A Mount Fuji Daytrip from Tokyo

The thing you have to admire most about Mount Fuji is her sheer arrogance. She doesn’t want to be the tallest of the surrounding mountains, she wants to be the ONLY mountain. She wants to be seen from the biggest city in the world, yet have her own cloud system which means she’s hidden for 8 months of the year. Sheesh, you type the word Fuji on your phone keyboard and the mountain emoji (🗻) pops up. That doesn’t happen when you type Scafell Pike. So how could we not plan a half day Mount Fuji daytrip from Tokyo? Once we were sure she’d be visible of course.

We visited Mount Fuji as part of our jampacked 9 day visit to Japan, exploring Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka. You can view all the rest of my Japan content here – and there’s a lot to share!

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Planning our Mount Fuji visit

It would be pointless visiting Mount Fuji if we couldn’t actually see Mount Fuji. We’d provisionally pencilled in the Friday, our third day in Japan, and for the week leading up to our trip checked this site every day. A 10 and a perfectly round blue circle was an indication of visibility. And our planned Friday looked like the perfect conditions. We decided that the most convenient journey would be to Kawaguchiko, although there are other places that you can see Mount Fuji, such as Hakone. I’ve listed some of those other places below.

I also become obsessed with Fuji live webcams like this one. That’s probably our bus you can see in the video. Of course, if you’re watching at home, remember to take the time difference into account 😉

Bus tickets

I use the Highway Bus website to book our tickets, selecting the route from Busta Shijuku (bus terminal) to Kawaguchiko Station on the Shinjuku-Fuji Five Lake Route. I don’t book until we arrive in Tokyo so the earliest couple of buses are already fully booked. We settle on the 07:55, as long as we don’t mind sitting separately. After 16 hours on a plane sitting next to each other, I’m sure we can bear another two hours sitting apart. If you want to book a specific bus, or guarantee sitting together then you’ll probably want to book a little further in advance of your daytrip.

There’s a bit of a weird glitch on the website where I had to put in several permutations of my first name before it would accept my registration. Didn’t like Emmalene, think it eventually accepted Emmal. Something to be aware of. This was a particular frustration when we were trying to book our return tickets on the go.

You can also get a train from Shinjuku to Kawaguchiko Station. A Suica (IC) Card is the most convenient way of getting around Japan but not all journeys can be paid for using your card. For some Limited Express journeys – like on the Fujikyu Line – you will also need a separate ticket.

Getting from Tokyo to Kawaguchiko

From our Shinjuku hotel, we made our way to Shinjuku Expressway Bus Terminal. With Shinjuku Station being a city all of its own, the bus terminal is naturally about as far away from our hotel as possible. Like everywhere else though, it’s all well signposted and we find our bus stop with ease. The bus is also bang on time. Mr Fletche and I are a few rows apart, so I settle down, headphones on for the 2 hour journey.

We’re barely 20 minutes out of Shinjuku when we get our first glimpse of the magnificent mountain, albeit from the bus window on the motorway. We continue to spend the rest of the journey Fuji-spotting, until we’re practically in its shadow. Our bus also stops at Fuji-Q Highland, which is a cool-looking amusement park at the base of Mount Fuji. It looked there were some great coasters if you’re spending a little more time in the area.

If you prefer a guided tour which will allow you to explore more of the area, how about this Mount Fuji Full-Day Sightseeing Trip from Tokyo? You’ll get to visit Oishi Park, Arakura Sengen Park and Chureito Pagoda, Oshino Hakkai and Mount Fuji 5th Station (or 4th station in wintertime).

Of course, if you book a tour in advance then you’re at the mercy of the conditions, and Mount Fuji may not be visible.

Kawaguchiko – the gateway to Mount Fuji

Kawaguchiko is nestled in the foothills of Mount Fuji, and is the gateway to our visit. A little later than planned though, thanks to roadworks on the main road. 50 minutes late to be exact. Not an ideal start to our day trip to Mount Fuji, and I start to wish I’d pre-booked our bus tickets a little earlier for the departure at 06:55. Jet lag wouldn’t have made an earlier alarm too horrific.

My obsession with checking the webcams and visibility website has more than paid off. It’s a beautiful day, with sunshine, blue skies and not a cloud in sight, even at Mt Fuji’s peak. There had even been the first snowfall of the season a few days before, meaning she looked exactly like that emoji 🗻. This was the view I had been hoping so desperately to see. I may even have cried a little.

I present Mr Fletche with two choices, which is how our travel itinerary often goes; I present two things I really want to do but can’t decide between and then I can blame Mr Fletche if it all goes wrong. This morning’s decision is either

• a) stroll to Lake Kawaguchiko, maybe rent bikes (uh-oh, we know how that usually turns out) to Oishi Park for those iconic lake reflection views
• b) train ride to Arakurayama Sengen Park for those iconic pagoda views.

Mr Fletche may have had that Vancouver cycling incident in mind when he chose the latter option. So off we go, from bus to train. Via the public toilets at Kawaguchiko Station.

