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It’s a few months between Fujis at the start of 2008. Number 29 comes around as a result of my covering someone’s job on a Friday. This is a bit of a nuisance, owing to the vagaries of Yokohama’s rail network. Most of the train lines run west to east. Hardly any run south to north. That’s a little different nowadays, with the Sotetsu line now running from Nishiya to Shinjuku… but I don’t think this would have made any difference to me, twelve years ago.

You know what would have made getting there easier? A direct bus. Which I of course discovered existed the day after I finish up working here.

Such is life.

The place I was working was Nagatsuta, which really didn’t seem to have much going for it at the time. Nothing but apartments, a few shops & a train station where the JR Yokohama line intersects with the Den-en-toshi line.

Never been a fan of the Yokohama line, and I’m not sure why. There was just something about stepping on to the carriages, lit by a weird bulb that seems to make everything glow yellow – a fact which doesn’t improve the look of the offensively green seat covers – that made me feel bothered. The heat was always a few notches to the uncomfortable side of ‘flame grill’ as well. It’s a bit better nowadays but it still feels like a rural train line running through one of Japan’s biggest cities, almost as if by accident.

The Den-en-toshi line, on the other hand, has always been okay with me. The older Den-en-toshi trains look like they’d scrub up fine for a party. The newer ones have flashy whizz bang monitors, running commercials and route information side by side. (Mind you, I’ve never had to do a daily commute on the Den-to, which is what the cool kids call it.)

So it is, one Friday after this temporary bit of work, I hop on the Den-en-toshi line and head five minutes up the line to Fujigaoka.

(You may recall that there is also a Fujigaoka in Aichi. There’s also a Fujioka in Shizuoka & we have a Fujimigaoka in Tokyo – this one, in Kanagawa, doesn’t promise views of the mountain, as the name translates into wisteria hill.)

Outside the station, I have a look at the map. Then I have a look about. There’s not much of note around the station. Some shops and a supermarket named ‘Mother’s Garden’. I head to the left of here, figuring I can take a short cut to the park I saw on the map, hopefully have a wander around before the dull sky turns to rain.

At the park, I demonstrate good timing for once, and get to enjoy plenty of cherry blossoms.

There’s really not much else doing in the park, so I just enjoy the scenery & some of the wildlife. The best example of which would be the cat, perched atop a tiny row of railings in the pond, who is on the prowl for some fish; his bravery disappears almost as fast as he does when he sees me.

Fujigaoka turns out to be much like Nagatsuta, although it’s more pleasant to look at, there’s nothing much happening except people going about their daily lives. I decide to walk down to the next station down the line, Aobadai, where at the time, there was a Wendy’s hamburger joint, which allows for a little bit of bizarre Japanese fast food history.

Wendy’s decided to close down all its Japanese stores about ten years ago. Of course, suddenly everyone remembered they liked Wendy’s and sales went right up… Too late though, they still left.

But they came back pretty fast. As far as I can gather (I used to know more about fast food, forgive my ignorance) they’ve merged with First Kitchen so now you get the redheaded burger queen’s specialties with a slightly different branding.

Way back in 2008 though, Wendy’s in Aobadai was situated in a much larger building, and on the top floor was a beauty salon. The sign for this establishment merely said “Beauty Brains Fanny”.

Must have done some pretty in-depth aesthetic treatments.

FUJIS LEFT AT THE END OF MARCH 28th, 2008 : 30/59