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Monday, 12 October 2026 · The rest day continues
“Rest day” is clearly a flexible term. The morning had begun with laundry, a cough and Mount Fuji disappearing behind mist. Not much later, the amusement park outside our hotel was calling, and the quiet day turned into a small tour through several very different Japanese worlds.
Morning: Controlled Madness
At the entrance it was already obvious: Japan can be quiet and courteous, but it can also be colourful, fast and wonderfully free of vertigo. Between rides, larger-than-life figures and a roller-coaster poster, it felt as though someone had turned everyday life’s volume knob firmly to the right.
From Speed to Stillness
Later we went on a city tour and visited a shrine complex. After the morning’s technical spectacle, the change felt like a deep breath: a great torii, red gates, timber, forest and the calm order of a place that has nothing to prove.
Evening Light Instead of Morning Mist
More moments from the shrine visit and our walk
Moving memories from the Fuji region
By sunset, the landscape opened wide. Tall grass, low light and a sky that said goodbye to the day without making a speech. Fuji stayed discreet in these photographs; the horizon took the leading role instead.
Back among the narrow evening lanes, things felt urban again. Neon, tiny establishments and Anneliese in the middle of the scene: not a grand finale, more like a gentle closing sequence. For a rest day, there had been a surprising amount of movement.
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