Mount Fuji Area
February 22-23, 2004
Gateway to Mount Fuji
The Sengen-jinja shrine in Fuji-Yoshida
traditionally was a stop on the pilgrimage to Mount Fuji. When I climbed the
mountain in 2001, I bypassed it of course like every other tourist, taking
a bus straight from Shinjuku to the fifth station half-way up the volcano.
This time snow and the knowledge that only fools climb Mount Fuji twice prevented
me from repeating the ascent, so I had some time to hang out at the shrine. 
The
forest, clouds, and an occasional drizzle produced an eerie atmosphere, balanced
by some bright colors.
Mount Fuji in the Sunrise
When I arrived in Kawaguchi-ko, it
had become so cloudy that the mountain was no longer visible, and shortly after
I reached the hotel, it started raining. The hotel provided a nice dinner and
an attractive bath with an outdoor tub, but not much entertainment, so I went
to bed rather early. 
This turned out to be fortuitous, because I woke up just
in time for a magnificent sunrise over Mount Fuji. All the clouds had rained
down, also washing out any air pollution – and the huge windows of my room
were perfectly placed for watching the sunrise without getting cold. 
And
of course the outdoor tub was even more attractive with Mount Fuji in view...
Kubota-san’s Heritage
Itchiku Kubota spent
39 years pursuing his dream before he was satisfied with his accomplishments.
His mission was to revive a 400-year old dyeing technique, but instead he created
his own – Itchiku Tsujigahana. His museum in Kawaguchi-ko exhibits about 40
of his masterpieces – marvelous kimonos in unbelievably bright colors, showing
the sun of Siberia (where he had been a prisoner of war), landscapes, and the
universe.
Photography in the museum is prohibited, so here is just one of the images from the book Itchiku Kubota. Symphony of Light: Landscape kimonos (interestingly, the catalog of an exhibition in Vienna, bilingual German/English). A copy of a copy doesn’t do the original justice of course.
Kubota-san was also an eclectic
collector of art, and apparently was particularly impressed by gates – the
museum grounds have quite a few more of them than functionally necessary.