Sapporo Heading South - Can't keep the Idiot Out

[Noel Mugavin]

Very basic room at the Royal Hotel


Nice view though


Time for a walk around the lake

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Was having a gander at the menu on the outside of a kebab shop, owner wandered out and somewhat pleaded with me to come in. It was a bir of a Seinfeld Babhu Bhat situation, food wasn;t great, but I felt obliged





Hotel with onsen at the forecourt. Went for a soak, then an early night

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Not before one last shot before the sun went down

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Early start as I wanted to get to a photo spot and beat the crowds
This wasn't the spot




This is a much better picture than the Lawsons


As is this

On to the local




Off at Shimoyoshida Station. Was at this stop yesterday that hordes got on the train inbound to Kawaguchiko
Zero getting on trains going wither way at this time of the morning. Apart from me.




Where I was heading


Visuals on the path to make sure you're on the right track

 

[Noel Mugavin]

It's only about a 6 or 7 minute walk from the station to the park


















There was no one else around, so this sign was a little disconcerting. Can't outrun a bear, might be able to outrun another person though

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Quite thew workout ahead of me




After abut 10 minutes or so of stairs, arrived at the pagoda


Then the shot I was after


Spent about 20 minutes here and took a heap of photos. Some of which I'll bore you with now

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Time to head down. Well worth the effort to get here early, about 3 other people around for the time I was here.












Joined at the railway crossing by about 10 Japanese school kids, ranging from about 4 to 11 years old, unsupervised and in a perfectly straight and orderly line patiently waiting for the train to pass.

Still early, so a walk into town and to Honcho Street for the famous Fuji view
A little way to go to the intersection causing a heap of trouble with people getting in the way of traffic

 

[jukebox333]

*snip*

View attachment 436431

I'm curious Noel; just how early did you get there for this shot?

 

[Noel Mugavin]

I'm curious Noel; just how early did you get there for this shot?

7.30ish, very early in tour bus time

 

[Noel Mugavin]

I walked up a side street for this one


And then back down the main drag and to the spot that causes a few issues. There is an attendant stationed there moving people on

Ten minute or so walk back to the station, wasn't long before a train came along


Strongly themed




Back to Kawaguchiko


Plenty of day still left, so to the ropeway. No line, straight on and up.

 

[Noel Mugavin]

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Made my way back down to ground level, a little after 10 now and the hordes had arrived, with the line to get on the ropeway snaking down the staircase out to the ticket box


Headed back to the hotel for a little bit of a rest


Fuji was still there


Ropeway from the hotel room

around 12.30 headed out again to the main area of the lake and grabbed some lunch


I was looking for something to do to fill in time; getting to places early before the crowds leaves you with a lot of time to fill later in the day.
Decided to grab a bike for a couple of hours, so off I went to ride a bit of the perimeter of the lake

 

[DC3]

Are people carrying bear spray in these areas, as a precaution? Is it easy to obtain?

'The bears know humans are present': How Japan's black bears became a deadly problem

Japan recorded 219 bear attacks on people in the 12-months leading up to March this year, including six fatalities. The situation is becoming so severe that government officials have warned some bears are viewing humans as prey.

www.abc.net.au

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Are people carrying bear spray in these areas, as a precaution? Is it easy to obtain?

'The bears know humans are present': How Japan's black bears became a deadly problem

Japan recorded 219 bear attacks on people in the 12-months leading up to March this year, including six fatalities. The situation is becoming so severe that government officials have warned some bears are viewing humans as prey.

www.abc.net.au

View attachment 436748

I can only speak as an outsider looking in, but these signs you sometimes see are really only evidence that there are bears around. As for bear spray, never noticed anyone with any or seen any in any stores or konbinis, but then again I wasn't looking for it.
I assume its like us with walking in the bush and having snakes around. We know they're there but we still go out and walk through the bush without too much thought

 

[DC3]

I can only speak as an outsider looking in, but these signs you sometimes see are really only evidence that there are bears around. As for bear spray, never noticed anyone with any or seen any in any stores or konbinis, but then again I wasn't looking for it.
I assume its like us with walking in the bush and having snakes around. We know there there but we still go out and walk through the bush without too much thought

Ok. Thanks. I’ve just been reading an article (from September 2024) where bear spray was in short supply.

Most bear sprays are imports and hard to find as demands soars | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis

 

[drron]

When we drove around Hokkaido in July last year several of the towns had websites you could check on how many and where bears had been sighted.

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Wasn't sure if I could get around the whole of the lake in 2 hours, was an off the cuff decision to hire a bike and hadn't done any research re the route. So after about 55 minutes of riding, turned around and headed back



My wheels

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Dropped the bike off and on the way back to the hotel a bit of a wander andanother quick net session in the batting cage










Soak in the onsen, then out for some dinner


Night fell pretty quickly.


All the tour buses had gone, so pretty quiet around town with not much open




The end of another day