The original meaning of Fuji is ‘second to none’. It’s a sacred mountain, the spiritual hub of the country, and its geographical centre too. For most Japanese, just to see it, to look at it, has a special significance. No such luck for Hiro Ishizaka, my mountain guide from Sapporo and me, though. We were standing in the tiny front garden of our friends Take and Minori, the owners of Teatime – a small, exclusive B&B located idyllically at the foot of the sacred mountain. And no matter how hard we tried to look, we could see absolutely nothing. It had started to snow, with slow, heavy flakes… Continue Reading