This time I wandered far from Tokyo to Fuji Mountain. I suppose you guys can guess where I was heading. Fuji Q Highland, one of the famous theme parks in Japan. Before I go there, I decide that I will go there by bus, and buy the tickets. You can just buy the tickets at the express bus terminal on the west of Shinjuku station, but this time I reserved the tickets one week before on the internet. (there’s a link to the online reservation on Fuji Q’s homepage) After that, I went to the express bus terminal’s counter and asked for Q pack (a set of two way bus tickets and the tickets for Fuji Q’s entrance as well as the rides. And it’s only 7300 yen.) I took the morning (8:10) bus and arrived at approximately 10 o’clock. It took about 1 hour and 50 minutes. Reporter : TEDJA AGNES MICHELLE

		Then I changed the ticket I got from the terminal at Fuji Q’s ticket booth and entered the theme park. I could here the sound of the jet coaster from the entrance. It was only 10.30 in the morning but it was so crowded there. Oh, and don’t forget to take a pamphlet at the ticket booth. Fuji Q’s quite big so you will get lost if you don’t have a map with you.
There are a lot of attractions at Fuji Q. The most popular ones overseas are Takabisha and Super Scary Labyrinth of Fear. I wanted to enter the labyrinth but they said that I couldn’t enter alone. But, there are lots of other interesting attractions like Dodonpa, Nagashimasuka, Fujiyama, etc. Before you ride the attractions, you might want to put your things inside the coin locker (especially if you brought a big bag because there are some attractions that don’t allow you to bring bags) I wanted to try all of the attractions but when I saw the waiting line, I thought from my heart that it will be almost impossible. The popular attractions’ waiting time is at least 1 hour. I already ran as fast as I could and could only try 7-8 attractions. But, if you go there with friends or family, maybe it will be a different story. I believe I wouldn’t be that bored if I have someone to talk to while waiting….
Let’s put that aside, this time there will be 3 main attractions I will explain here. Which are EVANGELION:WORLD, HamuHamu Doki Doki! Kingdom (supposedly it’s called Hide-and-Seek in the Forest on the official Fuji Q’s English page… but I like the kingdom one better) and Mizuki Shigeru's Ge-Ge-Ge Haunted Mansion. The first one is Mizuki Shigeru's Ge-Ge-Ge Haunted Mansion. People who read Ge-Ge-Ge no Kitarou could enjoy this attraction to the fullest. Unfortunately, it’s in Japanese so you probably won’t understand the contents if you don’t understand Japanese. I went inside the mansion and there’s a short film of Kitarou. Then, I put on the headphone and heard lots of Youkai’s voices. I won’t tell you the youkai that appeared, you should try and guess yourself.
And, the anime I loved when I was in elementary school, Hamtaro. There’s 3 rides at HamuHamu Kingdom area. (Sorry, it’s in Japanese) Fuwa Fuwa O-Sora no Bouken (means sky adventure), Doki Doki Mori no Kakurenbo (means hide and seek in the forest), Yura Yura Umi no Hamuship (means a Hamu Ship in the sea, it’s practically a ship). I only tried the Sky Adventure one. The shape of the ride is a cloud with hamsters’ statues. It was so cute. But the ride itself was quite a hard ride. I almost felt that I would be thrown away…. Normal jet coaster has a track below the ride but this one has a track on top of the ride.
The last one is a limited attraction, EVANGELION:WORLD!!! This one fits a museum more than an attraction. When I entered the building, I felt like I entered the world of Evangelion. The interior looked just like NERV. You can see the image boards of the anime and the replica of Unit 00 and Unit 01 (only the head part though because it’s so big)
		I was so happy I could see this scene. And I really thought that the elevator was real. It wasn’t.
		But I loved this room the most. There were Kaworu-sama everywhere! I don’t know why but I couldn’t find Shinji anywhere. *sweats
		And there’s also a Fuji Q and Evangelion Purikura collaboration. I took 2 photos~ And there’s a Eva Shop near the exit. There were tons of Eva goods. If you want to buy some, you better buy them there because it’s only sold there. (Don’t regret it later like me *laughs) Then there was a Gundam attraction but it was closed that time although the shop was open.
There are many kinds of foods at Fuji Q. Crepes, ice cream, taiyaki and other snacks. There are also fast food restaurants such as Pizza-la, Mos Burger, Lotteria. I thought that it will be regretful if I eat foods I can eat in other places than Fuji so I tried Fuji Ramen soy sauce flavor. It was delicious although it was quite expensive. I was still hungry so I ate a chocolate banana crepe. I don’t know if it’s really more delicious than the ramen or it’s just that I like desserts but I felt more satisfied with eating the crepe.
In the conclusion, Fuji Q has many anime events and many interesting attractions. But, I don’t recommend going there alone. Going with friends and family are much better in my opinion. You can’t see the Fuji Mountain unless you are riding the attractions (of course the high ones like Fujiyama or Takabisha) but you will probably concentrate more on the attractions than the mountain. *laughs I recommend for foreigners to take a look at the homepage first and gather information. There might be other interesting events.
It was 6 o’clock in the evening. It was time to go home. Fuji Q’s closed at 6-7 o’clock in the evening. When I was waiting for the bus, there were announcements that the bus will be late because of the crowded high way. It was late for 15 minutes but there were announcements again and again. I don’t think that it was needed though. Because, in my country, it’s not weird if buses are late for more than 1 hour. When you want to go home, you need to check the time properly. If you are late, you might not be able to go home.