Fujisan～Oshino hakkai (1)

Hello |^・ω・)/ ﾊﾛｰ♪

Trying to catch up with Tamaki san so I’m gonna run after him and

write as many reports as I can this month!! _φ(ﾟ▽ﾟ*

This week I will write about his visit to Oshino hakkai,

a very beautiful village in Yamanashi prefecture.

As you already know,

Mount Fuji was listed as a “Cultural Heritage” by UNESCO last year.

As a result, more and more tourists from foreign countries,

or even other areas of Japan started to visit the place.

But we all know that Tamaki Hiroshi is

in charge of finding unexplored regions (hikyo)!

So even when it comes to the famous Fuji san,

he will show us something different about it which we

may have not known anything about!!

So let’s follow him around and see what we can find ヽ(*^^*)ノ

Sorry for the long intro…

Let’s start moving now!!!

Tamaki san’s journey will start from

Fujikyuukou ootsuki line’s higashi katsura station.

While waiting for the train on the platform,

“Lucky to have good weather today!” he says.

The train arrives and he gets on…

As always, greets everyone sitting inside♥

While sitting in the train and heading to Fuji san,

he talks to us about the first time

he got a chance to see Fuji san with his own eyes.

It was his 3rd year of junior high school.

During his field trip to Tokyo with his classmates.

It was his first visit to Tokyo,

and first time riding on the Shinkansen.

So the first time he happened to see Fuji san,

was from shinkansen window.

Being able to see Fuji san like that…

he believed that it will bring good luck for him,

and something good is gonna happen ^^

I think it did!! XD

As the driver announces that they are reaching

the best spot to see Fuji san from inside the train,

Tamaki san moves to the door to be able to have a better view.

And here it comes… Fuji san!!

Tamaki san notices the Fuji san sign on the window

and says that the shape is exactly as this is,

while drawing with his finger on the lines.

But somehow he says that Fuji san looks tiny from here

XD

It’s a very clear day!

Being able to see fuji san so clearly,

it really doesn’t happen very often he says.

Finally arriving to the destination,

Tamaki san gets off the train in Fuji san station.

Here it’s 809 meters high…

A little bit cooler than where he got on the train.

There are some really cute chairs lining on the platform area.

Tamaki san tries moving one but they are stuck to the ground XD

He sits down on one of them…

and starts looking at the beautiful Fuji san in front of him.

☆

Tamaki san continues his journey in oshinomura 忍野村

There are are many shrines known as Sengen jinja (浅間神社)

which are basically build to worship the God of of volcanoes

and especially Fuji san.

The one Tamaki san is visiting is the “oshinohakkai sengen jinja”.

Many years ago, this shrine was built in order to calm the eruptions of Fuji san.

Tamaki san says that there must have been many victims after the eruptions.

He takes a minute to say his prayers,

perhaps for the lost souls ^^

☆

Getting closer to Fuji san,

it’s getting more crowded than before.

Tamaki san says hi to a group of tourists

and they greet him back XD

Then a famous spot appears in front of him,

it’s called kagami lake!

kagami means mirror…

the reason why they call it kagami lake is because

you can clearly see Fuji san’s reflection on the surface

of the clean water in this lake.

Tamaki san tries finding the best spot and he has to

move a little bit to the left in order to see the best image.

“The reflection in the lake,

It feels like it’s a different world again…

Nice! A mysterious feeling.”

Tamaki san says.

☆

A few more steps going forward and

it gets even more crowded!

Tamaki san stops by another lake,

there are many of them around here…

the water produced by the rainfalls and the melted snow on Fuji san,

all comes down and runs into these tiny but mysterious lakes.

The water is so clean…

you can see everything inside!

There’s even a story being told from the Edo era around here.

One day a chawan (Tea Bowl) falls into one of these lakes,

and after a while they find it in a different lake!

All the lakes are somehow connected into each other,

down there under the ground!

Tamaki san goes to that lake to check it out…

As expected, looks mysterious XD

It looks like as if the water is not moving at all,

but we just know that it does…

Very weird and interesting at the same time XD

Tamaki san says that there definitely is a route for the water,

it’s just that we can’t see it!

He also says that it makes you wonder how far the water keeps going,

☆
Tamaki san goes back to the route and starts walking with everyone else,

but suddenly his body moves by nature…

turning toward a good smell in the air XD

The shooting team just follows him to the food stand!!!

hahahahahaha XD

It’s “yomogi mochi”…

looks delicious as Tamaki san says so!!

He asks the lady for one and

then pays 100 yen for it XD

As usual, he doesn’t wait a second!

