Chapter 2 Scenery of Lake Shoji

I went to Lake Shoji, one of the Fuji Five Lakes.It's a very famous place, but I don't know much about it.It was an early autumn a few years ago, and I drove to the hotel in the middle of the night.At that time, I was filming an exterior scene for an American TV show with the actors of the American Deaf Theater Company, and the filming was to interpret Kobayashi Kascha's haiku in sign language. I was ushered into a Japanese-style room on the second floor to rest. Early the next morning, after I woke up, I opened the only curtain in the room.Opposite the wide window is a mountain covered with snow, the lake is calm, clear and transparent, it is really "picturesque"!

I felt refreshed and exclaimed: "It's so beautiful!" At this time, the eldest sister (or auntie) of the hotel came in with tea, listened to me exclaiming "It's so beautiful", showed a satisfied expression, poured tea from a small teapot into a teacup, and said: "exactly!" Looking at the scenery outside the window, I became more and more moved and said: "It's so beautiful!" The elder sister said with a smile: "That's what everyone says." Next, I asked: "What is this mountain called?" In an instant, the room suddenly fell silent, and the elder sister's hand holding the teapot froze.After about a minute, the eldest sister stared at me, drew the tone strangely, and said slowly:

"This is Fu-shi-mountain!" As soon as the voice fell, the figure of the eldest sister had disappeared from the room.I didn't feel anything wrong, so I said: "Oh, it's Mount Fuji!" So I felt more and more beautiful, so I observed it carefully.The eldest sister stumbled down the stairs and rushed to the front desk, yelling: "Listen everyone! Hei Liu Chezi just asked: 'What kind of mountain is this'!" The colleagues in the program group in the lobby heard what she said, and later relayed it to me.It turned out that this hotel is famous for its panoramic view of Mount Fuji, and my room on the second floor is the best room in the hotel with the best view, but I made such a joke.

The eldest sister said "This is Mount Fuji" in such a strange way, she probably thought I was joking.It is also possible that the eldest sister was thinking "she really doesn't know", and was dumbfounded in amazement.These two possibilities must be one of them. From then on, when the guests of that hotel looked at the scenery outside and praised "It's so beautiful", it is said that the eldest sister would say: "You can't guess it? Someone actually asked 'what is this mountain called'! It's Hei Liu Chezi!" However, in my opinion, the Mount Fuji I saw through the Shinkansen window is quite different from the Mount Fuji there.

After this failed incident, or completely exposed my ignorance, I went to Fukushima for work and saw a lot of mountains. Since my trip to Lake Shoji, I have been careful not to offend those associated with Mount Fuji.So, after I found Mount Fuji among those mountains, I sincerely say: "You can see Mt. Fuji clearly from here!" The local person who received us said apologetically: "Gee, that's not Mount Fuji. Oh, we all call it 'Azuma Fuji.'" Later, I went to Kofu in Yamanashi Prefecture, and saw Mt. Fuji again.I asked cautiously: "Is that 'Yamanashi Fuji'? It's beautiful!"

The people of Kofu said angrily: "That's Mount Fuji!" I didn't expect that Mount Fuji, which is located in Shizuoka on the Shinkansen, can also be seen from Kofu. Mount Fuji really gives me a headache.