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When I drove up to the Otome mountain pass at six in morning, Mt. Fuji had a morning sun on its whole body. Although the trees in Hakone has not been colored yet, I expected I might be able to see the autumn colors on way to the fifth station of Mt. Fuji. When I climbed up to the Park Mizugatsuka, I found a big parking lots (in mid-summer, climbers to Mt. Fuji must leave their vehicles here and take buses up to the fifth station.) At the rear of the parking lots, there was a big park where many families were enjoying picnics. Although I have been here a few times, it was the first time for me to be able to see a big crater of Mt. Houei clearly from here ( it was covered with moistures or clouds usually.) It was perfectly fine without any piece of clouds in sky. Up to the peak of Mt. Fuji, I could have a clear view. But I could not confirm from here whether I could see the colored leaves on my way to the fifth station or not.
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I found the most of deciduous began to have the colored leaves except fir trees while I was driving up. The trees through to the fifth station were the mixtures of colored or green leaves and were looked unevenly. The Suruga Bay had moistures but I could have a good view of the Southern Alps.
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It was the middle day of three continuous holidays. So I wondered whether the parking at the fifth station was full of vehicles but I could find a space for my Prius easily. Although I brought a winter jacket, I did not need it because it was no wind and had a strong sunshine. The mountain cottage at the seventh station could be seen very well so that it seemed to be not difficult to walk up there. Many people tried to reach there or go up to the edge of Hoei crater but the most of them come back soon as the slope was made of pebbles and volcanic ashes so that it was very slippery. I thought I might be able to walk up there but to go down the hill might be risky for me. I gave up the idea. It was worth all my efforts to have been able to see the blue sky over the mountain.
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By the way there were many tourists from the South-west Asia, mainly from China and Korea on the mountain. They seemed to be more than Japanese. They were carrying the luxurious digital cameras and taking shots at every occasion, They talked merrily in different languages from Japanese. It would be one of the best accounts of their travels to Japan to have climbed up Mt. Fuji.