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Today’s photo comes from the annual Shingen Festival in Kofu. Although Takeda Shingen lived and died before this castle was even built, it’s fun to hang out with all of the participants dressed in period garb at the remains and reconstructed portions of the castle, even if the eras are a bit off.
Today’s photo is from the 2010 Shingen Ko Matsuri (信玄公祭り). That’s Mt. Fuji in the distance, partially obstructed by clouds.
Please excuse today’s lack of photo quality as this came from about five years ago in my pre-DSLR days. Last time I was in Kofu I had a DSLR, but it was far too humid to see Mt. Fuji. I need to go back. Anyone have any ideas how I can make that happen this summer?
Following a tip I received online I took a train from central Tokyo to the city of Ichikawa to the east of Tokyo. There is a 45-story building in Ichikawa (called I-Line Town) that towers above everything around it and provides a potentially spectacular free view of Tokyo, including the Sky Tree. Unfortunately, the free observation deck is behind thick, hazy glass, and there are numerous things on the other side of the glass that obstruct the otherwise impressive view.
On the day I went it was extremely humid so I couldn’t see much of anything in Tokyo from the 展望室. For best results go in the early morning or at dusk.
The best view was the one shown in today’s photo which was from the glass elevator, not the room with the view, which looked toward a less humid portion of Tokyo (Ichikawa 市川市 actually).
The tip, by the way, came from this photo which I saw on Flickr.
While following one of the suggested hikes in the book “Day Walks Near Tokyo” (sadly, this was now more than five years ago) I came across the map below at the mountain top above.
Apparently there are 11 other awesome hikes near Otsuki. I need to get back to Japan for some more exploring.
There is also a website, in Japanese, about these 12 views here. The website includes many photos from contests they’ve had over the years. Here is one of them: