In which Sid and Doris peer through the clouds to glimpse the icon of Japan.
As previously mentioned, the basic structure of Japan is flat bits at the edges and spiky bits in the middle. Down the middle of Honshu, the main island, the spiky bits are called the Japan Alps, and we are using them to avoid the big flat area in the south-east – I am not going to mark up this picture because it is sooo beautiful. Anyway that bit is full full full of Tokyo and all the other cities nearby that it has gobbled up, and it is non-stop red lights and slowly-moving traffic and if we ventured anywhere near, overheating old cars.
So our route follows the hills round Tokyo, and today’s plan is to go south-westwards to Mount Fuji.
We are very excited and take every opportunity to snap distant pictures of a cloud-shrouded mountain.
Mount Fuji is almost a perfect cone, which means it looks pretty well identical when viewed from any angle. Hence in Hokusai’s 36 Views Of Mount Fuji (later extended to 100 views, why let a good thing go to waste) the mountain always looks recognisably the same although the viewpoint may be from the sea, land, hills etc.
However it is also a famously “shy” mountain, often cloaked in cloud so to protect against possible disappointment the organisers have booked a diversionary visit to a winery. You will be unsurprised by now to hear that each individual grape is admired and tended and shielded from falling rains and rising damps, with the vines trained onto horizontal frames which are at an ideal height for a short Japanese farmer to tend. We callously gobble down the lunch, which consists of around 12 larger-than-bite-sized canapés, individually hand-prepared (of course) by Mrs Winery who we are told is “a certified finger food instructor”. Nobody is expected to taste the wine as the Japanese have a zero tolerance for drink driving but some bottles may have joined the luggage of the larger cars.
Onwards to the Fuji Speedway and our night at the Grand(est) Hyatt Hotel, which is designed to be a Motor Paradise. It proves difficult to get Sid out of the underground car park, which is more splendid than many hotel receptions.
We are always asked to use groundsheets to prevent the Stinky Old Cars leaving their little doggy deposits behind in the car parks, but honestly the quality of the polished concrete here is so good that you could just use some kitchen roll and glass polish to tidy up after you.
The Fuji Speedway hotel is one of the nicest so far with much car themed decor (and an excellent collection that Sid will show in a post on car museums). Below, part of the hotel decoration, a Tamiya Lexus LFA kit, which puts us in mind of a picture Owen sent us of Teal’s parts when he was being built.
Rooms are described as all having “either mountain or track views”, and unusually, both are excellent.
PS Sid has started nervously watching the oil pressure gauge, which he says is fluctuating in a different way to its usual fluctuations. The sweeps are consulted, look unsympathetic and recommend using Dial Tape.
Apparently a nice wide stripe of black gaffer tape put across any dial is guaranteed to reduce anxiety.