Mount Fuji

Overview:

The moun­tain of the Gods, the incred­i­ble Mount Fuji stands as the icon­ic Sym­bol of Japan, with the 3,776 metre moun­tain tow­er­ing over the country’s cap­i­tal of Tokyo and stand­ing not just as the cen­tre piece of the incred­i­ble Fuji-Hakone-Izu park, but as one of the best places in the world to sum­mit to watch the sun rise over the sleep­ing city below, mak­ing the beau­ti­ful and tow­er­ing Mount Fuji a tru­ly unique and awe-inspir­ing won­der of the world.

Enshrined in Japan­ese cul­ture by poet­ry, paint­ing, wood­cuts and song, the almost per­fect­ly sym­met­ri­cal and round moun­tain is believed to be named after the ancient Japan­ese word for Fire – which is not sur­pris­ing giv­en the Vol­cano erupt­ed in 1707 cov­er­ing the land below it and sky above it in great ash – with the next erup­tion pre­dict­ed for the 2300’s.

Today, the moun­tain is view­able from a series of pic­turesque lakes, view­points and val­leys from all over Japan and is also climbable over the course of a long day by one of four stun­ning but chal­leng­ing routes, as explor­ers wind their way over the ash fields and rocky ter­rain that take them to the sum­mit — where along­side being clos­er to the heav­ens, they have to chance to tra­verse the sum­mit crater, pass through the Summit’s Tor­ri Gate and wit­ness the spec­tac­u­lar sun rise from the top of Mount Fuji, which allows explor­ers to not only fol­low in the foot­steps of Japan­ese fore­fa­thers but take in a true buck­et list high­light and expe­ri­ence the full beau­ty of this incred­i­ble won­der of the world.

Where:

While asso­ci­at­ed with Tkoyo – and best reached from there Mount Fuji actu­al­ly lies 100km away from the city cetnre and is found to the west of Tokyo on the island of Hon­shu which sits in the bor­der between the Shizuo­ka and Yamanashi regions.

Getting there:

While Mount Fuji stretch­es across the Yamanashi and Shizuo­ka pre­fec­tures and is 100km away from Tokyo – the best way to reach it is still from Tokyo – and take advan­tage of Japans incred­i­ble pub­lic trans­port, with many options avail­able dur­ing the on peak sea­son between July and August.

For those who wish to climb the moun­tain, you’re going to want to head to the 5th sta­tion of the Moun­tain – which is best done by bus – with the below routes rec­om­mend­ed for each of the four hik­ing routes:

For the Fujiyoshi­da route – and the eas­i­est route to get to, hope on the direct Keio express bus from Tokyo’s Shin­juku sta­tion to Kawaguchiko Fifth Sta­tion – this will drop you right off at the start of the trail and there are four bus­es a day at 1500 Yen – rough­ly 10.50 usd.

For the Fuji­nomiya Route – head to Mishi­ma Bus Sta­tion in Tokyo – and then hop on the direct bus to the Fuji­nomiya fifth sta­tion – as this route is less pop­u­lar expect three bus­es a day and expect to pay 1750 Yen – rough­ly 17usd.

For the pop­u­lar Gotem­baguchi Trail – there are 10 round trips a day dur­ing hik­ing sea­son and you can get the bus from Tokyo’s Gotem­ba to Gotem­ba 5th Sta­tion with Gotem­ba reach­able on the JR under­ground line from Tokyo City Cen­tre – it’ll then be a short walk to the start of the trail at the 5th sta­tion – expect to pay about 1800 Yen for a one way tick­et – for those with tight plans this route is rec­om­mend­ed due to the fre­quen­cy of the bus­es.

Sub­ashiri – The less pop­u­lar and chal­leng­ing Sub­ashiri route is acces­si­ble again from Tokyo’s Gotem­ba sta­tion – and is one of the most eas­i­ly acces­si­ble routes by pub­lic trans­port, sim­ply head to the main sta­tion and get on a bus head­ing for Sub­ashiri 5th sta­tion, you’ll see them as big blue bus­es marked for the trail – you’ll then get dropped off near some wood­land where the trail appears in front of you and you can begin the ascent – expect to pay 1600 Yen – rough­ly 16 usd to get to the start of the trail­head.

