PROTO-ARCHITECTURE

The second day we drove up to the Mount Fuji five lakes area to stay at a very nice resort with the hopes of getting a look at the famous peak.  Unfortunately the weather wasn’t with us.  It’s rained most of the time we’ve been here, and it was worse in the mountains, but although we couldn’t see Fuji, the rolling hills of the area afforded amazing Sesshū painting-like vistas of the countryside.  It was an incredible contrast to the extreme density of Tokyo and the surrounding areas.

The most amazing part of the trip was getting to experience the traditional Japanese Onsen, or communal bath heated by natural hot springs.  Both days we were in the Yamanaka area we went to the baths, the first a public bath, very crowded and lively, and the second a private bath associated with the Villa.  It is the sort of thing I know I would never have had a chance to enjoy if I was not traveling with a Japanese host, and was definitely of the the highlights of the trip thus far.