Yakisoba Noodles in Fujinomiya

Yakisoba noodles are typical Japanese foods sold in food stalls.  You can find them often in festivals of temples and shrines.  With some reason, Fujinomiya City, a town at the foot of Mt. Fuji is famous for yakisoba noodles.  Japanese people love yakisoba so much that there are championship tournaments of yakisoba.  And Fujinomiya often won the tournaments.

Fujinomiya is a starting point to climb Mt. Fuji.  For example, the town has a large shrine “Fujisan Hongu Sengen Taisha”.  Furthermore, Mt. Fuji World Heritage Centres explains the history and the nature of Mt. Fuji.  And Yakisoba noodles.  So there are many reasons to visit Fujinomiya.

Omiya Yokocho – Food Court to Taste Fujinomiya Yakisoba

In front of Fujisan Hong Sengen Taisha Shrine, there is an open-air space called “Omiya Yokocho”.  It literally means “Shrine Alley”.  Many small shops who sell various kinds of foods gather here. And of course you can find shops which sell Fujinomiya yakisoba, too.

The water of the fountain in the above photo is the water from Mt. Fuji and it is drinkable.

Fujinomiya yakisoba contains pork and cabbage.  To me, it is tasty but it seems just ordinary yakisoba.  So I don’t know why it’s so special.  Well, but anyway, it’s worth trying.  Yes, it is yummy!

 

Fujisan Hongu Sengen Taisha Shrine

Just across the street from Yakisoba alley “Omiya Yokocho”, there stands a shrine Fujisan Hong Sengen Taisha.  From the ancient times, Mt. Fuji has been an object of worship.  And this shrine has been a centre of this Mt. Fuji belief.  The main hall architecture looks not so old but it is built by Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu during 17th Century.  And the origin of the shrine is much older than that.  According to the old records, it seems the shrine was built some time between 781 – 806.  And the purpose to build this is to  distinguish the fire caused by the eruption of Mt. Fuji.

Inside the property of the shrine, there is a pond called “Wakutama-ike”.  The water of this pond comes from Mt. Fuji.

 

 

Mt. Fuji World Heritage Centre

There is a stunning-looking architecture near the shrine.  It is where you can learn everything related to Mt. Fuji.  UNESCO inscribed “Mt. Fuji, sacred place and source of artistic inspiration” in 2013, After that, Shizuoka Prefecture built this facility and it opened in 2017.

The building was designed by Pritzker-winning architect Shigeru Ban.

The object in front of the building has a very unique shape.  It is upside-down Mt. Fuji.  Why is it upside down?  In order to find the answer, I should have taken a photo from another aspect.  But fortunately, I could find the right-angle photo in Wikipedia.

Although the object itself is upside down, the reflex in the water is the very shape of Mt. Fuji.  But if you go there in the middle of the day, the water in the pond is moving so you cannot see Mt. Fuji in the water.  It seems that you have to be there early in the morning if you want to see Mt. Fuji before they start to move the water.

 

More Information on Fujinomiya

All of the places in this post are near from Fujinomiya Station of JR Minobu Line.  From Tokyo Station to Fujinomiya Station, if you take Shinkansen in the middle, it takes about 2 – 2.5 hours.

Omiya Yokocho Alley
Address: 4-23 Miyamachi, Fujinomiya City, Shizuoka Prefecture

 

Fujisan Hongu Sengen Taisha Shrine
Address: 1-1 Miyamachi, Fujinomiya City, Shizuoka Prefecture
Opening Hours: Nov.-Feb. 6am – 7pm, Mar.&Oct. 5:30am – 7:30pm, Apr.-Sept. 5am – 8pm
URL: http://fuji-hongu.or.jp/sengen/english/index.html

 

Mt. Fuji World Heritage Centre
Address: 5-12 Miyamachi, Fujinomiya City, Shizuoka Prefecture
Opening Hours: 9am – 5pm (open until 6pm during July and August) (Closed on every third Tuesdays and between 27 Dec. – 3 Jan.)
Admission: ¥300 (free of charge for 15 yrs and younger)

 

Other useful site: https://travel.gaijinpot.com/fujinomiya/