Best time to Visit:

For those who wish to climb the moun­tain it’s high­ly rec­om­mend­ed to climb in the on sea­son – which is July to Sep­tam­ber which is when the huts on the moun­tain are open, the paths are illu­mi­nat­ed and the harsh weath­er that can take con­trol of the moun­tain in the off sea­son is at its peak.

You’ll also find a range of more direct pub­lic trans­port, but just be warned that even dur­ing sum­mer its impor­tant to warp up warm and be pre­pared for all weath­er con­di­tions. You’ll also find the on peak sea­son incred­i­bly pop­u­lar, so much so that human traf­fic can form on the more pop­u­lar Fujiyoshi­da route – so for those who do take on this route be sure to leave ear­ly – and we’d real­ly rec­om­mend tak­ing on this route dur­ing a week day in late July – and avoid­ing mid august when crowds are at their peak.

For those who do jour­ney out­side the on peak sea­son, the best place to expe­ri­ence the moun­tain is from the five lakes nation­al park or for a com­plete­ly unique expe­ri­ence be sure to vis­it dur­ing Saku­ra in April- in the mid­dle of cher­ry blos­som sea­son (link) – where the view from the moun­tain from the five sto­ried pago­da of Chure­ito Pago­da gives you a view of the moun­tains against the back­drop of the stun­ning cher­ry blos­som fes­ti­val.

Explore:

The main and best way to explore Mount Fuji is to sum­mit it, with a hike up the moun­tain tak­ing in the sun­rise con­sid­ered an ulti­mate buck­et list expe­ri­ence and the best way to tru­ly expe­ri­ence the mag­nif­i­cence of the won­der that is Mount Fuji.

Along­side that, giv­en the vis­i­bil­i­ty of Mount Fuji from both a series of stun­ning of Japan­ese Lakes and from Down­town Tokyo (the best pho­to spots are described below) it’s also worth bud­get­ing some time to make sure you check out Mt Fuji from a series of var­i­ous scenic and pic­ture-per­fect spots in Japan to allow you to tru­ly appre­ci­ate the won­der and for those who don’t fan­cy mak­ing the ascent up the moun­tain – but still want to expe­ri­ence the beau­ty of Mount Fuij.

Clos­est to the moun­tain and the one that allows you to tru­ly expe­ri­ence the beau­ty of the moun­tain from a far if the Fuji Five Lakes Nation­al Park:

Fuji Five lakes:

The best option for those who don’t fan­cy climb­ing the Five Lakes park is unsur­pris­ing­ly made up of five stun­ning reflec­tive lakes that each offer an incred­i­ble view of Mount Fuji and allow for it to be seen in all its glo­ry with­out requir­ing a hike up the moun­tain.

Offi­cial­ly known Fuji-Goko, this park sits at the moun­tains base (i.e. no ascent required) and as a result of the vol­canic activ­i­ty with­in the park, fea­tures numer­ous hot springs and overnight tra­di­tion­al Japan­ese Pubs – which are ide­al for those who wish to kick back, receive some pam­per­ing and take in the won­der of the world that is Mount Fuji in total com­fort.

Kawaguchiko:

Hav­ing made your way to Fuji Five lake park, which is eas­i­ly reach­able by Bus or Taxi – we’d rec­om­mend head­ing straight for the lake of Kawaguchiko – the biggest and eas­i­ly the best of the five lakes and giv­ing your­self a good half hour to grab some fan­tas­tic snaps of the mount­ing as it reflects across the beau­ty of the pris­tine Kawaguchiko lake and against the numer­ous trees that dot the lakes shore­line.

With the lake walk­a­ble in a brisk 3 hours, you’ll get a chance to take in Mt Fuji from var­i­ous angles, and for those brave enough a dip in the cool lake with the Mount­ian in the back­ground makes for a stun­ning pho­to – with numer­ous ramps and view­ing spots avail­able all over the lake. Hav­ing fin­ished a cir­cu­lar tour of the lake, we’d rec­om­mend head­ing indoors to one of the many pubs that dot the lake, and sip­ping away your trou­bles with a cool Japan­ese beer with the stun­ning scenery of Mount Fuji behind you.

