Maple Corridor (Momiji Kairou) in Kawaguchiko is one of the most famous locations to see the red autumn leaves in Japan. Every year from late October to mid November, the township of Kawaguchio holds a Autumn Leaves Festival with light lit at night to celebrate the turn of seasons. On a sunny and cloudless day, the maple leaves frame the lake and Mt. Fuji perfectly like a postcard. We arrived a couple days pass the festival and despite the sky was clear, there were morning fogs and later clouds lingering Mt. Fuji.
Some ryokan offers free shuttle drop off at popular sightseeing locations. If not, remember to get unlimited bus pass at the Kawaguchiko Station. See my other post for bus pass info. Red line stop no.17.
It was a beautiful morning so we had the shuttle driver drop us off at the Music Forest Museum and walked from there. Along the way, we passed the Visitor's Centre, walked the lake a little bit, stopped by one of the 7 Lucky Gods' shrines, finally reached the Maple Corridor. The walk was lovely.
Already, there were people gathering to take photos. A few trees had lost leaves from last night's rain, but luckily it was only a few trees at the start of Maple Corridor.
[click on the left/right arrows in below photos to see more]
I bought a small can of warm milk coffee from a vending machine outside of a souvenir shop.
Once we felt we had enough photos and the crowd was getting bigger than before, we left but not really knew where we were going till we saw a magnificent looking gate in front of us. We walked in and it was like a forest of rainbow trees. It was just beautiful! We took the steps up to a small building with an oddly small sign that said Itchiku Kubota Museum. According to the museum staff, the museum showcased a collection of kimono, art, artifacts, and a tea house.
It was very simple to hop on and off the red line bus and they came frequently. We hopped on a bus headed towards No. 20 Natural Living Centre.
Judging from the name, we thought it'd be something to do with natural stuff, but it was just a small souvenir shop. There was, however, a farmer's market with many fresh organic vegetables and fruits. On the way there, the clouds around Mt. Fuji started to clear off. We were able to see clear shape of the mountain from the bus. Once the bus arrived at its final stop, we walked quickly toward the lake to snap photos of the mountain before she disappeared again.
From what other travelers told us, the weather had been unstable so Mt. Fuji had only showed herself a couple times that week. And apparently my friend, who lived in Tokyo, told me the same thing when we met up later. At least we saw it for a little bit.
Autumn and Winter are said to be the best seasons to see Mt. Fuji because of the weather, but it doesn't mean the sky is clear everyday. We were there for 3 days, at least we got to see her for a few minutes.
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