Family Pictures and Iyashi no Sato Nenba

I don't want to leave Japan without taking a great family picture with Mt. Fuji in the background, so a few weeks ago, we drove out to Fuji to get our prized picture.  However, we got there and this is what we saw:

No Fuji!  Haha!!!  See that grey sky?  Well, it's actually a whole bunch of fog completely covering Mt. Fuji.  On clear day, from this exact spot, Mt. Fuji in its entirety is visible.  And it's stunning!  But, of course the day we get all dressed up for family pictures and drive an hour and a half out there, it's too foggy to see anything!  So, we decided to make the most of it and go visit Iyashi no Sato Nenba (an old fashioned thatched roof village) since we were all the way over there.  The drive over to the village turned out to be beautiful--the fall foliage was bright and beautiful with all sorts of yellows and reds adorning the hills.  As we pulled up to Iyashi no Sato, we found a prime photo spot and decided to take some family pictures real quick since we were all dressed and ready.

After taking pictures, we went in to walk around the village.  Walking through Iyashi no Sato is like stepping back in time!  All of the buildings have thatched roofs, and there's a little river that runs through the middle with a few water wheels next to some of the buildings.  Each building has a different activity or different local crafts/souvenirs.  There are a bunch of ceramics for sale and we were able to find some really cute octopus and sumo wrestler chopstick holders.  We ate lunch at one of the two restaurants and enjoyed some soba and udon as well as some green mountain vegetables that (surprisingly) Bennett loved and (not surprisingly) Will and Clara did not.

The absolute best part about visiting Iyashi no Sato though is dressing up!  For only ¥500 each, you can dress up in kimonos, samurai, or ninja clothing!  Then, you're allowed to walk around the village wearing the clothing--it gives you the chance to really experience what it would be like living in the village at the time.  It was so much fun!  Peter was our samurai and Bennett was a little samurai baby, Will was a ninja and Clara and I both dressed in kimonos.  Watching the two little old grandmas dress Peter in his costume was so funny!  They barely reached his chest!

Since we now had more awesome family pictures, we decided to incorporate them into our Christmas cards as well.  So, here you have it!  Merry Christmas from the Frandsens!

GPS Coordinates for Iyashi no Sato Nenba:  35.505223, 138.661551

Saiko Bat Cave

After checking out Shiraito Falls the other day, we drove back up towards Saiko Lake (one of the Fuji 5 Lakes) to visit the Saiko Bat Cave, which is the largest lava cave near the foot of Mt. Fuji (we'd checked out the Fugaku Lava Cave previously, but our kids were too tired that day for anymore exploring!).  

A little known fact about our family is that we LOVE bats!!!  I think it all started with a National Geographic easy reader about bats that Will got a few years ago.  That book is full of interesting facts, but once we learned that they eat mosquitos, we all became huge fans!  And, really, they are fascinating creatures!  So, anyway, we went to the Saiko Bat Cave with high hopes of seeing lots of bats.  However, and we knew this, but bats are nocturnal.  We thought we'd at least be able to see them asleep in their roosts, but they're too smart to hang out (hee hee) where the caves are open for visitors to crawl around, so we didn't see any.  We may try and go back this winter around 4:00-5:00pm when they wake up for the night and come flooding out of the caves.  Sounds exciting, doesn't it?!

We really felt like explorers in this cave!  And those silly helmets weren't so silly after all--the caves were quite narrow with low ceilings in several areas, making the hard hats quite useful in keeping us from banging up our heads on the rocks.  

After climbing through the cave, there is a small souvenir shop and a mini little museum-type room with pictures and more information about bats.  While this cave was relatively small and won't take too long to check out, there is a bunch of stuff to do around the area, making for a great day trip.  Check my other posts on things to do in this area: Shiraito Falls, Fugaku Lava Cave, Camping at Lake Motosu, Kawaguchi Asama Shrine, and the Chureito Pagoda!

GPS Coordinates: 35.494473, 138.671318

Shiraito Falls

A few weeks ago, we drove out to Mt. Fuji with some friends to visit the Shiraito Falls.  These waterfalls are amazing--it's hard to describe how breathtakingly beautiful they are--especially on a clear day with Mt. Fuji looming right above.  Japan is so full of hidden treasures!  And the Shiraito Falls are no exception!  Definitely worth the drive to see such incredible scenery.

The falls are about 2 hours from base, and then once you arrive, walking down to the water only takes a few minutes.  Since visiting the actual falls isn't a full day trip, we decided to stop by the Lake Sai Bat Cave afterwards.  Post coming soon!

GPS Coordinates:  35.313255, 138.587371

Fugaku Lava Cave

After a fun night of camping and hanging out at Lake Motosu, as we were leaving the Fuji Five Lakes area, we decided to stop and check out the Fagaku Lava Cave, also known as the lava ice cave or wind cave.  It was really cool--literally!  There were pillars of ice, even in the heat of the summer!  This cave used to be used as a natural refrigerator, and they still store silk worms inside today.  It was a short walk through the cave, and it was set in the beautiful greenery that surrounds Mt. Fuji.  There are several other caves in the area that we were hoping to explore as well (especially the bat cave!), but our kids were officially pooped after camping, hiking, and playing that we decided to save the rest of the caves for another day.