashi prefecture, less than a few hours from Tokyo, a weekend haven that a favorite of Tokyoites craving quiet and fresh. air – as much as money New Yorkers could flee to the likes of Eastport and Sag Harbor for a few days of respite from the smog of the city.
Even on a clear day, a cloud is never far away in Fuji Five Lakes – but in October, I was lucky. The day we arrived at Glamping Villa Hanz, Fuji was lost behind a curtain of clouds. Early the next morning a friend poked her head into my tent. “Fuji is out!” she hissed. It was as if someone had leaned up a ladder at night and painted a graceful slope on the sky.
You don’t need to climb Japan’s highest mountain to appreciate its beauty or cultural significance. Spectacular views of Fuji and the five lakes that converge at its northern base can be seen from the foothills and a chain of smaller mountains. Lake Motosuko’s iconic view of Fuji is featured on the reverse of the ¥1,000 note. The area is criss-crossed with walking and hiking trails and a dedicated cycle path hugs much of the perimeter of Lake Yamanakako.
Glamping Villa Hanz is about a 10-minute drive from Lake Kawaguchiko. We stayed in geodesic tents (dome tents) but there were “glamping visas” with large Jacuzzis and a barbeque terrace and a luxurious century-old guest house, restored and rebuilt.
This being Japan, the camping experience was full of strange reverence. The glamping world came with Grade-A equipment, a wash and blow-dry toilet and instructions for everything. I’m not ashamed to say that turning a few feet from my pao into a hot bathroom cubicle with a multi-second shower, and a loo that stood up when I walked in and warmed my thighs when I sat down was a highlight. .
Every item was illustrated in an information booklet, from a trivet and tongs to a rice cooker, chimney starter, meat thermometer and the spectacularly lost translation of “organ digesters”, AKA fire extinguisher. Handy for city dwellers who never learned to light or put out a fire.
Our visit to the Fuji Five Lakes began with a trip to Sengen-jinja shrine, nestled in the wooded foothills of Fuji and entered through a “worship path” flanked by stone lanterns lined with moss and knot-trunked cedars that exuded cherry juice. -red. .
For the Japanese, Fujisan is as much a spiritual totem as a physical one. Sengen-jinja is the starting point for one of four ancient ascent routes used by Shinto pilgrims, and climbers wishing to take the full 10 steps of the Yoshida Path can enter the trailhead at the “climbing gate” behind of the main prayer hall.
The shrine is one of 25 sites around Mt Fuji to be inscribed by Unesco. Villa Hanz had organized a formal blessing – an expression of the good fortune of our visit – in the Worship Hall. Dressed in embroidered robes, a miko (shrine princess) chanted prayers and we bowed our heads and bowed twice to acknowledge the gods. By way of greeting, we went for a group photo with our host Villa Hanz, whereupon my stocking foot found the edge of a lacquered object and the solemnity was broken with two of us almost falling to the floor. I’m sure I got a few at the miko’s mouth.
Repeated volcanic eruptions (the last in 1707) created unusual volcanic features including lava tree molds, wind and ice caves and a dense forest rooted on a lava plateau. Inside the Aokigahara Forest mossy roots grip the shallow soil like troll’s toes. The air is green under a dense canopy. Our guide, Makoto, who had a small bell attached to his backpack, pointed out claw marks on a trunk. There are 30 Asiatic black bears in the area and there are probably three in Aokigahara, according to Makoto. “They are vegetarian but it would be better not to encourage them,” he said.
The porous rock of the forest affects the magnetic field and, before leaving, Makoto held his compass over a rock so we could watch the needle turn.
Porous rock plays a role in the water that Fuji seeks, earning it the moniker “mountain of water”. Filtered through layers of basalt, mineral-rich meltwater seeps underground before being tapped by springs, wells and onsen. Local onsen rave about the water’s vanadium content, which is said to lower blood pressure. As a bonus Villa Hanz has its own source of Fuji well water, as well as a little oil.
Silky spring water nourishes vegetables too much and tastes good and noodles. The chewy local noodles are a delicacy best slurped in a bowl of hoto. Each restaurant has its secrets but the basic recipe is a hot dish of fat noodles boiled in spring water and cooked with seasonal vegetables in a miso broth.
At the family Ide Sake Brewery, which has been brewing on the same site for 300 years, Fuji spring water is the elixir in a fine brew. While on tour, the current owner (21st generation) told us how his 16th generation ancestor made the leap from soy sauce production to sake brewing. It was a smart move. At Sengen-jinja, rows of sake barrels are presented as offerings to the gods. It’s a shame they don’t get to try the ice cream for good.
Back at Villa Hanz we visited the Kura to collect kindling. A modern take on a traditional Japanese warehouse, the Kura is the place to book activities, plant an ax in wood (under supervision) and get an insight into Japanese knife craftsmanship.
The dinner ingredients were delivered to each PAO’s outdoor kitchen at around 6pm. We unpacked a crock of seafood in oil – a starter that sizzled on the skillet – vegetables for grilling, rice, chicken, pork steaks and generous strips of wagyu. For dessert, there were bananas for cooking in skins and caramel sauce poured over the top. Thanks to our ceramic barbecue “Kamado” and the wonderful instructions we made (“lay the charcoal with a gentle slope” – who knows?), the dinner was a great success.
Afterwards, we waited by the fire pit under the stars before relaxing in the cypress-wood barrel sauna. A group of four women, we vowed never to lose control of the barbecue again.
On our last morning, I dragged myself out of the giant squashy futon bed for a dawn canoe paddle to find that a miracle had happened overnight. Fujisan has its own lexicon for the natural phenomena that occur throughout the year, and our last night coincided with hatsu kansetsu – the season’s first snow cap. Enough on the occasion.
Toy and Hat, our canoe guides, came with tea, biscuits and homemade honey, which they said was ideal. Secretly, I was relieved that my clumsy antics at the shrine had not offended the deities. Our cuckoos glided across Lake Kawaguchiko until we could see the mountain peak with a dusting of snow in the silhouette of the lake.
We could add “Fuji upside down” to hatsu kansetsu, goraiko (sunrise from Mt Fuji) and aka Fuji (a red shadow immortalized in an Edo-era woodblock print). In the inverted reflection, I could see, for the first time, the flattened crater bowl of the mountain.
Now all I had to do was return to the 7-Eleven, and create this beautiful thing in rice.
How to do it
Teresa Machan was a guest at Glamping Villa Hanz (0081 555 728 282; gv-hanz.com). PAO accommodation costs from ¥32,128 (£176) per night for two people. Breakfast costs 2,373 yen (£13) per person. Villas from 40,890 yen (£224) per room. There is an additional cost for off-site activities.
Return flights from Heathrow to Tokyo (with a stop in Frankfurt) cost from £1,200 pp (lufthansa.com). A direct train from Tokyo to Kawaguchiko station costs from 2,360 yen (£12) and takes 70 minutes.
