Mount Fuji
Seeing Mount Fuji close up has been on
our Japan bucket list for years. We have seen Fuji San from distance either
passing by on the train, or in a car…but it’s just not the same.
Mount Fuji, or Fuji San is Japan’s
highest mountain at 3776 meters or 12388.45 feet high! And can been seen from
Tokyo and Yokohama on clear days, as it stands on the border between Yamanashi
and Shizuoda prefectures. The near perfect shaped volcano has of no surprise
been worshiped as a sacred mountain for centuries, with literature dating back
to the 8th century, back then the now dormant volcano was prone of
discharging smoke, which would have made it even more admired. Fuji San last
erupting in 1707 and although in a dormant state is an active volcano. The
crater of Fuji San is 2.5miles in circumference. In 2013, Mount Fuji was
granted World Heritage status.
On this particular trip we made the
exception based on our busy itinerary to visit Fuji up close. We also planned
our trips ourselves beforehand, we had two options…relocate from our base in
Tokyo, book a hotel and stay a night near the mountain, or travel from Tokyo
and back in one day. We chose the latter, due to it being more flexible for the
weather as it’s common for mount Fuji to be covered in mist some days, plus in
the end, we were pleased as it would have been awkward taking our cases with
us. Unlike us, we totally underestimated how busy it would be, on the trains
and around Fuji!
So, it was a very early start, leaving
our hotel by 7am, grabbed some breakfast, coffee from the 7 Eleven and some
lunch just in case and we were off! We had two main spots we wanted to visit to
see mount Fuji, so our schedule to get our first location was by two trains
from Tokyo central station. The first train on the JR Chuo Line Special Rapid,
departed at 8:07am and arrived at Hachioji Station at 9:02am, which was busy.
We then had to switch to a non-JR train the Fuji Kaiyu, which then departed at
9:07am, we were on this train for 1 hour and it was absolutely packed! As
mentioned unlike us we had underestimated how busy it would be! Halfway through
this train journey, the train stopped at a station and then split in two! With
only three carriages continuing on the line to Mt.Fuji Station…we’re quite used
to the Japanese train system, be we still had to have our wits about us for
this one, as we happened to be on the wrong end of the train, so along with
what seemed millions of other people had to quickly get off onto the platform,
run along about four carriages and jump onto one of three carriages we needed
to be on! The unfortunate thing happened as a lady lost her daughter, as she
was still somehow on the wrong carriages that departed first!
We finally got to our first stop and got off the train at Shimoyoshida station, before the end of the line at Mt.Fuji Station. Unlike Japan, this station was very small and old, and just didn’t seem up to the number of visitors…
From the station it was only a short walk to our first location, the famous Chureito Pagoda, which was situated right up on the hill side. There are about 400 steps up to the Pagoda and Arakura Sengen Shrine…good job we’re both fit! But the view was absolutely spectacular so worth the climb! With the Pagoda in the foreground and Fuji San in the background just made for a stunning sight, one of this best we have ever seen! It was a bit hectic with other sightseers hustling bustling to get that perfect shot and selfies! But we managed! From our photos you would never know how many people were there around us!
The Chureito Pagoda is five stories on the mountainside overlooking Fujiyoshida City and or course Mount Fuji in the distance. The pagoda is part of the Arakura Sengen Shrine which was built in 1963. The location offers outstanding views of Mount Fuji, especially during the cherry blossom season also when we visited with the autumn colours.
After soaking in the view, we head back down the hill and back to the train station, waited about 10 minutes and hoped on the train one stop along to Kawaguchi-ko Station. Again, the place was manic, with the train station just seemed too small for the number of visitors…the locals must not be pleased. We had to pay a surcharge as out JR passes didn’t cover the last part of the journey. We had previously researched the best viewing spots of Fuji San and the most viable with our time, as there are 5 lakes that surround the mountain, so we had decided Lake Kawaguchiko would be our best option, with reaching the best spots around part of the lake. So, this meant catching a bus from the station, which was manic with long queues…so we decided to just start walking along the main route towards our first spot, as we walked along we timed it just right were a bus pulled into a bus stop, so we jumped on for the rest of the way.
We got off the bus at the lakes
eastern end and walked along the lake side to capture Fuji San in the spots we
had researched…We were certainly not disappointed as the views were spectacular
especially as we had hit it right or lucky as it was a gorgeous warm sunny day.
We’ll, let the pics do the talking.
Kawaguchiko Lake is actually the most accessible of all the five lakes, being one of the reasons we chose it. The Lake is situated near a hot spring resort town with different tourist attractions and of course views of Fuji San. It’s said during the cherry blossom season the northern shores of the lake create stunning foreground views.
After draining our batteries with all
the pictures taken it was time to head back. Getting back to Tokyo central was
a reversal of getting there arriving back about 7:00pm, so a long tiring day,
but 100% worth it! A few beers and a nice meal soon recharged our batteries!
This day we walked just over 7 miles.
Please find our other articles in the 'Locations' section of the website.
