Chasing Mount Fuji Part II: Exploring wine country in Yamanashi

We were in luck at a rental shop in the Yamanaka-ko area and glad to be rid of public transport for most of the day. We had a few hotels we wanted to visit so a car made it a lot easier, of course.

It was just a beautiful day and we snapped this one while driving along the highway in Yamanashi on the way to the vineyard area, called The Hill of Grapes (Katsunuma Budou no Oka).

There was a hotel on top of the hill and I heard that there should be spectacular views of Mount Fuji, but it was quite a hazy day so the kangaroo was disappointed. Unfortunately the hotel looked dated and the lobby reeked of stale smoke — not a good look for a wedding so we just explored the area.

We didn’t go inside this onsen, called Sky Onsen, but it’s pretty famous and one of the main reasons why people visit this hill.

The other attraction is the wine tasting cave that I didn’t manage to get a picture of (it was closed on that day, too) but I took a peek at the numerous Japanese wines on offer at their gift shop.

There was also a wide variety of grape jam on sale. Plus peach, kiwi, orange, apple…any fruit that can be made into a jam, it was there.

I took a picture of these crackers because the packets had suggestions of what alcohol would pair well with them — very Japanese in the way of wine appreciation.

We bought Japanese cheese cake, handmade udon, and jam to go. I don’t usually buy omiyage (souvenirs) from gift shops in regional Japan but this store was pretty special…

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