Friday, August 4, 2017

Mt. Fuji

Climbing Mt. Fuji blew away my expectations.  Ever since moving to Tokyo, I REALLY wanted to Climb Mt. Fuji.  It's just captivating, and plus it's so much of an icon of Japan.  I learned pretty early on that it's only officially open in the summer because of snow.  I planned my second year here to climb with friends from church, but the trip got cancelled because of rain.  Somehow I never found another opportunity until this year.

My co-workers (ended up being only two long-term staff, one volunteer staff, and two short-term staff) and I decided it would be a good thing to do together to bond as a team.  I was of course thrilled about that idea, having wanted to go for a long time.  After almost six years living in Japan, I finally made it!  With all the build up, I honestly thought it might have been anti-climactic.  A lot of people told me I should climb Mt. Fuji once.  Some friends told me it's actually not that beautiful to climb.  They said it's a volcano.  I agreed with them, thinking that seeing Mt. Fuji from the tops of other mountains was probably more exciting than trekking through volcanic rock.  But I was so very wrong!  It was stunning!!  The view was incredible!!  The word we kept using was majestic.  Even after the sunrise was over, I was still perpetually in awe.  I will never tell someone casually that if they have the chance they should climb it once.  If you can at all make it happen, climbing Mt. Fuji is 100% absolutely and completely worth it (pray for good weather, because we were blessed with pretty much perfect conditions.)  I still REALLY want to climb Mt. Fuji any chance I get.

Many of these photos were taken by my co-workers, one of whom guided us since it was his third time.  Thank you Taketo-san!