The iconic Mount Fuji in all its snow-peaked glory is a sight to behold and one that never gets tiring. Seeing the 3,776 metre tall mountain wasn’t something I really expected to see whilst in Numazu for the day but it was a lovely bonus.

The best views of it came from Numazu Port which was a ten minute bus journey south of the station, followed by a short walk.

Naerby is the 30 metre high View-O Water Gate which is one of the largest of its kind in Japan. It was built in order to protect the community and ward off tsunami tidal waves resulting from big earthquakes. It also serves as an observation point for tourists visiting the Numazu Port area to see this fine structure which is supposedly even more impressive at night when illuminated.

I wasn’t planning to go up this time but as Mount Fuji was looking so glorious I decided to splash out 100 yen on entry and take the elevator up for a very quick look at the lovely 360-degree panoramic views across Suruga Bay and the Izu Peninsula with Fuji-San looking splendid in the distance.

Before all that I went to a local burger joint to try two very unique regional burgers. More details here.

The main event of the day for me in Shizuoka though was watching some live football. There are four league teams in the prefecture and both the J3 teams were in action on this particular day back in May. Fujieda MYFC were at home to FC Gifu but that was kicking off an hour later and would’ve involved an extra couple of hours travel so I decided to take in a game at Numazu which was a much easier option. All I needed to do was take another bus north of the station for about 20-25 minutes.

The entrance was 2000 yen which was the same as my previous visit 4.5 years ago. Back then I sat on the grassy bank behind one of the goals with the away fans but this time I actually took a seat in the main stand alongside the home faithful for the visit of AC Nagano Parceiro.

The game kicked off at 1:03 pm on a beautiful sunny afternoon with just over 1,700 in attendance.

It wasn’t a bad match with action at both ends but it was on 19 minutes that the home side took the lead when Takuya Sugai’s low 20 yard shot was deflected in off another Numazu player.

I couldn’t find anywhere to park my car so just dumped it besides the running track!!

The opponents hit the post five mins before half time and there was a brilliant save from the home keeper late on in the game as Nagano continued to push for the equaliser.

Final Score: Azul Claro Numazu 1-0 AC Nagano Parceiro (For the record, the other game I could’ve gone to ended up being a seven goal thriller!!)

It is quite common for fans to receive gifts before or after leaving grounds. This has included the likes of scarves, towels and clappers but a fresh lettuce in a bag was a new one for me!

That may have been the end of my time in Numazu but it wasn’t quite the end of the day as on the way home I had some time to kill in Usami so decided to take the short walk to revisit the Monster Hospital.

Click here to read ‘Dining Out: Trying A Couple Of Unique Regional Burgers’

Click here to read ‘Dining Out: Donguri Floating Restaurant (Including Video!)’

Click here to read ‘Day Trip To Numazu’

Click here to read ‘All Is Not As It Seems At This World Heritage Status Iron Smelting Facility In Shizuoka’