Climb Mt. Fuji and watch the Sunrise

My brother was an exchange student in Japan and I went there to visit him. We decided to climb Mt. Fuji, not knowing it was some kind of holiday where loads of locals try to to make the ascent. We started out in the afternoon and got to one of the climber’s huts just before dark. These huts have very wide wooden “bunks” where people sleep like sardines. Very early in the morning, long before daybreak, everyone got up and started to make their way to the summit. Man, the trail was packed! It’s an easy climb but people who weren’t acclimatized to the altitude were struggling and some were even using mini-oxygen bottles. A few people were collapsed on the side of the trail from fatigue/altitude sickness. The trail got so congested near the top that it turned into a logjam and slowed to almost a standstill. Everyone was using traditional octagonal walking sticks that you can pay to get branded with kanji at each station on the way up. These sticks have bells attached, and it kind of sounded like we were in a herd of cats. I was getting frustrated because it was starting to get light and I knew if we stayed on the path we’d never make it to the summit in time to watch the sunrise. I began to strongly suggest that we blaze our own trail to the top. My brother had been living there long enough to know the motto often heard in Japanese culture; “the nail that sticks out gets hammered down”, IE don’t stand out from the crowd. So he was appalled that I would suggest doing something so culturally inappropriate. I, however, had not lived there long enough to embrace that motto and I said “okay, I’ll see you at the top” and took off. With consternation he followed me and we raced to the top before a shocked audience of people stuck in “trail traffic”. (NB: as I recall this was on volcanic rock, not on vegetation or in a restricted area-so nothing was damaged). We made it to the summit just in time to see the sunrise and an incredible view! A short time after the sun rose the view completely clouded up, but during those few minutes the view was breathtaking. So I have to confess that I have on occasion been a culturally inappropriate mountain climber, but then again, I’ve also seen the sunrise from the summit of Mt. Fuji. I think they forgave me ;-)