Yamanakako:

Next up is the Yamanakako lake, which is a more wild expe­ri­ence than Kawaguchiko, with the Yamanakako lake being more under­de­vel­oped than it’s sis­ter lake and slight­ly small­er, but offer­ing stun­ning views of the moun­tains from all angles. For those that want to expe­ri­ence the majes­tic sun­rise over Fuji but don’t want to make the hike we’d rec­om­mend com­ing here in the ear­ly morn­ing and head­ing to the far shore – and then spend­ing the rest of the morn­ing tra­vers­ing the stun­ning lake as you take in the beau­ty of Mount Fuji from this stun­ning lake.

Motosuko:

The most dif­fi­cult to access, but per­haps the most stun­ning you’ll recog­nise Moto­suko lake from the image of Mount Fuji on the Yen bills, with the lake pro­vid­ing an absolute­ly stun­ning scenery from which to take in the moun­tain, par­tic­u­lar­ly as the sun sets – just be warned you may have to walk along bits of the high­way to reach the per­fect pho­to spot of the moun­tain against the Moto­suko lake.

Saiko Lake:

A lake to vis­it but not explore, as there’s no clear path around the lake and a lot of the road round it is high­way – what we’d sug­gest is head­ing to Kohoku view­point by taxi and grab­bing a few pho­tos of the moun­tain reflect­ing on the lake before head­ing on to one of the three much more enjoy­able lakes above.

Shojiko:

one to vis­it only if you’ve got time on your hand, while the Sho­jiko lake is undoubt­ed­ly impres­sive, to tra­verse it you’ll find your­self walk­ing along­side cars on the high­way and it’s a much more enjoy­able explo­ration expe­ri­ence and tak­ing in of the won­der that is Mount Fuji from any of the top 3 lakes list­ed above.

Climbing Mount Fuji:

Hav­ing explored the moun­tain from the best of the five lakes, you’ll need to get your­self to lev­el 5 of the moun­tain – which is eas­i­ly done by either pub­lic trans­port or by hik­ing from the moun­tains base – for around mid after­noon or evening as this is where the four treks that lead to the sum­mit begin – and from where you’ll be faced with the ulti­mate buck­et list task of sum­mit­ing Mount Fuji.

Before you do so, we’d strong­ly rec­om­mend mak­ing the hike in the on peri­od of climb­ing on a week day, to avoid being blown off the moun­tain dur­ing the harsh windy con­di­tions that hit the moun­tain dur­ing off peak sea­son, and being sure to check the weath­er in advance to make sure you’ll have a com­fort­able ascent. It’s all strong­ly encour­aged to make sure you’ve got all the nec­es­sary gear – gloves, hat, food, water, hik­ing shoes and a good sol­id walk­ing stick before mak­ing the climb.

With every­thing set – you should bud­get 8 – 12 hours to make the round trip climb and be sure to time it so that you wit­ness the incred­i­ble sun­rise which usu­al­ly takes place at 4:30am from the sum­mit, with the most enjoy­able way being to set off mid-after­noon, camp in a hut overnight and then advance onwards the next morn­ing. For those who don’t fan­cy a hut, you can make the climb in the evening and time it for the morn­ing sun rise – just be pre­pared for alti­tude sick­ness and pos­si­ble injury as you quick­ly ascend and bring a flash­light with you to guide your way.

The moun­tain itself is divid­ed into 10 lev­els, and you can get a bus up to the 5th lev­el – with camp­ing huts (which are always warm!) avail­able on lev­els 7 and 8 for those sen­si­ble hik­ers who chose to rest overnight halfway through their climb and who fan­cy a hot meal as they ascend the moun­tain.

Hav­ing reached the 5th sta­tion, any­one who wish­es to ascend the moun­tain will be asked to vis­it the Muraya­ma Tem­ple, to observe Japan­ese tra­di­tion to ask for a safe hike and pay respects to the holy moun­tain, and from here you have your pick of one of the four exquis­ite route that takes you to the sum­mit:

Kawaguchiko (Fujiyoshida) route:

The most pop­u­lar and most enjoy­able route the Fujiyoshi­da trail is a more relaxed and less chal­leng­ing route – which is esti­mat­ed to take 10 hours round trip and has a well defined gen­tly path that weaves up the moun­tain, with many oppor­tu­ni­ties to pay snacks, hot food, water and sou­ve­niers as you gen­tly ascend up the moun­tain.

