Hello again, this post is really long by the way.
The following day after our last night in snowy Takayama, it was a full 8-hour train journey to Kawaguchi-ko in Yamanashi Prefecture. 8 hours sounds really intimidating, but in order to utilize the JR Rail pass we invested in, it was an easy choice to spend the day on trains. The trip was long, but the comfort level was adequate. We can snack and move around on the trains, and I managed to snap the above photo of Mt Fuji, albeit obscured by clouds.
It was dusk when we arrived at our hotel, Mifujien along the eastern shore of the lake. Sun was setting and the mountain covered itself in a blanket of clouds. So we went out to the best meal of the trip at Konami Restaurant 2 mins walk from the hotel. Warm our body and soul.
The next day is the day we visit the notorious Aokigahara forest aka Jukai (树海) aka the suicide forest…
We woke up early, like 6am. But the sun is already up, and we had a clear view of Mt Fuji. It was quite a view, the mountain was a distance away, but it stool so tall that the surrounding land looks flat.
Narusawa Ice Cave
We took a bus to the Ice Cave. The Ice Cave is one of the many caves within the Aokigahara forest, some of them were made into tourist attractions with souvenir shops and ticket counters. There were some English words on their information boards but you’ll have to make your own assumption as to what they were trying to tell you.
We initially thought the cave was very large, but we were wrong. There were areas where we have to crawl on all fours to get through. There were also a lot of steps gong down and then up so exploring this cave was a strenuous activity. We saw a few elderly person struggling to go down the stairs, I wish they were alright. We took a short break after exiting the cave, after which we proceed into the forest trail towards the Wind Cave.
There were signages that I’m guessing from the few Kanji I can read (Chinese characters used in Japanese that generally mean the same thing in Mandarin too) roughly means think about your family before you do anything rash and a number to call for help/counselling. The urban legends gave this place a ominous vibe and the silence doesn’t do it any favour too. Come to think of it, it was unusually quiet in the forest, no birds no small wildlife like squirrels etc. No bugs also, but that might be due to the cold weather. There was only silence, and the silence was deafening..
It took us about 45mins to walk the approximately 1+km trail to the Wind Cave. Probably the cold and me stopping to take photos every now and them, that’s why we were so slow.
Fugaku Wind Cave
The wind cave was actually kinda similar to Ice Cave in terms of the view. I’m no expert in geology so I feel like there’s no difference; stairs, rock and ice.
Soon after, we went to the nearby souvenir and snack shop for some refreshments before we venture into another part of the forest. The trail is about 2.5km long and it wasn’t marked on Google Maps. It was a little unsettling due to the notoriety of this forest, but we went ahead anyways because I convinced myself that we were walking very close to a road and I’m experienced enough to navigate this short trail. Claire on the other hand, is blissfully oblivious as usual.
Aokigahara Trail
We crossed the main road and entered the forest, another anti-suicide signage greeted us as we make our way into the lush greenery. The first 10mins into the trail, we could hear the large trucks that ply the main road behind us, there was another road to our right more or less parallel to the trail, but it was quiet. After the 10 mins mark, we were surrounded by silence again.
I didn’t tell Claire about my worry, maybe because this trail wasn’t very popular, it was pretty much untouched. I struggled to spot the trail because there were many areas where the trail was not really visible, it blend into the background. The whole time I pride myself for taking my army trainings seriously, so I should have no problems here. But I was humbled by Aokigahara, there were a few things here that can disorientate a person.
Apart from the reputation preceding our little adventure, the deafening silence, yes I can’t emphasize this enough, the deafening silence, this was the main driving force that feeds my anxiety. Here we are, in a overgrown temperate forest. This level of overgrown vegetation though, was nothing compared to the pockets of tropical forest we have back home. But all we here in this forest were the crunching of dried leaves from our footfalls. There were no wind induced rustling of leaves, no birdsongs or quick footsteps of small critters, no distant rumbling of passing cars. There was only silence. I am not used to this, I could orientate myself better with my ears, but in here I only feel like I’m missing one of my senses and whenever I lost the trail momentarily, my heart drops.
The whole time I just keep to myself because there’s no sense in telling Claire and have her panicking over it. Ignorance is bliss, literally.
I did some research before we entered the forest. It seems like the volcanic rocks that covered the grounds in the forest are porous by nature, so they all acted like a sponge, absorbing all the sound around them. Therefore there is a sense of isolation, like a sound-proof barrier of sorts. This fact disoriented my already lousy senses and gave me an other worldly vibe. Such unique charm. This is a first.
One interesting sight was the frozen earth crunching under our feet. I didn’t expect the ground to be so cold there were ice under the top soil.
After my longest hike of my life, we emerged from the forest at the carpark of Lake Saiko Nature Center. The exhibit is free and it chronicled the ‘miracle fish’ Kunimasu.. Apparently this species of land-locked trout was only found in Lake Tazawa, Akita. Something to do with agriculture in the area acidified the lake so much that the Kunimasu trouts are dying off. So scientists carried fertilized eggs of the fish and translocated them to many other lakes in Japan. That was about 80 years ago and there were no obvious results. So it was thought that the species was extinct. Until they were found in Lake Saiko here in Yamanashi Prefecture in 2010.
That story about the fish, was how we spent our 1 hour wait for the next bus back to Kawaguchiko.
Back to Town
We finally got onto the bus back to Kawaguchiko. Along the way I saw that it was the golden hour and Mt Fuji now has a slightly golden hue, it was beautiful even when it’s partially obscured in a hazy shroud. So much so that when someone on the bus stopped the bus along this road, I just stood up and drag Claire out of the bus for this view.
And thus, we spent the next hour making our way back to Kawaguchiko station on foot, taking photos of Mt Fuji the whole time. Pardon my fascination of this sacred mountain, its magnificent.
We of course ended the night with a meal at Konami. It was too damn good.
-Simon