The lady tells him it’s hot but he just goes for a bite XD

DELICIOUS!

Then he starts a small chat with the lady.

Seems like her parents also used to do this job.

Then Tamaki san asks her about the condition, after

the selection of Fuji san as a world heritage was announced.

And she says that the number of visitors has increased.

And many of them are from other countries!

Sometimes there are even more foreign visitors,

than the Japanese!

☆

Tamaki san starts walking again while eating

his yomogi mochi XD

But somehow his antenna starts to get the signals…

and stops by another shop!

And lucky enough,

he happens to witness the haggle between the owner and the customer XD

The owner is an old man with a very unique beard ^^

There are tiny statues of owls in the shop,

being said that they were maid by the stones taken from Fuji san.

Tamaki san asks the owner about them,

and he explains that they are made of Volcanic ash.

The ash is solidified and then used for making these cute owls.

Tamaki san asks him if that’s the reason they are white,

but the owner says that there are both white and gray ones…

The owl with the bigger eyes is the Male.

If they stand like this:

their relationship won’t last long XD

So they have to stand like this!!!

Tamaki san says that that the owls bring good luck!!

Then he asks the old man if he has always been working here.

Seems like he’s been doing this for 20 years.

Then Tamaki san asks him about his beard and

he says that it’s been like this for a long time now…

hehehehehe

Then he asks him if this is supposed to have

a connection with Fuji san’s shape XD

The owner laughs and says no!

☆

Going on his way,

Tamaki san passes by a huge house being under construction.

They are renewing the roof.

Tamaki san says that it must be a pretty difficult task!!

He makes a stop and asks the man working on the roof

if it’s OK to ask him some questions from where he is.

XD

Then asks him how man days it will take them

to repair the roof of this building,

and the man says that it will take them around half a year!!

The roof has not been repaired for 40 years.

Then Tamaki san asks him about

the amount of the material they need to fix it.

He makes a circle with his two arms and says:

“A bunch around this size will cost 1500 yen.”

– But it shouldn’t become too heavy right? Since it’s on the roof!

– For a roof like this, perhaps 30 tons is gonna be needed.

O_O

– But it’s lighter than tile, isn’t it?

– It’s heavier than tile!… 1.7 times heavier than tile.

These kind of old style Japanese roofs are covered by a kind of grass or reed

to decrease the sound of raindrops and other noises outside the house

and create a calm, relaxing atmosphere inside.

All the process is done by hand!!

Which makes it expensive and time consuming.

For more info, you can visit the page in Wikipedia ^^

Tamaki san is interested…

Sugisaki san (the man on the roof) comes down,

and brings a bunch of new reeds to compare the color.

The color shade is much lighter.

And seems like it has a nice smell.

Then Sugisaki san explains to him how they do the job.

And gives him a huge scary scissors XD

and asks him to try cutting the reeds.

Tamaki san is a little bit troubled,

but he gives it a shot XD

At first he is being very careful and tries cutting them

with a soft, gentle move.

But it doesn’t go well

and Sugisaki san tells him to do it with more power and faster.

The second time it works much better XD

He has to cut them short 5 centimeters.

Sugisaki san praises him but he says that it’s a difficult task.

Then he explains that they have to make them all line perfectly in a row…

pull out the shorter ones and cut the long ones…

He practices on some other bunches and somehow

becomes kinda lost in it again XD

☆

As he goes back on his journey,

He crosses a residential area with a few houses around.

I love the way he imitates the barking sound of the dog

who’s trying to guard the house XD

He does that to kids too when they cry!! (^_^;

☆

Finding a very beautiful place which seems to be a Guest house.

Masu no ie 鱒の家

Tamaki san takes a peek inside

and says hello…

then the owner comes out and greets him.

A very kind looking old lady.

He apologizes for intruding like this

and asks her permission for the shooting.

Then she invites him in,

and shows him around the place.

(To be more specific,

he invites himself and she welcomes him!! XD)

Tamaki san loves the place!

He keeps saying it’s gorgeous.

He likes the smell, the one plate wooden old table…

The photos on the wall gets his attention…

A photo of a woman…

he looks at the photo,

then looks ta the old lady carefully

and after a short pause…

asks her if this is a photo of her mother.

She says YES!

But after Tamaki san tells her that she looks like her,

she says that the lady in the photo is actually her step mother (^_^;

But they really do look a like.

Especially the eyes as Tamaki san mentions.

Then he finds another interesting thing XD

A very old Armor being decorated in the other room.

“It must be frightening for the kids!” 

