Please slip on over to my Flickr photostream to see some photos from my fabulous trip out to Yamanakako on Sunday to Tuesday. Thanks so much to my old mate Stephen for his kindness and hospitality! We had a great time just hangin' out and drinking and watching anime.

On Monday, I took a solitary walk around the lake - 14 km's, stopping every so often at deserted cafes to warm up and drink bad coffee. This lake sits quite literally at the absolute foot of Mt Fuji (see this old picture here to get an idea) and is surrounded by forests and mountains so it's quite picturesque. If you go in mid-winter, you may even get a chance to do some ice-fishing when the lake freezes over. On Monday it was totally overcast and cold and windswept and Fuji-san was nowhere to be seen.

There is something very eerily soulful and wild about the shabby old tourist traps in country Japan in the off-season. I don't miss living out there too much, but I do feel its pull every so often. I think I'll go again soon.

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