Kawaguchiko

If there's one tip I could give about the journey from Kyoto to Kawaguchiko, it's this: book the bus ride from Mishima Station to Kawaguchiko in advance. By the time we arrived at the surprisingly tiny Mishima Station, the bus was fully booked, but luckily for us, we snagged the last couple of seats by booking online while traveling on the train from Kyoto. A tip about shinkansen travel in general: train station bentos are far superior as traveling snacks. I'm sure the journey was beautiful, with pastoral scenes, cozy cute towns nestled among the trees, perhaps even a glimpse of Mount Fuji as we hurtled by - but what I remembered most was the bento. Perfectly cooked flaky salmon, beautifully seasoned rice, a slightly sweet Japanese omelette - a far cry from the M&S meal deal I'd pick up at the station back home in the UK.

We had a small amount of indecision when planning this part of our trip. We wanted to visit a town with views of Mount Fuji, but there were almost too many options to choose from. Hakone, Mishima, Gotemba, and Fujinomiya are just a few of the many towns that focus on Mount Fuji tourism. They all had their unique selling points, and the Hakone region almost won for us, but ultimately, we chose to go with Kawaguchiko. Our decision was based on a few key reasons: it was relatively accessible by public transport, and crucially for us, we found a hotel with an onsen that permitted tattoos. Although attitudes are changing, traditionally the Japanese people most likely to have tattoos are part of the Yakuza (an organized crime gang) - and historically this has led to anyone with tattoos being banned from bathing in onsen (hot springs). As onsen etiquette requires full nudity, tattoos would be pretty hard to hide.

Kawaguchiko hotel wasn't the most luxurious of hotels. It would be generous to guess that it's last renovation was completed in the 90's, but even with it's slightly moth-eaten appearance and subtle musty smell we couldn't deny it's charm. The staff welcomed us warmly and after confirming that I didn't appear to be affiliated with the Yakuza, said they were happy for me to use the onsen. We chose to stay in a traditional room, and as we explored it we were certain we made the right choice. It was all delightful, the tatami mat flooring, the surprisingly comfortable roll alway futon beds and the view of the lake we got from our tiny window-side seating area all gave us a glimpse into the hotels more glamorous past. Unlike many traditional rooms, ours had an attached bathroom - I can get behind shared facilities for a discount but many traditional rooms are way more expensive than their western counterparts, making the appeal less apparent to me. While exploring the rooms cupboards we found beautifully presented yukata for us to wear on site, complete with belts and socks - in our travels we were coming to love trying on various hotel "pyjamas" in Japan.

Having spent pretty much the entire day traveling, after an hours rest in the hotel it was time to head out for dinner. As Kawaguchiko isn't quite as popular in the shoulder season as it is the rest of the year, our Sunday night dining options were slightly slim. We ended up in Fuji Tempura Idaten, a large tempura restaurant with inflated prices - to be fair as one of the few places open they could have charged whatever they wanted and the food was decent enough so we couldn't complain.

On our walk home we passed the infamous Lawsons konbini - the convenience store which (in the most perfect conditions) has the iconic mount fuji looming over it. Due to the idiocy of tourists trying to capture this view causing disruption (blocking the road and pavements, etc.) the town errected a barrier in the perfect photo spot just across from the store hoping to discourage photos...a plan that didn't work. Within days holes were poked into the barrier and those desperate for the perfect shot were happy to risk injury by just standing in the road instead. It was nighttime when we passed it, the lit up store had nothing but the inky black sky behind it, and even then we had to negotiate through a crowd on the pavement taking photos. Bizarre.

All that was left to do that evening was visit the hotels onsen and I have to admit, I was nervous. It wasn't just the idea of being nude in front of strangers, although that was confronting enough as it was. It was all the implied rules associated with using an onsen, the cultural norms that someone might grow up learning that I might run afoul of without intending to. Imagine afternoon tea with the Queen... but naked.

We didn't want to offend so we turned to the internet to find some guidance: no eating, no drinking, no running, no swimming, no diving, no loud chatting, no clothes, no shoes. Get undressed in the changing rooms outside the onsen. Wash thoroughly at the wash stations near the onsen baths, making sure all soap is completely rinsed off. Wash your hair, keep your hair out of the onsen. Carry a small modesty towel, but keep the towel out of the onsen waters. Once inside the baths no washing is allowed, you should already be clean at this point. Then relax... but not for too long, alternate between the hot pools and cold water plunges for the best benefits.

It all seemed pretty reasonable but still a lot to remember while being self consciously naked.

In the end it all went smoothly. I went, I stripped, I washed, I bathed and after a while the nudity aspect became less intimidating. I'm glad it was fairly empty for my first experience, just a couple of other women shared the space, going through the motions with an easy confidence (the onsen is split by gender so that was one less thing to think about). Perhaps their lack of reaction was infectious, helping to ease the part of my mind that was yelling that being nude in a public space was somehow wrong. Ben was surprised how quickly he got over it also, he initially was reluctant to even try, believing he would be too self aware to relax but in the end he did. We met back at our room afterwards, content from soaking in the steaming hot water and proud of ourselves for trying something new.

The next morning our only plan was to see Mount Fuji, not exactly the most ambitious of plans but apart from relaxing and having a break from visiting city after city, it was the only reason we were there. To get the best view, we needed to get further away - one popular viewing spot was the bridge that spans Lake Kawaguchi so thats where we headed first. When we arrived the view of Mount Fuji wasn't exactly clear, we could see the outline of either side but it's peak was completely engulfed by swirling clouds. It wasn't perfect but we were happy with the glimpse that we got. As we still had the whole day ahead of us we decided to continue onwards round the lake instead of heading back to the hotel. We never managed to catch Mount Fuji without the clouds, but we did manage to take some nice photos and grab some Fuji themed snacks from cafes along the way.

The rest of the day we didn't do anything really. We spent time in our hotel room, making the most of the novel experience and watching life go by outside our window. We went to the hotel bar, discovering the rather ancient looking automated wine dispenser complete with sad and somehow mouldy wine inside it. We tracked down the staff to borrow the pool balls so we could play a game or two on the table, perplexed as to why they would be kept so separately but i'm sure it made sense to someone. We went out for a nice dinner, visiting a small Izakaya for some sashimi and a vegetarian set meal. Finally we returned to the onsen, went through the rituals again and came out nice and relaxed, ready for bed.

Despite visiting a Mount Fuji "town", it didn't end up being a big part of the experience at all but in the end it was just what we needed - a few days of relaxation to shake off the city fatigue before we headed to Japans biggest city: Tokyo.