Employed by the Japanese emperor – 01/3/'14
Yesterday we have visited the last two companies of our tour. We ended that day with a Cantus. Today we had one hour more sleep in compare with the previous two days. It seemed that no one was suffering from a hangover. This day is the second last day of the study tour and is used for cultural activities. Around half past eleven we arrived at train station of Fiji-Q Highland in Yamanashi. Fuji-Q Highland is an amusement park near the base of Mount Fuij. It has for example a number of roller coasters, as well as two haunted attractions.
We get the choice to visited the park or doing something else in the district. Half of the people went to the park, some people went to the Mount Fuij and Erik, Jasper, Frits, Ray and I went to Saike Lake. This was one station further than the station of the park. Saiko Lake is the one of the Fuji Five Lakes and is located in southern Yamanashi. Around the lake there were different kind of activities for example museums and caves. A special bus line drives around the lake. We bought an one day ticket for this bus line. We went to the Nenba area by bus. This area is located on the North West of Saiko Lake. It had been a dignified settlement with thatched houses of “Kabuto-zukuri” (roofed like samurai warrior helmet), until a typhoon in 1966 hit the area seriously, and devastated the village. But after more than forty years, the old-time scenery of thatched roofs with Mt. Fuji in the background was revived, as “SAIKO Iyashi no sato NENBA” was born, rooted in the region's history, culture ant he natural environment.
We have visited some of the houses in the village. Inside most of the houses were works of art to see. But in the last house we visited hung a lot of kimonos and samurai suits. For 500 yen you can wear these suits and make pictures of yourself. So we decided also to wear these samurai suits. Two little people helped us to attract the suits. We went outside as five samurai warriors employed by the Japanese emperor. We have taken a lot of photos and movies from ourself. Frits looks more as a wizard than a samurai warrior.
After that we changed the clothes and we tried to take the bus. But the bus of the special line was already gone. So we took the local bus back to the station. Near the station we have dinner in restaurant which had a overview at Mt. Fuji. But it was a misty day so we saw nothing.
After dinner we took the train back to the hostel and we spent the last few hours of the day in a bar near the hostel.
By: Karim Kok