Japan 2023 Part 3

 

It was HOT in Japan in July and early August—one of the key reason David runs at 0400. After sunset, it cooled nicely. Later, When we went up near Mt. Fuji the weather there was much more pleasant, though still sunny and warm.

On Saturday we went to the Kakegawa Castle and did a wonderful, albeit hot, tour. We followed that up with a visit to a “conveyor-belt sushi” restaurant. Here you ordered off an I-pad menu at your table. You order, the food arrives via conveyor belt and you get billed. As you empty dishes, most of these fit into a slot where they are whisked away. This technique of ordering food via computer at your table seems very efficient. Noteworthy too, no one tips in Japan.

On Sunday we three visitors led a worship service in David’s home featuring 1 Jn 5:1-12 and “Jesus Loves me.” It was sweet and I kept it very short. The lack of Christian visible presence here is again remarkable.

On Monday, 31 we drove up to near Mount Fuji. Even the drive up was interesting for us visitors. The drivers “pull-off” we stopped in was entertaining with an elaborate sales center. We bought soft-serve ice cream, which was tasty. It seemed not as sugary as ours, and was a bit pricey.

We spent some time in a tourist area reminiscent of Gatlinburg, Oshino Hakkai. It had Fuji-supplied cold clear water with lots of trout spread out in 8 ponds. One of the treats was a shop filled with deer-leather goods. That aspect got real when we saw some spotted deer on our drive to the wonderful resort, Sanctuary Villa which had a wonderful view of Mt. Fuji. We had the clearest view we have ever had, and David took a photo showing lights on the mountain as people climbed towards the top at night.

Monday, 31 July we also got to visit the Yamanashi Prefectural Fuji-Spring Fed Village Aquarium—whew! It was great. They had hundreds of fish and some very neat displays.

We boarded two paddle boats, one shaped like a duck and the other shaped like a swan (—sort of). The lake there, Yamanaka-ko, made a beautiful display at the bottom of Mt. Fuji. This was definitely a popular tourist area.