Start­ing at Kawaguchiko 5th Sta­tion, you’ll first find your­self weav­ing through beau­ti­ful Japan­ese flower gar­dens and then tak­ing on some of the rougher ter­rain of the Moun­tains vol­canic lega­cy,

with the trail curv­ing round to the 7th and 8th sta­tions – from where there are mul­ti­ple huts in which can rest for the evening.

From the high­er sta­tions, you’ll find the vol­canic and rocky track that guides you to the sum­mit well marked – even in the evening, and despite it being well worn due to the num­ber of vis­i­tors that ascend it, the high­er you climb the more unique and beau­ti­ful views you’ll expe­ri­ence as the beau­ti­ful Japan­ese sun sets on the house of the ris­ing sun below – mak­ing for a tru­ly spe­cial expe­ri­ence.

As you reach the top, you’ll find the crater of the Moun­tain, one which you can tra­verse as you wait for the incred­i­ble sun to rise before gen­tly head­ing back down the moun­tain and into the bustling city of Tokyo.

While the oth­er treks do offer a chal­leng­ing expe­ri­ence – we’d real­ly rec­om­mend the Fujiyoshi­da route – it’s com­fort­able while chal­leng­ing and while a lot of the track is ascend­ing up rock and vol­canic debris, it makes for an enjoy­able expe­ri­ence to the sum­mit of one of the won­ders of the world.

Fujinomiya:

The sec­ond best route in our view and the sec­ond most pop­u­lar, the Fuji­nomiya route is very sim­i­lar to the Fujiyoshi­da Route – with a vol­ume of huts, a well lit path, and numer­ous places to stock up – the one big dif­fer­ence is the ascent from the 8th and 8th sta­tions, where instead of fac­ing sole­ly a steep path up, you’ll be faced with rocks as well – mak­ing this route some­what dan­ger­ous for those who are hik­ing here at night.

Con­sid­ered a more scenic route, the Fuji­nomiya route takes less time when descend­ing – as you can slide down from the 7th sta­tion, but again the many rock edges that pro­trude from the moun­tain make this a risky and painful expe­ri­ence if you get your angles wrong – but for those who brave it and make your way up the steep path and past the rocks – the views from not just the top but also the ascent and descent of the beau­ty of the moun­tains and the city down below make it well worth it.

Gotembaguchi route:

A track for those who want to avoid the crowds but still expe­ri­ence a com­fort­able and scenic track the Gotem­baguchi route up the moun­tain take around 9 hours, and has the added bonus of allow­ing you to slide down the moun­tain on your way back down – cut­ting your descend time in half.

Be under no illu­sion though, the Gotem­baguchi route is much tougher and step­per than the Fujiyoshi­da route, with the ear­ly descent tak­ing you up an ash field – that has the poten­tial to run the clothes of any­one that stum­bles, and being incred­i­bly rocky from the 8th sta­tion upwards – mean­ing that a sum­mit up the moun­tain in the evening is not rec­om­mend­ed for this route with­out extreme cau­tion.

You’ll also find less huts, less food and water options and less view­ing spots up the path, but it is a path rec­om­mend­ed for those who want to expe­ri­ence the beau­ty of sum­mit­ing the moun­tain with­out fac­ing the crowds that pre­vent access at time on the Fujiyoshi­da or Fuji­nomiya Route.

Subashiri:

The less pop­u­lar route the Sub­ashiri route is a more fulling and chal­leng­ing route up the moun­tain, with this route being incred­i­bly steep, see­ing you face sharp rocks, uncom­fort­able ter­rain and being not as well sign­post­ed as the oth­er routes – but on the flip side it’s also a less trav­eled route, and chances are par­tic­u­lar­ly in high sea­son you’ll see only a cou­ple of fel­low explor­ers tra­vers­ing the route, mean­ing the long trek up and the ulti­mate sum­mit is a more ful­fill­ing and enjoy­able expe­ri­ence that the oth­er three routes.

