The coach made the steady climb from Tokyo to the lower slopes of Fuji and the further we went, the more snow was lying. Because of the weather conditions the road was closed to the higher stations so we visited the Fuji Visitor center.

Next we went to the Fujiyama museum. It was really interesting and I managed to get a couple of shots including this one.

Leaving Fuji we headed towards Hakone. We were able to enjoy a boat ride on the lake and the weather cleared somewhat for us.

Next was a trip on the cable car to the top of Hakone. The views were great on the way up, but as we reached the summit a fierce storm blew in - it was like Siberia. The tour guide was a bit anxious and hurried us back down on the last gondola to go today.

Perhaps not the day we had expected but a good day out anyway. Tomorrow we fly back to Ireland, but I'll sign off with a couple of pics from our final dinner in Japan. Taken from Mansei in Akihabara.

Thursday 10th February.
This morning's weather definitely tells me we're just getting out in time. The snow is really moving in again! Having packed our cases and loaded the car we headed off to see Kanno's facility for his top koi. We got to see some of the best Goshiki anywhere in Japan, including the one bowled up below - definitely worth more than any fish ever sold in Ireland.

Here are some pics of his tategoi tosai and other top sansai.

From there we travelled on to Nagaoka to get the Shinkansen back to Tokyo. Having checked in at our hotel we headed out into the city. A bit of a spontaneous decision, but we decided to take the train from Akihabara to Hammamatsucho to go see the Tokyo tower. It was a short walk from the station to the tower which brought us by this Buddhist temple - an amazing structure meriting a few photos.

A couple of photos from the observatory to finish with today. Tomorrow I'm looking forward to going to Mount Fuji, or Fuji-san as it's affectionately known here.

Wednesday 9th February.
A very different day today. Changing between rain, sleet and snow. Nevertheless, we headed out as planned to Hosokai fish farm and picked up a couple of boxes of nissai to complete the purchases this year. Driving up to Hosokai feels like you are making your way through a giant pavlova!

These koi are high grade and are about 35-40cm.

We went to see the tosai bred by Kazuto Ikarashi and secured a couple of boxes of high grade Sanke, Showa and Kohaku.

Kazuto-san was busy sorting through fish. It was amazing to see him determining the sex of these koi - even though they were only 1 year old.

I apologise for not having any food pics up so far - I had forgotten about that! We stopped for luch at the noodle restaurant up near Yamakoshi. Always a bit of fun eating this with the chopsticks.

The final call was with Kanno who was busy trying to clear his entrance with a 5T digger! He is high up the mountain - right next to the bull-ring. Have a look at the view.

This evening we had dinner with Hosokai-san and his wife. Traditional Japanese soba noodles with tempura. Tomorrow we leave the mountains and return to Tokyo.

Tuesday 8th February.
Today we woke to a beautiful sunny morning. Everyone is busy shovelling snow into the drains along the sides of the roads. The water washes the snow into the rivers and bit by bit it is disappearing.

After our hearty breakfast disappeared we headed up into the mountains once again. First call was with Kawakami-san. I hadn't been with this breeder before and was really impressed with the colour and range of his koi.

We took a mix of chagoi and yamabuki out of this tank. They are small nissai (2yrs) at 25-30cm and will cost about £140 each.

I also selected 12 nice koi about 30-33cm as seen in the pics below. They are different prices, generally £180 - £220.

Next we visited Torazo where I hoped to buy some high quality go-Sanke. We were able to buy 3 very nice nissai - great size for 2 year olds with the Tancho Sanke at 55cm and the two Kohaku around 60cm.

Leaving Torazo we headed up to Shinoda to buy some of the popular Doitsu go-sanke varieties. Unfortunately there wasn't very much left - plenty of scaled fish and hi-utsuri, but not what we were looking for. We didn't buy here this year, so I'm sorry to those who were looking forward to those fish - perhaps next year!

Next we visited another new place for me - Marusaka koi farm. There was a lot of snow around and we took lots of pics.

The display of tosai was stunning. Just let me know which fish you want and I'll see if I can find it again for you (joke!). It's a bit like "Where's Wally?"

That was a busy morning and after lunch in Nagaoka we went to see Igarashi. There was nothing there which we were looking for so we returned early to the hotel - time for a bit of shopping and a walk.

All done for today and ready for the final day tomorrow.

Monday 7th February.
This morning we went to see Hosokai first. He has been anxiously waiting for us to arrive. The landscape is barely recognisable under so much snow.

There were also many fish, but I intend to return later to Hosokai so we didn't make any purchases here today.

Hosokai san was very proud to introduce his wife and 2 month old son, Mocho.

Next we visited Miyatora where you can always be sure of good quality koi. We picked up 6 nissai between 14 & 16".

The next stop was with Marusei. I was looking for some bigger koi. Marusei has a huge business. This is one of 8 fish houses he owns. It's not exactly the safest place but the choice is great.

Unfortunately the first few selected were very pricey, so we went a bit smaller. These fish are 60-65cm.

We spent some time at Yamazaki. He has many beautiful tosai which we were able to select from. Ogons, ochiba shigure and doitsi hariwake all looking good. Also bought a few longfin for those who have been asking.

Our last farm today was Jinbei. This farm has a long heritage and he mostly breeds Sanke for which they are famous. It is a traditional style Sanke with strong sumi. The fish looked well, but we didn't bowl any up - perhaps getting too tired.

This car outside Jinbei was pretty well snowed in! You know it's not going to be a good day when you wake up to find your car in there!!

The day was rounded off with donuts & coffee at Mister Donut. Tonight we eat Yakiniku - one of my favourites. You cook your own meat in the middle of the table. Very nice.

Sunday 6th February.
We left Portrush at 9am on Saturday and arrived at the hotel in Ojiya at 6pm on Sunday. Given there's a time difference of 9 hours we made the full trip in 24 hours! Not bad going!

There's an awful lot of snow sitting around. They say Ojiya and another city just 40 mins away are the 2 cities with the heaviest snowfalls this winter, in the world. The mountains are worse so hopefully we'll have a pic or two up here soon.