Decor

Sometimes words randomly show up on Japanese decor. Take this table cloth for instance. This is a table cloth in a local coffee shop. A little floral design, but that's not enough. All over this whole cloth is the phrase "casual flower." You'll have that sometimes. It's so great.

More 100 Yen Fun

I never grow tired of browsing 100 yen stores. Every trip is an adventure packed with adorable trinkets, plenty of Engrish, and items that just make you go "wow!" One of my favorite things to look at are the furniture socks. They are socks for tables and chairs so they don't scratch the floor. They are so cute! Oh, and you can never go wrong with the stationary!

I haven't seen a door knob cover since the '80s!

Airbnb

We had a friend tell us about Airbnb and decided to try it out while we stayed in Yokohama for a weekend. The idea behind Airbnb is for people to rent out a room of their home for a fee, just like staying at a hotel, but on a more personal level. We stayed a night with a very sweet Japanese family. They had a very nice, modern apartment and we got to stay in their tatami room. It was our first time sleeping on traditional futons on the floor! It was very comfy. They also had this cool coat tree in our room. You could hang stuff on the arms, or you could take the arms off and use them as hangers!

Checking off the Bucket List!

One thing that has been on my bucket list since high school was to see Rusted Root in concert - and who would have ever thought I would accomplish that in Japan?! They put on a pretty good show. Doing great for an older band!

Flowers

More flowers around town! The hydrangeas here are over the top! I came across one bush one day where the groups of flowers were as large as volleyballs! I also found a tiny flower that looks kind of like a teeny tiny gladiola, but they just grow in the grass like "weeds." They are so cute!

Volleyball sized hydrangea. 

Tiny gladiola-like flower.

This ivy is nearly perfect hearts!

Cool Ad

Think this is a panda face? Look closer.

Suicide Forest!!

We actually made it to Aokigahara Forest, aka the Suicide Forest! For anyone that saw the movie earlier this year, it is exactly like that in real life! The forest is at the base of Mt. Fuji and is growing out of volcanic rock. There isn't any soil on the forest floor - it's just volcanic rock, moss, and gnarly tree roots. It's very difficult to walk around, but we did anyway!

There are caves in the forest too, that you can tour, and we did a couple of those. They give you a helmet to wear, and you go yourself through the cave without a guide. It was very neat and pretty. I was dying to find the famous trail head that was in the movie and that you always see when you google "suicide forest." I know it's there somewhere, but we couldn't find it. We hadn't planned on going to the forest the day we did, it was a last minute trip, so we hadn't researched at all before we went. Next time I will be prepared and have a better idea of where that trail head is.

While we were there, we parked in a gravel area on the side of the road because we saw a trail. We started down the trail into the woods, and the path ended after 15ft. Well! We decided to keep going, and just keep the car in sight so we didn't get lost. After about 10 more feet, we started seeing trees with twine tied to them, and the twine leading off in various directions into the woods. These are put there by people who aren't for sure if they want to fully commit to suicide, so they can find their way out if they change their mind. We chose one and followed it for about 30 minutes. The end was nowhere in sight, it just kept going on forever, deep into the forest. We stopped when we heard a voice on a loud speaker back toward the car. We couldn't understand what they were saying since it was in Japanese but it was being blasted into the woods, so we hurried back to the car. Once we got there, there were 2 park rangers waiting for us, and immediately started questioning us. They were concerned as to why we were in there and we used a translator on our phone to let them know we were just hiking and sight seeing. They were satisfied with that, and left, but we took that as our cue to head on out for the day. We will return someday! You are allowed to hike there, but you have to stay on the trails, and we weren't on a trail. Oops!

We saw the twine trails, but no tents or people, but I'm very curious to get back. The forest is so mysterious and just draws you into it. I hated to leave because I could have seriously stayed all week in there. I loved it! Despite being a popular place for people to go when they feel hopeless, it's a beautiful place and one of my favorite places.

Flavors

Japan loves taking items that are common in America, and making wild flavors for them.

Fuji Q!

We went to an awesome amusement park at the base of Mt. Fuji. They have some of the biggest, baddest roller coasters in the world! We rode Eejanaika, a 4D coaster with free spinning seats that sling you everywhere, and Takabisha, which has a 121 degree drop!! You actually go back under yourself as you're dropping! Best coasters by far! It was so cool being able to see Fuji from these rides. It was a beautiful day!

Hiking Mt. Fuji

We got to do some hiking on Mt. Fuji. We drove up to 5th Station, which is a rest area half way up the mountain. It is cold up there! We hiked near the tree line, and the view was amazing! Mt. Fuji is an active volcano, and is actually due to erupt soon. For hundreds of thousands of years, Fuji has erupted about every 300 years. The last eruption was in 1707, so any time now! Fuji is also the highest point in all of Japan.

Since we are on the side of a volcano, the ground is made up of mostly pumice rock. The trees (what few there were since we were near the tree line) are interesting because the branches only grow to one side. All of the trees and plants look wind blown and shaped by the wind.

5th Station has a lot to do. There is a big lodge with shopping and places to eat, a shrine (Mt. Fuji is a very sacred place), and horses that you can ride! You have the option to have your picture taken sitting on a horse, or riding a horse around the 5th Station area, or riding a horse up trails to 6th Station (the next rest stop going up the mountain). Our plan for whenever we go to hike to the summit is to take the horses to 6th Station! I cannot wait!

Looking up at the summit from the tree line.

Looking at Fuji across flowers and a lake. 

Looking at Fuji from across a lake.