As we were heading to Mount Fuji, we passed some signs that said "caves" and saw a bunch of people who looked like they were prepping themselves for some cave action. We decided to park the car and go exploring...
Earlier on that day - punching in our destination for the day into our car navigation. If you cant read any of this then you need Moekana.
Filling up on gas before the long journey.
Yuki is cosplaying as Mirai Suenaga Winter School Uniform.
On the highways - I love how smooth the roads are over here.
The peak of Mount Fuji in sight!
Even the highways are lovely to look at.
Arrival at a small town.
Broom broom.
At the convenience store. Spot something black and hard to keep you awake which has a "hi-technical excellent taste and flavor."
Our trusty steed - Mirai Itasha Ver 2.
Mount Fuji has become...a character with a body. A character like this is known as "Yuru Kyara."
Japanese culture is full of kawaii. This notice asking folks to call 110 (police) when kids are being stalked or chased. I love how the kid is smiling as he runs.
Some retro Fanta packaging! Fruits Punch flavor.
Arrival at our first cave - 280 yen per adult.
The first cave we explore is Fugaku Fuketsu [富岳風穴] Wind Cave. The caves around Mount Fuji were created from the flow of lava many moons ago and are now available for us to explore without any guides.
To get to the caves by local transport, you first need to get to Kawaguchiko station [河口湖] (head out from Shunjuku [新宿] > Otsuki [大月] > Kawaguchiko [河口湖]). Then you can take a bus - ask at the station which one you should take.
Folks traveling by car should punch in the following address into the car navigation.
山梨県南都留郡鳴沢村鳴沢8533
[gmap=35.47548, 138.66707]
About 80 lava caves around Mount Fuji but only a few opened up to the public.
Entrance to Fugaku Fuketsu cave. Was really warm that morning but as soon as you take the first step then the temperature suddenly drops. The average temperature in the cave is 3 Celsius.
Thought it would be nice to take Yuki along to take some photos - turned out to be a bad idea as the cave is dripping with water and its veeeery dark inside.
If you got a camera that performs well at high ISO modes then you will come away with some decent shots - all these taken on my Sony NEX 5N.
The cave is constantly cold all year round and was previously used as a refrigerator.
Mmmmm. Yummy.
There were more holes in the cave which seemed to lead to somewhere or other but was blocked off to the public.
"Fugaku Fuketsu Natural Refrigerator"
Was a bit spooky down there at times...
Wall of ice made the place even colder!
Heading back to ground level to warm up.
Even if you plan to go in the Summer, make sure you take a warm jacket or you will freeze. As for this hoodie - left it on a chair in Malaysia and it was long gone ;-;
A map of Fugaku Fuketsu cave - looks like the map on Ghouls n Ghosts ^^;
The nature above ground is lovely too - time for some photos.
3 grown men taking pics of little girls.
Mount Fuji is a great place to spend a few days - this map of the Fuji Five lakes area.
Time to explore another cave - the Narusawa Ice Cave [鳴沢氷穴].
Checking out a cross section of Narusawa cave before we enter.
And here is the entrance.
Steps are very steep inside the cave and the floor is very slippery.
At some points in the cave, you really need to duck down very low in order to continue the course. Some bigger folks may have difficulty in getting through the gaps.
More ice to make the place even colder!
And after a while, we are treated to a nice view.
Right at the end of the cave is something called "Jigoku Ana" [地獄穴] or "Hell Hole" with a note saying that if you fall in then you wont be going home ever again.
Snap with some members of the Culture Japan team.
Time to get back up to the surface before we freeze over. Had no idea we were going to go cave exploring so didn't bring anything warm to wear.
Mount Fuji character goodies.....
The hands on the side move the eyes up n down - I could not resist ^^;
Japanese joke here - how many of you get it?
Picked up some beverage for my daughters.
Back in the car heading to our next destination.
Arrived at destination - check out the photos of Mount Fuji.
More places to visit in Japan listed up below - also all listed up in this post.