Tamaki san says and laughs out loud XD

The old lady (Nagata san) agrees and says that

even some grownups are scared.

☆

Then they leave the house and go out for a walk in the garden.

The place is really huge ^^

Tamaki san likes the lake saying it looks gorgeous.

Then talking about the fish swimming in the water,

Tamaki san asks Nagata san if the small ones

are Nijimasu (Rinbow Trout)

But she tells him that the tiny ones are called himemasu.

They produce the fish in the lake

and then use them to make sashimi.

They go to another side where a man (Nagata san’s eldest son)

is feeding the fish.

Nagata san asks him to make sashimi for their guest XD

When Tamaki san asks him how many of them

there are in the lake,

the man answers 3000!! O__O

Seems like it’s a very rare kind of fish and Tamaki san

says that he cannot imagine how it tastes like.

But Nagata san assures him that it tastes great and

the meat is softer than nijimasu.

As they keep walking and chatting,

suddenly a big bridge appears in front of their eyes.

Tamaki san is surprised

and asks her if this is also a part of their properties

and Nagata san replies with yes.

Seems like her husband decided to build this bridge,

Nagata san’s 3 sons made it with their own hands!! XD

“It’s handmade?”

Tamaki san says with a surprised look on his face.

He becomes interesting and goes closer to take a better look XD

It may not be able to carry the weight of too many people,

but crossing it normally would be totally fine!

Tamaki san asks her if it’s alright to cross it now and walk to the other side.

And Nagata san says that it’s alright and there is nothing to worry about XD

They start walking together and Tamaki san asks her if she is not scared,

an of course she says that she has gotten used to it

and is not scared anymore.

But seems like Tamaki san himslef is feeling the shaking…

it’s shaking more than a usual bridge of course

since it wasn’t built by engineers XD

“It’s like we are walking on a trampoline!”

he says while laughing XD

As they go half way,

the shaking increases somehow

and Nagata san advises him to hang on

to the handrail while walking.

It makes it easier to keep the balance XD

One of Nagata san’s sons is a Carpenter.

That’s why he had the tools they needed to build the bridge here ^^

☆

OK…

now it’s time to eat again XD

Nagata san has prepared Himemasu osashimi for Tamaki san.

Tamaki san goes for the first bite after applying some soy sauce to the fish.

“It’s sweet!”

he says after eating the fish.

Nagata san says that they were surprised to find such delicious kind of

fish here in the mountain.

And it seems like it surprises all the visitors as well.

Finishing it all by himslef,

Tamaki san thanks her for the food and says:

“It’s all gone in no time!”

And Nagata san thanks him for eating it all with good appetite.

Tamaki san says that he felt like eating some rice with it!!

ahahahahaha… sorry!

No rice prepared XD

But Nagata san remembers that she wanted to serve him tea as well…

hehehe… Tamaki san apologizes and

Nagata san rushes in…

and comes back with tea and

Hoshigaki (dried persimmon)!

One of Tamaki san’s favorites XD

His eyes sparkles and then asks “Is this Hoshigaki?”

And Nagata san answers with yes!

This type of persimmon is called hyakume gaki.

They are a little bit bigger than the normal ones.

And as Nagata san explains, they put them in the freezer

after the drying process is done.

Tamaki san is surprised bout the freezing part,

while Nagata san is still talking about the process,

he goes for one piece of Hoshigaki.

He loves it!

Says that the sweetness is kept as it should be,

even though they were kept in the freezer.

Seeing how happy he looks like after eating one piece,

“Have more!”

Nagata san says with a kind tone in his voice ❤

“I LOVE hoshigaki!!”

Tamaki san says XD

“I love eating hoshigaki more than eating the normal kaki (Premisson).”

Then he says that the tastiness will increase when it’s dried ^^

Also saying that there’s no way he can find a desert like this anywhere else,

so much time and effort spent to make these.

☆

He finishes the hoshigaki too,

again in no time!!

hehehehe ♡

When the eating part finishes,

he says that this is the place he wants to stay in forever,

but well he has a journey to go on XD

So he asks Nagata san if there’s a spot around here,

where she can call Hikyo (an unexplored but precious place).

And she recommends “nijuumagari”.

Saying that even on cloudy days when Fuji san is hidden in the clouds,

you can still watch it from this place since it’s a little bit higher than here.

“Nijuumagari… It’s an unusual naming.”

Tamaki san says.

It’s decided!!

Heading to Nijuumagari…

Tamaki san climbs a mountain road up with the shooting team!

But let’s keep that for the 2nd part ヽ(・∀・)ノ

see you soon!

☆

end of part 1

☆☆☆