Mt.Fuji Toll Road Has A Unique Function To Play Music

As I introduced yesterday, there is a big toll road to go up to Mt.Fuji 5th Station for climbing. The road is called "Fuji Subaru Line" and even after the climbing season ends people can still go through the road by cars or buses as long as snow doesn't block the road. 

Interestingly, the road has a section with a special road surface that can make a musical sound. The unevenness on the surface of the road together with frictions generated by moving car tires makes music. 

There is an information board on the road and it says when cars run at a speed limit of 50km/h (30 MPH), tires will make musical sound and people can enjoy it. The music is a part of a Japanese children's song about Mt.Fuji. I recorded it and posted here, so please click the Youtube link above to listen.

Actually, I found out the music is not so clear when I drove there at exact 50km/h (30 MPH ), but at a little bit faster speed, the sound became clearer. However if people want to listen to the music, they can't go over the speed limit too much. Therefore it is a nice and interesting way to prevent speeding. 

Where Would Be Better To Have A Good View Of Mt Fuji?

The image of Mt.Fuji for most people is probably the beautiful symmetrical shape with a flat top. Then where should we go to have a better view of Mt. Fuji? Should we go close to the mountain as much as we can?

Actually most Japanese would recommend a place little far away to have a great view of the mountain although a couple of big roads are laid out to the 5th station of Mt.Fuji which is the major starting point of the climbing routes. People can go there by cars and buses easily. The climbing routes of Mt.Fuji are closed between October and June, but even after the climbing season ends people can still drive to some of the stations connecting to the 5th station. The stations are directly below the top of Mt.Fuji but Mt.Fuji is too huge to see properly from there and trees block the view. 

The photo on upper left hand side is taken from the 4th station on one of the the big roads. With the photo it is difficult to tell if the mountain has a symmetrical shape and a flat top as the typical image of Mt.Fuji. 

From the 4th station, when you look out, you would be able to see the surroundings which is shown in the upper right hand side photo. In fact Mt.Fuji is surrounded by a flat land and isolated from other mountain ranges. It is one of the unique characteristics of Mt.Fuji. Though it is a high mountain with a height of 12,388 ft (3776 m) and radius of about 18 miles (30 km), the area is almost flat and includes 5 lakes. Therefore, if we go to the mountains or some higher spots on the other side of the flat area, we can have a great view of Mt.Fuji in its entire shape.

The lower photo is taken from the top of Mt.Tenjou which is located on the lakeside of Kawaguchiko-Lake, one of the 5 lakes around Fuji. Mt.Fuji is showing its whole beautiful symmetrical shape with a flat top as in famous pictures and drawings of Mt.Fuji.

In addition, there is an amusement park in the flat surroundings of Mt.Fuji and on the top of the roller coaster is also known as a great place to see Mt.Fuji. However, it would be only for those who love roller coasters and can relax at the top.

For reference, I added a map below of Mt.Fuji area and the spot I took the photo showing the entire image of Mt.Fuji.

A Mini Virtual Trip of Momiji-Gari (Autumn Foliage Hunting) in West Tokyo

Leaves of both Japanese maple trees and ginkgo trees have turned their color beautifully in Tokyo area. It would be the best time now to enjoy the gorgeous red and yellow color combination. 
Therefore I'd like to take you to a mini virtual trip of "Momiji-Gari (Autumn Foliage Hunting)" which is a traditional Japanese custom I introduced in a previous post last October.
Hope you will enjoy the photo and also the movie below!

A Movie Monster "GODZILLA" Appeared in Shinjuku, Tokyo

These photos are taken at Kabuki-cho, Shinjuku, Tokyo. Kabuki-cho is a very busy area filled by lots of restaurants, pubs, and amusement spots, and actually the area has been a notorious block for malicious pubs and shops which charge people exorbitant price.

However the administration is trying to clean up the area and many redevelopment projects has been on-going.  Especially this year, 2015, a new business complex with a movie theater and a hotel was built in Kabuki-cho and an actual-size GODZILLA's head on top of it. 
Apparently the GODZILLA's head can make GODZILLA sound, moreover the mouth can breath out smoke.  It is a kind of show provided by the hotel in the building complex. 

GODZILLA was originally a Japanese movie monster, but now he is well-known internationally since two GODZILLA movies were made in U.S.A. ( GODZILLA in 1998, and GODZILLA in 2014). Actually the history of GODZILLA movies is pretty long. It's been more than 60 years and over 30 GODZILLA movies were created including the two American movies. 

For the past 60 years, computer graphics technology has been improved a lot and the image of recent GODZILLA movies looks very real. Yet I would personally recommend the very first GODZILLA in 1954 as the best GODZILLA movie. It was made about 10 years after the end of World War Ⅱ, so the fear of weapons of mass destruction and radioactivity feels real in the movie though the image was not high quality.

In the first movie GODZILLA was a tragic monster mutated by radioactive pollution. Since the first movie he was loved by people and the movie company kept making GODZILLA movies. As a consequence, he became a monster whom Japanese feel very friendly and are familiar with. Now, he became a new landmark in Shinjuku. Perhaps, this can be considered as a happy ending for GODZILLA.