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During my recent month-long visit with my friends, Michiko and Shingo Yoshida in Japan, we took a four day-three night Mt. Fuji bus tour. The mountain is unique in that it stands alone on a flat plain. The tour circled the mountain and many, many times, the guide would say "If it were a clear day, this would be a spectacular view of the mountain". This comment, translated for me by my gracious and patient friend, was met by good natured groans. Finally, on the last day, from about 8 a.m. to 8:15 a.m., the mountain exposed a bit of itself. As you might imagine, the lawn outside the hotel was full of my fellow tourists and me, furiously snapping away with our cameras to prove that yes, we really were in Mount Fuji territory. As my consolation prize I bought a most magnificent book of photographs of that elusive mountain so I can enjoy on paper what could have been. Alas.
We had a wonderful day for our Mt. Fuji visit. The top was shrouded in clouds part of the time but would clear off for only a few seconds at a time, over and over. It became a game to get photos of the top! I, too, loved the Shinkensen and could spend forever riding those trains! Amazing, aren't they?!
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