Mount Fuji is the epic landmark of Japan – a must see on every travel itinerary. Since it’s not hiking season (that’s only July and August) we decided against climbing to the top and instead we went to the “Fuji Five Lakes” Area, where you are supposed to have a nice view of  the mountain.

When it’s not hiding behind the clouds. When we arrived in Kawaguchiko, with the touristy but nice Fujikyu railway, it was raining cats and dogs. So no vistas whatsoever, not on the train (they told us when to look left or right for mountain views, and didn’t fail to mention, that due to the weather you couldn’t see it), nor in the village.

The next day it didn’t rain anymore. But it was cloudy and misty. So again no views. Not even a glimpse. It was like Mount Fuji didn’t exist. What a shame… they had signposts on every junction in the village, in what direction you would have to look to see Mount Fuji, like this one:

What we did see was this:

Well, there was still the lake which was nice for a walk, especially with all the cherry blossom. And, we will always have Mount Doom. And, the Fuji-cookies they sold: