Japan, known as the Land of the Rising Sun has a beautiful sunrise, but showcases equally captivating sunsets as well. The difference? Sunrise happens around 4 a.m. when nobody is awake.The sun usually starts to slip behind the horizon around 6:30 p.m. even on a warm summer day. So you do not have to be awake at an ungodly hour to watch the sky change hue.
I have been to Japan more than seven times. I’ve even climbed Mt Fuji. Yes, the sun was setting as I set myself down to recover from the extreme exhaustion. While the view from the mountain (clouds remained below us blanketing over Yamanashi) remains unparalleled, the trudge to the top was no fun. But if climbing Mt Fuji is not on your to-do list, Kawaguchiko is the next best place to catch a sunset. Kawaguchiko is the second largest Fuji Lake located at the foot of Mt Fuji.
Mt Fuji at Sunset
I visited the lake over two years ago with a few friends and it still has an imprint on my mind. We took a bus from down town Tokyo to the lake itself. It was a fairly short ride and we reached our destination within an hour.
We had a few hours in hand before the ‘main event’,the sunset, We booked a minshuku, a shared living space with private rooms and a communal diner, and threw off our luggage into our rooms to set off for an onsen spring bath called Kaiun no Yu.
The bath did not provide a view of Mt Fuji. Bummer! We did, however, spend a therapeutic hour there. As sunset drew nearer we set off for the lake. One can see the reflection of Mt Fuji in the calm waters which adds to the serenity of the entire landscape. The sun descended behind the mountain throwing off hues of red, orange, pink, and yellow before shrouding the view in darkness in a dream-like fashion.
Happy Sunset Sunday.
Authors Bio
Yogi and Suchna believe in taking the road less travelled and stumbling upon some hidden gems along the way! For over a decade, they’ve mapped their way across various continents, sniffed out unusual routes, discovered new flavours and stayed at quirky hostels. TheBackpackerCo is their expression of soul travel. You can catch up with them at @thebackpackerco on twitter and follow adventure in Eastern Europe at Backpacking Eastern Europe.
