5th Day - Kawagoe

The most important day of my life came and I'm going to celebrate it in Japan. This has been scrapped on its supposed schedule but we pushed through with this in the end and made it as our 5th day adventure. When we made our itinerary, we made sure we have options for unforeseen circumstances.

Kawagoe is a Japanese city northwest of Tokyo. It's located in Saitama prefecture. An Edo-period castle town, it’s known for its old clay warehouses and merchant homes, called Kurazukuri. Oh how I love the place from the first time I saw it on the net. 

Kawagoe is 30mins away from Ikebukuro station on the Tobo Tojo Line. At the Ikebukuro station, we purchased the Kawagoe Discount Premium Pass. I think we bought the premium pass thinking we could ride the bus but my cousin who is in Japan met us and we got a ride.

Kawagoe Discount Premium Pass : Adult 970 yen Child 490 yen

For more info, please visit : https://www.tobu.co.jp/en/ticket/kawagoe/premium.html

From Kawagoe Station, we rode a bus (TOBU KOEDO Loop Bus) at bus stop 3  and alighted at our first destination Kitain Temple-Mae.

📍 Kitain Temple

We probably spent more than 2 hours in this place and even missed out on the 500 Rakans. Rakans are the statues of the disciples of Buddha, each with its own facial expression. 

There's also a pagoda you can see before the museum.

                      We explored the grounds to the left of the Kitain temple and Voila! Found some spots which are not touristy.

Natural flare.

Semba Toshogu Shrine

This shrine is related to the shrine in Nikko. This is a Toshogu shrine built within the Kitain temple. An artificial hill was made by 2,000 followers before building the main shrine and a worship hall. This was the Semba Toshogu Shrine. The original Kitain temple and the Semba Toshogu Shrine was burned down during the Great Fire of Kawagoe. The buildings we see now were just rebuilds.

The "Torii" Gateway at the entrance to the Semba Toshogu Shrine

View from the museum.

Caught a Japanese girl walking through the museum in her cute OOTD.

Relaxing view and a "do it or else" pose.

Garden of the Museum. 

 While waiting for my cousin, we pass the time by eating. This is the most expensive kamote (sweet potato) I ever tasted. Price 300 yen. 

Total time spent: 2hours

Entrance fee : 400 yen (Adult), 400 yen (Child) (Entrance fee is for the Museum but it's worth it)

At Lunch time, we ate at a restaurant near the Renkeiji temple. My cousin paid for it as a birthday treat to me!!!

📍 RenKeiji Temple

Total time spent: 30mins

Entrance fee : FREE

📍 Warehouse District

📍 Toki No Kane (Bell of Time)

This tower is an exact replica of the 17th-century original and continues its role as the symbol of Kawagoe and also notifies citizens of the hour four times a day.

Visions of the Past.

📍 Starbucks (Edo Style)

And the two punks at the door are actually my friends who intentionally posed even if I was shouting shoo shoo.

📍 Kashiya Yokocho (Candy Alley)

My cousin bought it for him. It was soft and not too sweet. This bread lasted for days and even got to Cavite.

There are lots of food being sold at this alley, and got us full till the night. We did not eat dinner.

The last stop should have been the Hikawa Shrine but it was a bit far from the area. After running through grass fields and felt like an endless loop of turns. we finally arrived at the shrine only to find out it is already closed.

So we just head back to the train station and called it a day. I had fun with Kawagoe, more so because I love old, vintage places. 

6th Day Fujikawaguchiko area

We decided to spend 2 days in Fuji Area for 2 reasons:

1. To have more chances of seeing Mt. Fuji

2. To make most out of it since bus ride is 2 hours one way.

TIPS:

1. Avoid weekends. Visit the area on weekdays to have lesser local tourists. It's not that Japanese are rude, they are actually polite and nice but this is for your enjoyment. Less local tourists, more enjoyment.

2. Purchase bus tickets days before your planned trip. On peak days, buses are full and chances are you will not be able to take the slot you want.

This is where we bought ours. Ticket is 2000 yen per one way. While the child's rate is 1000 yen. https://www.highwaybus.com/gp/inbound/inbPlanList?lineId=110

3. Leave your luggage from where you are staying in Tokyo area. Just bring clothes for your 2nd day in Fuji.

4. Better check-in at a hotel near Kawaguchi station. Why? Kawaguchi station is where the buses and trains are coming from in the Fuji five Lakes area. Also, there are a lot of nearby restaurants and convenience stores.

If you cannot find a hotel near kawaguchi station, you can rent lockers in the train station and leave your bags. You only need your passport, money, camera or phone with you.

Why I advise you not to check in first? Getting and from Kawaguchi station will eat time. Check in procedures also take time, and you don't want to waste your time for this.

Your Fuji tour starts in Shinjuku Expressway Bus terminal.

