Days 149-150: Lake Kawaguchiko

Yesterday, with the assistance of a very helpful maid at the hostel I was at, I booked a bus ticket to Fujikawaguchiko which is a town on the southern shore of Lake Kawaguchiko. It is one of the five Fuji lakes that surround Mt. Fuji, and a relatively quiet place surrounded by steep wooded hills that is a popular destination for camping and just getting away from the city. The bus ride was about 1 hour 45 minutes from Shinjuku and after finding my hostel and checking in I explored a bit to get familiar with the town and had some ramen for dinner.

Today was a lot busier, as it was my day to really explore the area. In the morning I followed the edge of the lake, checking out parks and shrines along the way.

I came to a small museum simply called "Muse Museum" which sounded interesting enough for me to investigate further. It turns out that it's a doll museum containing dolls made by Atae Yuki. Dolls aren't typically something that would really spark my interest, but these dolls are pretty amazing. He handcrafts each one, including sculpting each face in clay and making a cast of it to make each face unique. What impressed me about them was a combination of the character and expression each doll had, the fine details, and the general theme of the dolls. They typically were either in old/traditional clothing like peasants clothes or kimonos, or they were things out of mythology like little faeries and trolls. Japan typically doesn't like people taking photographs in museums, but I highly recommend out checking out his work online. The best place I can find in a hurry is from the museum's website:
List 1 List 2

In the afternoon I took a cable car up one of the nearby Mt. Tenjo and spent some time hiking along the top of the ridge and eventually back down to the city.

After I did some shopping - picking up some groceries and a few supplies for tomorrow. Mostly I just tried to take things easy and pace myself, as tomorrow I have a bit of a walk.