The day started well; the Tokyo morning sky was sunny with plenty of blue when we streaked out of town on the shinkansen. But as we ascended the mountain, the weather deteriorated rapidly and shortly after reaching Owakudani a storm swept in, blanketing the view in all directions with thick cloud, and dumping sleet and snow to the accompaniment of loud thunder claps. Needless to say there was no sight of Mt Fuji. Owakudani is a geothermal area with steam and sulphurous gases seeping from the ground and the occasional boiling water pool. A signboard warns visitors not to tarry near the poisonous gas oozing pools, and another notes that this area “was once covered with tall trees, but now you can find only the species which have been able to survive such things as Volcanic eruption.” Indeed.
Then lightning struck the gondola line.
Unfortunately this disabled the system making forward, or backward, travel impossible. The only way off the mountain was a long winding bus ride but with so many marooned visitors and so few buses, a long wait in a cold, snowy queue was a prerequisite to even getting on a bus. We eventually made our way to lower altitudes where another two trips on the slow mountain train were needed before we finally arrived back at the shinkansen station in Odawara; cold, damp and frustrated at not getting even a glimpse of Mt Fuji.
We sank back into the comfortable chairs of the bullet train and a minute later we were launched into our return streak to Tokyo. As we sped away from Odawara I glanced out the window and couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Rising majestically from the plain was the unmistakable profile of . . . . snow-covered Mt Fuji.
YES, MOUNT F. . . . . . FUJI !!!
 |  |  |
