Beautiful Omi Island

Last weekend with President's Day we had a little extra time to adventure.  We decided to drive to the West Coast and see Nagato and Omi Island, both in Yamaguchi Prefecture.  A little cold at this time of year, but still absolutely beautiful!

This photo was taken from the top of a lookout tower at the highest point, Mt. Takayama

The family at the lookout

To get to the top of Mt.Takayama, you take the main road to the left getting on the island, basically take it to a dead end, then if you have 4 wheel drive, take it up a rough rocky dirt path until it stops in a semi-parking lot...

Before you go driving a large vehicle up there, note the large boulder blocking part of the road...

From this angle it doesn't look too bad, but I actually thought we were going to scrape it when we drove through.  When the road ends, there is a nice steep hike up another half mile or so.

A great hike for anyone who can get up some steep muddy corners.

Back down where the dirt meets the paved road there is campground with some amazing views...

Then driving back on the main road towards the north side of the island, there is parking for this beach, where we we hoped to paddleboard...

When we got there the parking lot attendant tried to tell us we wouldn't want the board, but let us take it over to see.  We got there and realized not only was the air barely above freezing, it was also quite windy.  We debated for quite a while who if any of us should go in.  We decided I'd do a quick in and out.

Our son started screaming "Mommy no!  Come back!" sounding quite concerned, so it was quite a short trip.



Then we went on the beautiful hike from the beach across the bluffs to the spires...

And a quick photo of our children just before leaving.  Obviously quite chili at this point.

We hope to get back when it warms up in the spring. Omi Island is definitely a must-see in Japan!

Mt. Fuji and Tokyo Area

We recently hopped on a space-available flight to Yokota Air Force Base near Tokyo.  We got 2 nights there before hopping on another flight to Singapore (which I can post later if nobody minds a review of Singapore on this Japan blog).  While in Tokyo area, we first decided we had to get as close as we could to Mt. Fuji since it is was only around an hour away.  The drive seems quick on a clear day because you can see the mountain nearly the entire way...

 We actually researched the best places to view Mt. Fuji, and the #1 spot was at Lake Kawaguchi.  So there is where we went.  Here is a view from a parking area on the far side of the lake...

And walking down towards the water...

The lake was so cold it was frozen around the edges.  Though the ducks didn't seem to mind it...

What a beautiful escape we enjoyed until our toes were numb.  Here we are...

We also drove back towards the mountain hoping to get near the 5th station, the highest point cars can go.  Unfortunately, the road was covered in deep snow just part way up.  We did go as far as we could...

Then decided to make some snow angels...

Later I was hoping to "see the lights" in downtown Tokyo, but it was going to be a bit difficult with the kids, so we were told by the locals at Yokota go to this nearby place called Tachikawa instead...

We drove there and basically straight through, so it looked like a fun mall and hang-out type place, but really can't give an accurate review.

Definitely a fun trip to Tokyo area.  Hopefully in the not-so-distant future I will have the opportunity to do a post on THE downtown Tokyo sometime while we are hear.