Lake Yamanaka, Chubu, Japan

5Hiey 5:00 PM Jul 15, 2013

Resort for the Matured
When Mt.Fuji is seen clearly over the lake, we feel so happy. The view is excellent. If it's clear enough, you can see a nice view of Mt.Fuji over the roof of Seven Eleven. It has been a nice summer resort for people run away from disgustingly hot and busy cities in and around Tokyo. Compared with Kawaguchiko, it is much quiter. However, we have noisy jet skiers here...Pity. Additionally, you may experience sudden big noise from Mt.Fuji. Don't get surprised to hear gun fires by the Self Defense Forces. It happens from time to time. There are nice shops and restaurants around the lake. Generally the prices are rather high, though. Bad influence of the big city where guests come from. If you don't want to spend too muych for food, go for Udon or Hoto. There is an esplanade along the lake and we can enjoy walking, running and cycling. It's cool even in Summer, so, don't forget to bring a cardy or a jacket. In winter it is really cold. Be careful and get ready if you go there by car in Jan and Feb. It does snow.

5Gabrielle I 5:00 PM Feb 9, 2015

An Unexpectedly Memorable Trip
I went here for a quite unexpected trip. I chose Yamanaka over Kawaguchi simply because I want to go to *cheaper* onsen with the view of mount Fuji and Yamanaka has it (Benifuji no Yu)! I went from Tokyo station by bus in mid March at about 8 PM and reached the lake at about 11.30 PM. There was a traffic jam on the way there. By the time I reached the lake, it was almost totally dark. I imagined those cafes by the lake would open until midnight, but I couldn't see any cafes open from the bus stop. So I walked to my hotel in complete darkness, but it's totally fine because it's quite near. I stayed in Zero-Project Japan Guesthouse. The next morning, I could clearly see piles of snow everywhere. It was almost spring already but the weather is still quite chilly. I would suggest people to go at this period up to mid of April. Since the snowy top of Fujisan would still be there, but the weather would not be so cold. I also think you should really pay attention to the weather when you go here to Fujisan, as it would really affect your experience. Me and my friend have a totally different experiences just because of the weather! I was lucky to have a perfect weather on the 2nd day. Blue sky and puffy clouds. I never saw sky so blue like what I saw that day. I rent a 500 yen folding bike at my hostel to explore the lake. Approx. 3 hours to go along the lake side path by bike, including stoping few times to take photos (there are many swans on the lake!), explore cafes and eat lunch @ Denny's by the lake. If you want to capture Fujisan with clear skies, I suggest you to go before 11 AM. All the things I saw and found along the way were so vintage. It seems like the time there stopped at the middle of 90s or late 80s. I don't really know what makes me think that way, but maybe the combination of the ambience and the things I saw like duck boats, closed villas and small ramen stores, the architecture of the buildings and cafes, the existence of abandoned museums and buildings (a lot of it!). If you enjoy this kind of thing, I would really suggest you to come here! It's a kind of time travels as for me. Not many tourists, considering I went in spring break, yet I can still meet people along the way. Just perfect, at least for me. For the food suggestions, I think eating "Hoto" is a must. There is also a cute cafe called Papermoon worth to be visited. The Denny's restaurant by the lake is also vintage looking and worth to be visited.