This is something that you should do if you are in Japan in summer. A lot of Japanese people haven’t done it yet though. There are several ways of going to the 5th station. There are direct buses that leave from Shinjuku, or you can also go by train. If you go by train, use your favourite train route finder and use Kawaguchiko as you final station. From there you must take a bus to the 5th station itself.

5th Station

From here you can start hiking following the people. I think it is really really difficult to get lost (I would rather say impossible). About food and water…yes, take some, but you will find lot of spots where you can also buy it. And there is also a “nice” restaurant on the top of the mountain. It will look “nice” once you get there dying of tiredness (and you will)!

Next to the top of the Fuji-san

About the timing…the climbing from 5th station to the top CAN be done in 4 hours by a young man. Of course it can be done faster or slower. For the same person in the way down count 2-3 hours. Normally, people want to see the sun rise from the top of the volcano but you risk of do not see anything after a night of hiking if there are clouds. However, if you are lucky you will enjoy of very nice views of Japan!

Panorama from the Fuji-san

Another panorama from the Fuji-san

Do not forget that the Fuji-san is surrounded by five lakes, and you can take a nice picture of one of them from the 5th station before going back home!

河口湖 (kawaguchiko) or Kawaguchi lake

Have you been to the desert?
Have you walked with the dead?
There’s a hundred thousand children being killed for their bread
and the figures don’t lie they speak of human disease
but we do what we want and we think what we please

Have you lived the experience?
Have you witnessed the plague?
People making babies sometimes just to escape
in this land of competition my compassion is gone
yet we ignore the needy and we keep pushing on
keep pushing on

This is just a punk rock song
written for the people who can see something’s wrong
like ants in a colony we do our share
but there’s so many other fuckin’ insects out there
and this is just a punk rock song

Have you visited the quagmire?
Have you swam in the shit?
the party conventions and the real politics
the faces always different, the rhetoric the same
but we swallow it all, and we see nothing change
nothing has changed…

This is just a punk rock song
written for the people who can see something’s wrong
like workers in a company we do our share
but there’s so many other fuckin’ robots out there
and this is just a punk rock song

10 million dollars on a losing campaign
20 million starving and writhing in pain
big strong people unwilling to give
small in vision and perspective
one in five kids below the poverty line
one population runnin’ out of time
runnin’ out of time

This is just a punk rock song
written for the people who can see something’s wrong
like ants in a colony we do our share
but there’s so many other fuckin’ insects out there
and this is just a punk rock song

Figures don’t lie they speak of human desease
but we do what we want and we’ll think what we please
one in five kids below the poverty line
one population runnin’ out of time
this is just a punk rock song
this is just a punk rock song
this is just a punk rock song

Templos, puentes, y entornos naturales. Aquí encontramos los famosos tres monos que reflejan el comportamiento del primer mundo con respecto al tercero (no veo, no hablo, no escucho). También tenemos los típicos puentes japoneses como el de la imagen.

Una de las cosas que más me gustaron fue este lago al atardecer. Se reflejaba la magia y el misticismo del lugar. Relajante, japanese style.

El lago Chuzenji de Nikko (日光の中禅寺湖)

This place is next to the Yotei-san mountain (羊蹄山), very similar to the Fuji-san mountain but smaller (2000 m).

The Yotei-san

I really had a good time there, these Japanese people can be very funny, and they are always very very nice with you. The language is still a problem, when they start talking in Japanese between them maybe I could understand barely a 10%-20% of what they said, but I’m already happy with it. I think that three months ago I wouldn’t understand a single word.

They say that Hokkaido has the best sky slopes in Japan… but… I don’t know… for me the ones in Andorra are yet much better (and also they say that the Alps mountains are much better).

There were some foreigners in the slopes but most of the people were Japanese, as in everyplace in this country except of Roppongi. I have a video, skying down a slope that I will try to upload and link here.

After skying, dinner and ofuro time! Wow, the ofuro was so great! A big space with a big pool filled with really hot water. So nice after a cold day in the mountains…

We slept in the cheaper rooms of the hotel, japanase style rooms with tatami and futon (the whole was confortable).

About the food, the first night we had a really funny japanese style dinner with a lot of sushi, tempura, and beer! (Hokkaido is famous for the sushi).

Shinohara-san going towards the rest of the group

Aquí estoy yo, con mis cojones por bandera, luchando a muerte con el Sith del consolador luminoso.

El caso es que los reyes se han portado, incluso en Japón y por fin me ha llegado la conexión a Internet en la habitación (justo el día 5 por la noche). Pero es una mierda, nada que ver con el estándar japonés. Y es asimétrica, al revés que el mundo. Podría montar un servidor, vaya. Según un test de velocidad, bajo a 380 kbps y subo a 800 kbps. Te orinas, balbina.

No sé si alguna vez habéis salido el día 6 de enero por la mañana a la calle (a comprar el roscón) o si siempre os lo pasáis jugando con la muñeca inchable que os traen los Reyes cada año. Si lo hacéis, observaréis que los containers están llenos de las cajas de los juguetes que han recibido los niños (muñecas inchables en su mayoría y alguna peonza). Me hizo gracia encontrarme una caja de juguete en la calle el día 6 en mi barrio, así que le hice una “afoto” con el keitai. Bueno, al menos yo creo que era un juguete…

Qué pasa? Aquí también hay niños ricos
que no se tienen que conformar con una simple Xbox 360

Bon any! Aquesta és la primera vegada que no sóc a Catalunya per cap d’any. Curiós, qui m’hauria dit a mi que abans d’assistir a les campanades de Madrid a la Puerta del Sol passaria les 108 campanades a Tokyo. Sí sí, aquí no són 12 sinó 108, una per cada desig terrenal. Fan les campanades per deslliurar-se d’ells, cosa bastant absurda: només cal satisfer-los.

El fet és que vaig anar al temple Zojoji, que està al costat de la torre de Tokyo pel compte enrere.

En el moment d’entrar a l’any nou, la gent va començar a comptar juu, kyuu, hachi, shichi, roku, go, yon, san, ni, ichi! I aleshores van deixar anar aquest preservatius (que en la mitologia nipona simbolitzen la fertilitat) que portaven inflats amb heli, els quals es van enlairar i van arribar a la lluna 3 dies més tard.

Vaig veure dos tipus de sake calents (cosa típica a cap d’any), un de dolç que sabia a llet i un normal que no em va agradar gaire. Ja se sap que als pirates, el rom (que portava en una ampolleta de plàstic i que vaig començar a beure a palo seco fins que no vaig poder més i vaig comprar una Coca-Cola).

Després del compte enrere vam anar a Roppongi, la zona habitual per sortir. Volíem anar a Vanilla, la disco més gran i barata però la policia estava a l’entrada fent fora a tothom perquè hi havia overbooking! Al final vam anar a Muse, una altra discoteca, més enllà de Roppongi Hills.

La nit va acabar a un afterhour de Shibuya, en un edifici rosa bastant cutre. De fet tot era cutre però tenia un aspecte ciberpunk i em va encantar.

Bé, i vosaltres què vau fer?.

-¡Preparen los torpedos de protones!

Bombaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Éste es el trono del capitán de la nave estelar Toshiba RDC. Está calentito y hasta tiene un chorro de agua que va directo a Tuano. ¿Quién demonios es Tuano? He de confesar que ya no soy virgen, lo he probado y me gusta.

El trono real de Toto-san (o señor Roca, pero aquí todo es de la marca Toto)