Head to Shinjuku train station and exit at the new South gate of JR line. You need to get to street level, and cross the road to the building in front. Go to 4th floor for your bus. Arrive early so you will have allowance for getting lost.

Section B (blue) covers Hakone, Shizuoka and Fuji Five Lakes. This is where you should go to when you arrive in the Bus terminal. There's a display board showing the bus number, departure time and your boarding gate. Take note of the gate number and wait near it.

Your bus number is indicated in your ticket. 

We took a bus from Shinjuku going to Kawaguchi Station. 

Bus Fare : Adult 2000 yen , Child 1000 yen 

Upon arriving at the Kawaguchi station, we bought our Fuji Bus Passes. 

Bus Passes : Adult 1500 yen , Child 750 yen

There are 2 buses included in the Fuji bus Pass (2days), the Greenline (Saiko area) and the Redline  (Kawaguchi Area).

The pics posted have their bus stop numbers indicated and arranged according to the Bus Route. Do not be confused of the numbering as they are not in sequence. Please note that bus stop numbers could change in time but the name of the Bus Stop remains. This I learned when reading to old blogs and realized that the bus stop numbers were different.

The Greenline bus circles Lake Saiko and there are stops you won't be passing going back to Kawaguchi station. Please see bus route map in their official Page . Click on the link below:

http://bus-en.fujikyu.co.jp/heritage-tour/detail/id/1/ 

This is the recommended itinerary for 2 days. Note that we wore different clothes on other pics because they were taken the 2nd day when we had a clear mind strategy. The itinerary provided is what we should have taken if we just knew back then. 

Bus intervals are at 30mins.So better have the schedule handy to budget your time. The bus stop has that information as well.

Note that this is still dependent on traffic and volume of people. I've read somewhere that on peak days it could take longer. This is the reason we picked Monday and Tuesday for our Fuji Trip.

Day 1 Fuji Itinerary

Bus stop 48: Iyashi no Sato (Greenline)

Iyashi no Sato  stands on the site of a former farming village on the western shores of Lake Saiko. With thatched roof houses and with the Mt. Fuji as background, this place should be included in your Fujikawaguchi tour. We made this as our first stop as this is 47mins away from Kawaguchi station.

The houses here are all for the tourist's service, there is a noodle house, restaurant and souvenir house. We did not eat our lunch in one of the houses as none of them suit our taste. We head back to that small eating place near the bus stop, serves two purpose : eating while waiting for the bus. 

Total time spent: 2hours

Entrance fee : 350 yen (Adult), 150 yen (Child)

Perfect spot for picture taking.

Tree outside one of the souvenir shops.

Bus stop 49 : Saiko Wild Bird Forest (Greenline) 

This is just a sightseeing bus stop. We only spent 30mins to take pictures, just in time for the next bus to arrive. 

Total time spent: 30mins

Entrance Fee: FREE

Bus stop 51 :  Wind Cave and Ice Cave (Greenline)

Fugaku Wind cave

In the past, this cave was used as a natural storehouse and refrigerator, as the temperature inside stays at a relatively constant zero degrees Celsius throughout the year.

From Wind Cave, you need to walk about 20mins going to the Ice Cave. The trail is part of the Aokigahara Forest (Suicide Forest). Well, if you have the time to read some facts about it and why it has become so popular, google is your friend. Honestly, I got scared on parts when I do not get to see other groups but for most part, I find it enjoyable. Though, I have thoughts on what if we get lost?...what if we get stuck inside? ..lol

Some areas in the forest are dim.

Some are sunny.

You'll see warning signs saying No Entry! 

I do not understand but it seems not a good idea to cross the wire.

Narusawa Ice Cave

Ice cave entrance

Ice cave was more fun than Wind Cave. We did not expect to be having quiet an experience. With all the duck walking and tight spaces. Note that we were required to wear helmets inside. They were provided before getting inside the cave.

The road from the Ice cave going to the bus stop. Must have been 10 to 15mins walk. Once you hit the highway, you turn left to reach the bus stop. 

You have the option to take the forest the same way from which you took going from Wind Cave to Ice cave.  But we just tried this one to see another view. 

Total time spent: 1.5 hr

Entrance  Fee :  (both attraction ) Adult  350 yen , 200 yen Child. 

Bus stop 45 : Bat Cave Bus Stop (Greenline)

This bus stop is for the Bat Cave Attraction. We did not enter the Cave as I saw a sign that says Lake Saiko. It was on our first day and realizing that the view could be promising, we did this on the next day. And true enough, it was worth it. From the bus stop just go to the left and follow the signage. It was a short 2min walk. 

                

      

You'll pass this tree from the Bat Cave Bus stop to Lake Saiko. The Lake Saiko Bus stop (Red Line) is across this. 

Pic taken from the picnic table going back to the road

There's a picnic table you can sit on and relax while enjoying the view. This spot is just so perfect and there not much people here. We had it to ourselves. Pass me the beer or coffee -- I can stay for hours here. 

