**why did i want to hike mt. fuji? to feel pain in my legs for days and days after? no. to impress someone? no. for my blog? no. here’s the real story….
my grandma and grandpa hiked mount fuji back in 1979. after they got back to hawaii, they were really proud of their accomplishment that they hung their walking sticks on the wall right above their tv, along with photos of the 4 seasons of mt. fuji. we use to go over for dinner every sunday and my grandma and grandpa would tell us the stories over and over. i was just a kid back then and as i grew older, i started getting interested on hiking it. this year was going to be the year for me and i kept my eyes on my schedule, the weather, the typhoons, my shoulder, and when the day came, i was ready. i was ready to do something my grandparents wanted me to do for the past 30 years. and that was to hike mt. fuji….
i took a close up photo of my grandpa’s stick. it reads in japanese: July 21-22, 1979. so being exactly 30 summers after, i felt like this was the year…..
when i started my hike, the first thing i looked for was a stick. a stick with the same japanese flag my grandma had. then from there, i already knew what to do. 30 years of instructions stuck in my head. “kirby, make sure you buy a stick like ours, go to each station, get a stamp, and make sure you don’t lose your stick”. when i was up there, i felt like i’ve been there before. it was exactly how they explained it to me….
to a normal guy, these stamps probably don’t mean a thing. but to me, it means a lot. i was felt like i was following my grandparents footsteps one by one. and it felt good….
now that i accomplished something so big in my life, it’s my time to soak it in and enjoy every memory of it. i called my grandpa from mt. fuji and he told me how proud he was of me. that meant a lot. and he also told me “kirby, don’t lose your stick on the way back to hawaii”…. grandpa, this stick means so much to me. somebody is going to have to fight me till death to get it from me. i’m going to take it home, show it to you, then mount it on my wall next to my tv and keep it there forever. and every kid that steps foot into my house is going to hear my story of hiking mt. fuji over and over. until they follow my footsteps. i’m going to pass it on to the next generation. that’s my duty!!!
so that’s why i hiked mt. fuji. i did it for my grandparents. and if it wasn’t for them, i don’t think it would even cross my mind to so something so crazy…
thank you grandma and grandpa fukunaga. thanks for your encouragement, support, and love you’ve given me from the day i was born…..
