FUJI II - Jan-Eric Osterlund

This image was taken from the shores of Lake Kawaguchi, not that far from where we were staying overnight. But this is one of the later photos. Before I captured it, we had a long time waiting for the clouds to clear. Later in the day the clouds completely cleared for them to come back again in the afternoon.

The second day the yellow haze caused by sand blowing over from China had cleared due to an overnight rainstorm. But in the morning, the volcano was instead covered in clouds that cleared as the day went on. So Jennifer and I spent a couple of hours waiting and were rewarded by the mountain appearing very clear.

*The bridge crossing Lake Kawaguchi at a point, where the two sides of the lake were close to each other. Although Mount Fuji was covered in clouds, everything nearby was in full sun.*

*This is an earlier image, when the distant clouds started to break up, but the summit was still covered in cottonwool*

*Two goddesses.* *Mount Fuji is regarded as a female godess. And my wife certainly is seen by me as another one. It was a very warm spring day at Lake Kawaguchi, as you can see.* *I got sunburnt this day and appeared later in Tokyo with a very red nose. But Jennifer can manage the sun without problems*

We drove up to Koyodai Observatory to get a view of Mount Fuji from another angle and altitude. We are about 1,200 metres above see level, but Mount Fuji rises nearly 3,800 metres, so it was still towering above us.

*Mount Fuji from the Koyodai Observatory looking south to the volcano*

*And looking north from the same observation point towards Lake Saiko*

All around the volcano the ground is covered by volcanic lava. At certain places the layer of soil above the lave is limited and the roots have to grow really horizontally. The trees are small and the roots, trying to grab around the lava blocks, creat fascinating forms. We visited the Dragon Cave, one such place, which had got religious significance in Japanese culture, but I was more interested in the nature’s beauty.

*Part of the Dragon Cave with the trees trying grow on the lava blocks*

*The roots had to grow on the surface as the lave prevented them from growing down into the ground*

On the other side of Lake Saiko we visited Saiko Iyashi-no-Sato Nemba, a traditional village that now was a museum. Lovely old houses with thatched roofs and one of the houses also harboured a nice little restaurant that provided our lunch.

*The museum village of Saiko Iyashi-no-Sato Nemba with Mount Fuji in the background*

When we passed Lake Saiko the last time the wind had calmed down and we were able to see some limited reflections of the Goddess, Mount Fuji, before returning back.