Mount Fuji: viewing from Mount Tenjo and Lake Kawaguchi

There are many places in Japan to view Mount Fuji (富士山), one of which is Mount Tenjo above Kawaguchiko (河口湖), or Lake Kawaguchi, in the region known as Fuji Five Lakes. Mt Tenjo is accessible by cable car and offers spectacular views of Mt Fuji, as well as featuring several activities. It is also famous for being the site of the folk tale, Kachi Kachi Yama.

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Evangelion World: interactive anime exhibition at Fuji-Q Highland

Evangelion: World is an attraction at Fuji-Q Highland (富士急ハイランド), an amusement park located at the foot of Mt Fuji. As the name suggests, Evangelion: World – or Eva World for short – is all about the popular anime series, Evangelion. Rather than a ride, this is a permanent exhibition with everything from life-size models to museum-like displays, original artwork and plenty of interactive installations for some great photo opportunities.

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Fuji-Q Highland: Mt Fuji amusement park

Fuji-Q Highland (富士急ハイランド) is an amusement located near the foot of Mount Fuji, famous for several large, fast roller coasters, two haunted mazes, Thomas Land which is dedicated to Thomas the Tank Engine, as well as Gundam and Evangelion attractions. On a good day, Mt Fuji can be seen towering over the park.

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Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum: not your average themed restaurant

A couple of years ago I read about a ramen museum in Yokohama and added it to my 2013 Japan itinerary. We ran out of time, so put it on our itinerary again in 2014. This time we actually made it! Officially it is called Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum, but is also referred to as the Yokohama Ramen Museum. I loved the idea that a country could be so fond of one of its dishes that it would dedicate a whole museum to it. I’d heard that it was really great, and I had images in my mind of a big museum all about ramen, with some food tasting at the end. This sounded like something a little different, I was pretty excited.

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