Total time spent: 30mins (but if we had the choice, we could have spent an hour here)

Entrance  Fee :  FREE 

Bus stop 28 : Shikishima no Matsu (Fuji view hotel) Greenline

I honestly do not know what to see in this bus stop. My friend who visited the fuji area 3 days ago recommended this place. I was hesitant at first when I saw it is a bus stop for the hotel but when I saw the yellow and red leaves, I got excited. 

Just lower your voices to respect the hotel guests. 

Total time spent: 30mins

Entrance  Fee :  FREE 

You can now head back to your hotel to rest after the day's activity you probably deserve a ramen for all that walking.

7th Day Fuji (2nd day in Fuji)

 On your 2nd day, you can head to Chureito Pagoda. We checked out from the hotel and rented a locker in the Kawaguchi station and left our overnight bags to continue with our Fuji Tour.  

From Kawaguchiko Train Station take a train to Shimoyoshida station (14 min ride) and walk 20mins of plains and steep stairs! You can use your Suica card here.

Crossing railtracks

View outside the Shimoyoshida Station 

Colorful and Beautiful pathway -- this marks the start of that 400 step journey! Do not be scared, old Japanese people are passing at us like roadrunners. Haha.. What a shame for someone younger but you can pause, take pictures and enjoy the view as you go up.

When I said steep, I meant really really steep. 

When you reach the Torii Gate near the Arakura Sengen Shrine. Look back and enjoy. The best spot for framing Mt. Fuji. This area could get crowded, we don't even have a selfie on this spot. I just took a pic and include the other tourists who are not giving us our chance.

The best view is the bench at the far right from this spot but since the couple who are sitting there have no plans in getting up, we just settled for this bench. With Mt. Fuji at the background, it is still a nice spot.

Took this pic while going up the stairs. Just don't forget to look back in case a new vantage point appears.

This is probably the most photographed view of Mt. Fuji with pagoda at the right. There's a queue when you take your pictures here. Make sure you arrive in Chureito Pagoda before 9AM. The tour buses from Tokyo usually arrives at 10AM or 11AM so if you don't want too much crowd, better get up early.

Going down is much easier, here you can relax a bit.

                                                        Buy an ice cream near the Shrine.

There's a store at the right of this pic. 

You can buy good luck, love, wealth, health charms there depending on your needs or desperation (haha).  I actually got the pink one for love. 

Arakura Sengen Shrine

Now, head back to Shimoyoshida station and ride a train back to Kawaguchi Station. Outside the Kawaguchi Station are lines for the Red, Blue and Green Lines. We took the Red Bus Line this time.

Total time spent: 30mins

Entrance Fee: FREE

Bus stop 20 :  Kawaguchiko Natural Living Center/Oishi Park  (Redline) 

With all our itinerary everywhere, here's the general rule we follow : start from the farthest. Reason is when you have problems going back or when it's crunch time (having a train/bus to catch), the risk of getting late or missing on it is lower. You'll be able to budget your time wisely and adjust the minutes spent in a spot. 

Oishi Park is around 27mins from Kawaguchi station, please consider traffic when you allot times.

This was the most disappointing view we got for Mt Fuji. There's that cloud forming on top of her tip, it could have been a beautiful sight if the flowers here are in bloom but they are not. Add to the ongoing renovation, there's not much to see here at that time. I saw pictures of Mt Fuji from Oishi Park and they were all good, not my lucky visit I guess.

Total time spent: 30mins

Entrance Fee: FREE

Bus stop 17 :  Itchiku Kubota Art Museum/ Momiji Tunnel  (Redline) 

We did not enter the museum but went to the Momiji Tunnel. 

The Momiji tunnel refers to the road lined with several beautiful Maple trees of yellow and red leaves. It's not even a tunnel at all. Read somewhere that the "tunnel" came from the Japanese photographer's love of framing subjects of their shots using natural forms. They are called Tunnel shots  because each subject appears to be seen through the mouth of a tunnel. And this right here, provides one of the best angles from which to center Mount Fuji, across Lake Kawaguchi, in a frame of maple leaves. But, I was not able to spot one here due to the crowd.

Please note that Momiji tunnel is different from the Momiji Corridor.

That tunnel of red and yellow leaves.

Golden yellow and red leaves in blue sky background.

Yellow and greens.

Let's add subject to the frame.

Just across the Momiji Tunnel is the Lake Kawaguchi.

 

This view here is what you see when you stand at the bus stop going back to Kawaguchi Station.

There are lot of bus stops we failed to drop by due to time constraints. It's nice that you plan your day but the most important thing is to enjoy it. Prioritize what is most important as it's hard to play Amazing race in your vacation.

So off we go to Kawaguchi station to catch our bus.

Total time spent: 45mins

Entrance Fee: FREE