Mount Fuji at Sunrise

What a thrill to discover that when I opened the curtains in our hotel room this morning, we had a gorgeous view of Mount Fuji!  Wow!

We had a fantastic day which started out with a visit to a Bonsai training center where a master teaches apprentices the art.  There were a lot of stunning examples of his work to admire, as well as an introduction to the Japanese tea ceremony, and a wonderfully fun time being dressed in kimonos!  (See extra for one of the bonsais, some gorgeously colourful Koi, and a close up of the graceful hands of the lady who demonstrated the tea ceremony.  Naturally, once we got to the kimono part of the visit, my camera informed me that its battery was dead ... oh dear!  We then had a traditional Japanese Teppanyaki lunch at a local restaurant before boarding the bullet train for Nagano where we are spending tonight and tomorrow night at a traditional Japanese inn complete with tatami mats on the floors, and futons to sleep on!