In Tokyo the cherry blossoms had faded, but in Saiko Iyashi no Sato Nemba they were still in bloom. Branches drenched with delicate flowers framed the majesty of Mt Fuji, as her snow capped cone rose in the distance.

The village of Saiko Iyashi no Sato Nemba sits not far from the Five Lakes area near Mt Fuji. We reached it via one of Japan’s singing roads, where groves in the road are set at precise distances, humming out a tune whenever a car passes over. Trust me, it’s quite a surreal experience when your car starts to sing.

After buying a Fuji apple from a stall in car park, I entered a village of wooden buildings and thatched roofs. A forest covered the surrounding hills, and birds called from the cover of the leaves.

The original village of Saiko Iyashi no Sato Nemba was destroyed in 1996 by a typhoon. What wasn’t destroyed by the wind and rain was buried under the resultant mud slides. The village has recently been rebuilt, as a show-place for how life once was.

Every building has something on display, from the elegant house design and timber work, period clothes, household items and pottery, even a blacksmith shop. An old bell  on a wooden tower once sounded the alarm should a fire break out. (Looking closely, I spotted sprinklers hidden in the thatched roofs. Fire remains a major threat.)

The day I came the village was bathed in sunshine. The cherry blossoms were in bloom, and kites shaped like carp fluttered everywhere, in celebration of Children's Day. A river runs down the hill, dividing the village into two. A water wheel passed its time happily turning away, turned spreading water through the gardens and vegetable patches.

The main street is quite steep - often composed of stairs - and whenever I stopped to catch my breath (which proved embarrassingly quite regularly) I’d turn for the most spectacular view of Mt Fuji. For a mountain reputedly to be so shy, I had a day when she couldn’t stop revealing her beauty to me, whether it be driving along the Five Lakes, up at the Fifth Station, here in this village, or even in Tokyo itself.

As I walked I passed women in the most beautiful kimonos, their wooden geta clattering along the path as they walked. One shop rented kimonos and other traditional clothing; seeing samurais taking selfies was at first a little anachronistic, but when in Rome...

I would love one day to return to the Five Lakes district and pass a month in a hotel, spending my days contemplating the beauty of the gardens and of Mt Fuji. Yet should I not return, in this one day I saw so much of the beauty this magical mountain and the her surrounds has to offer.

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The Literary Traveller