Arakurayama Sengen Park and Chureito Pagoda

There are two types of train that go from Kawaguchiko Station to Shimoyoshida – the station for Arakurayama Sengen Park. One is the Limited Express which takes 13 minutes and requires a separate ticket from your Suica card (¥710 in total). Or the local train, which also takes 13 minutes but has one extra stop, for ¥310 paid direct from our Suica Card. We’re cheapskates so save the £2 and take the local train.

Once at Shimoyoshida we follow a large tour group and cross over the railway line. In an attempt to lose the tour group that we have now become part of we stop for a coffee at Café Yorozuya. Even without the tour group its easy to find our way to the entrance, where the climb upwards begins.

The five-storied crimson Chureito Pagoda is located in Arakurayama Sengen Park and is that postcard-perfect view, with the majestic Mount Fuji in the distance. No-one told me though how beautiful the park itself would be as we ascend the steps to the pagoda, particularly in all it’s autumn glory. Oh yes, the steps. 398 to be exact. Wear comfy shoes, watch out for slippery leaves and take plenty of breaks to “check out the view”. It’s worth the steep climb though. There’s also a step-free pathway which zig-zags up the hill – this was a good alternative for our route down to save our knees!

Don’t expect an ancient pagoda – Chureito is only about 60 years old, but has been tastefully built to seem as if its a structure that’s always been there. Climb more steps though beyond the pagoda for the observation deck. Climb even more steps (as we did) for another viewing platform.

Part way up – or part way down – you can find Arakura Fuji Sengen Shrine. This one is an ancient shrine, founded in 705 and dedicated to Konohanasakuya-hime, the goddess of Mount Fuji. Here I decide to make a small offering and receive my fortune, known as omikuji. In typical A Brummie Home and Abroad style, my future is declared unlucky. It’s time for damage limitation, so I follow the other poor cursed souls and tie my fortune to the fence. This should ensure that the bad luck doesn’t follow me off this mountain.

There’s no entrance fee for visiting Arakurayama Sengen Park or Chureito Pagoda – hurrah! The park is open 24 hours, although it is only lit til 10pm. You can find public toilets and street food trucks close to the Arakura Fuji Sengen Shrine

Is it worth visiting Chureito Pagoda?

Yes definitely, but you’ll want to come when the conditions are basically perfect. It’s a VERY popular tourist spot, so try and make the effort to come early. We were very lucky; the crowds weren’t too bad during our mid-morning visit considering autumn is one of the busiest times to visit Mount Fuji. Even during our time in Arakurayama Sengen Park the clouds started to gather around Fuji’s peak which shows how quickly conditions can change.

Returning to Tokyo. Slowly

We’ve spent longer than we thought at Arakurayama Sengen Park. It’s almost 1:45pm by the time we wind our way back down to Shimoyoshida station. We catch the local train back to Kawaguchiko; aware that we haven’t pre-booked return bus tickets, we check the website en route. Despite putting on two buses at every return time the late afternoon buses are already fully booked. Our only available option is at 14:40, which barely gives us any time in Kawaguchiko. We thought we might be able to enjoy a leisurely lunch, or maybe the sightseeing bus around the lake, but now we’re on a strict deadline.

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As we watch a crowded to capacity “sightseeing bus” leave from the station we feel that maybe we’ve done the right thing. I sacrifice lunch for an ice cream. Although I’m still not sure what constitutes a “Mt Fuji” flavour.

With typical Japanese efficiency, the two 14:40 buses turn up. We are on Bus B. Seated together this time, we settle down for the 2 hour journey back. We’ll be back in Tokyo before 5pm with a full final evening in the city ahead of us.

Then we hit roadworks. I remember these from the way in. And then, about an hour into our journey, there’s standstill traffic. And this traffic is going ALL the way into downtown Tokyo. Friday afternoon rush hour is not the time to be travelling back from Mount Fuji. I remember that unlucky fortune, and wonder if I hadn’t tied it tightly enough to that fence.

It takes us just under three and a half hours to get back. We finally pull into Shinjuku Expressway at 6pm. We are hungry, thirsty and tired, but still so happy that we had an amazing day at Mount Fuji.

Reflections on our Mount Fuji Daytrip from Tokyo

In hindsight, we should have booked our return bus tickets much earlier. This would have allowed us to better plan the day and enjoy more than one Mount Fuji viewpoint – as spectacular as it was. We couldn’t have done anything about the traffic though. It looks like it would have been just as bad if we’d left 2 hours or 4 hours later.

Before we booked our return bus tickets though, we should have considered the train. Although the journey time tends to be a little longer, on this occasion it would have got us back to Tokyo sooner than the bus leaving at the same time. Lessons learned – be prepared to change transport methods on the hoof.

There was so much more to see and do. I anticipated at least having lunch in the shadow of Mount Fuji. But, as with much of our trip, there was simply not enough time. Mount Fuji is probably one of the most spectacular sights I’ve ever seen. If you can only spare half a day in a packed itinerary it’s definitely better than not seeing it at all.

I try my hardest to keep the information in this travel guide up to date; however if you notice anything has changed please let me know! Happy travels, Emmalene