The diligent Japanese

5:30 am, all bells awake!

But that suits us just fine. We first drove to a Lawson supermarket and got some coffee. We love the Coffee Latte Hot Mega. And in that order. The Lawson sellers don't understand it any other way.

Afterwards, we had a cozy breakfast in the parking lot. But it wasn't just any rest stop. It was a parking lot by the lake in front of Mount Fuji. We enjoyed our coffee and delicious muesli with a spectacular view.

Then we went to another highlight of the cherry blossoms: the famous viewpoint of Mount Fuji. We had been there in winter before. Back then, the view with the autumn colors was beautiful. After a short time, we noticed that all the parking lots were closed. So we were directed to a huge sandy area with parking spaces marked on it. That's where we could park. We were guided tightly by flashlight-waving parking attendants to this huge parking lot. As soon as anyone blinked and seemed to want to enter the closed parking lot, they jumped onto the road and blocked all passing traffic. They did the same to us. We barely blinked. The road was immediately completely closed in both directions so that we could turn easily and enter the huge parking arsenal. There, we received postcards of what we were about to see. We also received a map that explained the approximately 500-meter long way that was supposed to be straight in more detail, and another map with nearby sights. As is customary in Japan, it was not enough to have all the parking possibilities marked on the square. No, there also had to be five parking attendants there. They also directed us so tightly into a parking space that it reminded us of an ant trail.

Then we went to the shuttle bus. There, too, we felt escorted to the bus. Over a distance of 100 meters, three people waving at us continuously at short intervals. When we finally reached the shuttle bus, all the seats were taken. So we stood. But that's not common in Japan. A murmur went through the bus. The driver waved us closer to him. Suddenly, more seats folded out, which were hidden behind the regular seats, and now offered us seats in the middle aisle. When we smiled in surprise, the Japanese also started laughing and rejoiced with us that we were so surprised. These chairs may be sufficient for the usually petite Japanese. It's also enough for our children. You can imagine the rest. We couldn't even get as close to the Chileans on the buses.

After a short drive to our stop, lined with more parking attendants who still showed the bus driver, who had driven this tour about 100 times a day for two weeks, the way, and he still thanked them politely, we could get off. It was easier in winter. We parked right at the viewpoint back then and were almost alone.

Back then, the view of the slopes covered in autumn colors was very beautiful. But now, this view was surpassed by the beautiful colors of the cherry blossoms. We walked up a winding path to the actual viewpoint. There was an observation deck. As we approached it, the network of guides tightened. At the actual junction, you couldn't go wrong, yet there were three nice gentlemen standing there, showing us the way. There was a slight crowd on the observation deck itself. Some even sat on the steps to enjoy the view. But sitting was not allowed. That's why there were two parking attendants equipped with megaphones who urged people not to sit down and to keep walking slowly. It was unusual for the Japanese, but some of them didn't follow these instructions. One of the supervisors would then occasionally explode and run towards the sitting people, still shouting into his megaphone, this time very close to the sitters. When he approached, the Japanese jumped up like startled chickens and pretended nothing had happened. When the supervisor turned his back and was satisfied, they sat down again. At that moment, we thought we were back in Chile or in some other country. In any case, we wondered if the people we saw there were really Japanese or just looked like it.

After we had enough of the spectacle and thoroughly enjoyed the view, we walked back and this time were able to sit in proper seats on the shuttle bus. Then we continued to the second park.

We didn't drive more than 10 km. Heike had meticulously researched this park as the most beautiful one in the area for cherry blossoms. So we arrived and prepared ourselves to be guided both in the parking lot and to the viewpoint. But things turned out differently. We drove uphill on a very narrow and winding road. We thought we were driving through the park illegally. But in the end, we reached a huge square with parking spaces marked on it. However, there wasn't a single car there. We didn't see anyone else either. The many cherry trees we had already passed were blooming, but apparently not as splendidly anymore for the Japanese to bother to admire them. When we drove a little further, our assumption was confirmed. The toilet houses and all the stalls had already been dismantled and removed. That suited us just fine. We took advantage of the idyll and set up our camping equipment in front of our camper and started cooking to enjoy a delicious meal with a great view of the cherry blossoms and Mount Fuji.

After the delicious meal, we continued driving. We decided to drive along the coast on our route to Caillou. So we set off without knowing how long we actually wanted to drive and where we would spend the night. But Heike was determined to go to a Japanese bath, an onsen, today. So we looked for an onsen. It was in the middle of the city. On the way there, we found a foot onsen, where you simply soak your feet in hot water. These are quite common in the cities, which we think is great. But when it started to drizzle, we decided to continue to the proper onsen.

Onsens are always a highlight for Heike and Flora. For Mattis and Christian, they are more of a necessity.

It's always worth keeping your eyes open in Japan. Since we can't read the characters, we have to rely on other people and follow their example. Since Heike likes to observe people, it's just her thing. And so it happened that we discovered a laundry at our onsen. We hadn't washed our clothes since Hawaii, so we filled all the washing machines with our clothes. That worked out well because we would be spending time in the onsen anyway. Since Christian is not a big fan of onsens, it was his task to go out of the hot bath from time to time and put the laundry in the dryer.

And we discovered something new again. These washing machines are totally clean. You can start a machine cleaning program before putting your own laundry in. Heike particularly liked that.

We were initially worried because we didn't have detergent. But when we read the sparse English translation of the instruction, we found out that the detergent is automatically added to the laundry. Another highlight! It should be mentioned beforehand that onsens are separated by gender. Moreover, the hot baths are entered naked. First, you go to a separate area where you sit on a stool and thoroughly shower and soap yourself. Showering while standing is strictly prohibited because a few splashes could land on your neighbor. Nevertheless, Mattis accidentally sprayed his father for about half a minute with the shower stream. But his father didn't say anything.

A visit to an onsen goes like this for the men and women in our family:

for Mattis and Christian: after the initial cleaning, they look for the coldest pool, which is still at least 36°C, and lie down there without moving.

For Flora and Heike: after the initial cleaning, they dip their little toes into every pool once. Like the men, Heike and Flora also first go to the coldest pool. But afterwards, Heike and Flora go their separate ways. Flora mostly stays in the cold pool, which is about 19°C. Heike manages to go to the other pools as well.

Apparently, women take their children with them and not the men, so it's very lively there. People chat and laugh. Heike and Flora are curiously watched because they are the only Europeans there. That's why they are always approached.

The Japanese women always want to know where they come from, if they live here, what places they are visiting, and what they are traveling. When Heike answers the first question with Germany, they furrow their brows in confusion. But when she says German, a bright smile appears on their faces. Apparently, "Deutschland" is also used in Japanese.

Watching the Japanese women clean themselves is a highlight for our women. They scrub, scrape, and cream like crazy.

We're not quite sure about the hygiene part. Even in the steam bath, you sit on foam cushions. These cushions are only dipped in the cold water pool beforehand. Probably to freeze the bacteria.

After the onsen, the Japanese children sit on small stools and are blow-dried by their mothers. It's the opposite for Heike and Flora.

After we were all done with the onsen, we went to collect our laundry. Unfortunately, it wasn't completely dry yet. So we had to run another drying cycle. But that wasn't a problem. We simply went to our camper. There, we started cooking our dinner and played a few rounds of UNO. We forgot about the time. Fortunately, we picked up our laundry 10 minutes before the onsen closed.

We then drove to a nearby rest area. When we arrived, the children were already asleep.