Fuji-san

Before I begin, I thought I'd once again promote Nicki's Kitchen website, which has recently started an epidemic among our friends. Shortly after going live with Nicki's Kitchen, we got news from our friends Kristin and Aime that they started their own recipe sites. Being the foodaholic that I am, it's always great to see all these food related blogs, so I thought I'd share. Check out Kristin's Yummy Stuff and Aime's What's Cooking sites to tempt your taste buds.

Nicki mentioned in her previous post this morning that I took a short trip across the Miura Peninsula yesterday to try shooting Fuji-san pictures. Sometime ago, it occurred to me that we've been in this fine country for 4 months now and I haven't yet posted any pictures of Mt. Fuji. If you'll remember from a post back on December 11, I once tried to find a spot in Hayama that SushiJeff told me about to capture Fuji-san, but the weather was fairly dismal that day so visibility wasn't good enough to see the mountain over the bay.

Friday night, before going to bed, I shared with Nicki my plans for getting up early. Usually, my plans like that turn into sleeping in until Josh wakes us up, but Saturday morning it was different. I actually woke up at about 5:30am without setting the alarm, then got a bit discouraged that gray clouds were covering the predawn sky. I looked out again around 6:00am and found that many of the clouds were starting to fade away, so I decided to head out on my journey back to try Hayama again.

The closer I got to Hayama, the clearer the sky seemed to be getting. When I got to the right spot, the sun was up a bit, so I knew I still had a good little while to film the remainder of the sunrise. As it turns out, I walked up and down the shore of Hayama for about an hour and took 170 photographs in that time. I also learned why you have to be a dedicated photographer to get the right shot in the right lighting. It was so cold out that by the time I was done shooting, my hands were nearly frozen to the camera. But it was well worth it... and I hope you agree when you take a look at the photos in our Gallery dated 02/05/2006.

Fuji-san is said to be the most photographed natural image in all of Japan. After being on the beach in Hayama for sunrise this morning, I can understand why. Even from 30-40 kilometers away, Fuji-san is breathtaking. One funny side note: It must be rare for people in Hayama to see clear days like Saturday morning. There was literally a traffic jam on my way back home along the coastal road from people stopping in the middle of the street to get out and take a quick look or quick photo of the view.

Here's a few free samples that you can click on to enlarge. I think you may even be able to "right click" them and save a few if you'd like (for those of you that have asked for larger images...). Having to look through 170 photos for my favorites wasn't easy, but I think I took quite a few good shots so please enjoy!