Along the Sub­ashiri route you’ll find no ven­dors, only a few huts and def­i­nite­ly no sou­venir stands or vend­ing machines, instead this will be a tough ascent begin­ning from the 5th sta­tion and nar­row­ly jag­ging left to right across steep ter­rain and over sharp rocks in an exposed and wild envi­ron­ment – which gets the full brunt of the moun­tains winds — as you sum­mit the moun­tain.

While not for the faint heart­ed, the views up the Sub­ashiri Route are just as spec­tac­u­lar and it makes the descend down­wards and the cel­e­bra­to­ry Sake that you treat your­self that bit sweet­er as you reflect on the con­quer­ing of the moun­tain along the tough Sub­ashiri Route.

Huts: While it is pos­si­ble to hike the moun­tain in one long eight hour stretch to get to the sum­mit for sun­rise, espe­cial­ly along the Fujiyoshi­da and Fuji­nomiya Routes, it’s advised to get your­self a spot in one of the huts that occu­py the sev­enth and eight sta­tions on the moun­tain, to give you a chance to enjoy the beau­ty of the moun­tain on your ascent at your own pace and make the hike in the morn­ing for the sun­rise that but more enjoy­able.

To do this you’ll need to reserve a spot in the hut, and we’d rec­om­mend aim­ing for one of the Hin­ode-kan, Fujisan, Fuji­ichikan, Kamai­wakan, or Toyokan huts depend­ing on your route up. Do note that these are basic huts – don’t be expect­ing wifi or cable tv, and chances are you’ll get a dorm type spot to roll out your sleep­ing bag along­side fel­low climbers – so snor­ing from fel­low lodgers is not off the table.

For costs – you can either pay by the hour at 1000 Yen (10 Usd) or for the Full night at 5000 Yen (50 Usd) depend­ing on when you arrive, which means that there is also an option to spend a few hours in the huts to get your­self warm if the weath­er is cold before con­tin­u­ing onwards.

Most of the huts will also offer warm but basic food – rice and cur­ry sauce – for an extra 2000 yen (2 USD) which will basic is always wel­come for peo­ple who ascent up the moun­tain and are begin­ning to feel low on ener­gy.

So while a stop off in a hut is high­ly rec­om­mend­ed – either as a quick break of for a small kip – you can either book online at https://www.fujimountainguides.com/mountain-hut-reservations.html — or try your luck over the pone in Japan­ese – just be sure to book well in advance as the huts book up quick giv­en the pop­u­lar­i­ty of the moun­tain.

Sunrise:

While each route takes you to the icon­ic sun­rise, which hap­pens each day at around 4:30 am – we’d real­ly rec­om­mend head­ing to the sum­mit at least an hour before.

While you’ll have to brave the cold weath­er of the sum­mit – if you get there an hour before espe­cial­ly if you’re head­ing up the Fujiyoshi­da route you’ll like­ly hit vol­umes of peo­ple and even be bought to a stand­still which can cause you to miss the sun­rise. On top of this, for those with high qual­i­ty cam­eras – the view below of the stun­ning Tokyo city lit up the moon­light is itsle is an incred­i­ble pho­to shot, and you can either do a stun­ning time-lapse of the sun as it ris­es over the moun­tains.

Once at the top you can tra­verse the crater (it takes an hour) – if there’s not too much human traf­fic and also pass under a small Torii gate to sig­ni­fy your sum­mit– before tak­ing advan­tage of the hot food and sou­venir stands that line the moun­tain and slow­ly mak­ing your way back down to civil­i­sa­tion to reflect on the mag­ni­tude of sum­mit­ing the holi­est of Japans moun­tains.

How long to stay:

We’d rec­om­mend bud­get­ing 3 days to explore the won­der – 2 days to make the most of the sum­mit hike, includ­ing one day stop­ping over at a hut and then the extra day to explore the views of the moun­tain from the pho­to spots list­ed below includ­ing the 5 lakes and from Down­town Tokyo – giv­ing you a chance to expe­ri­ence the moun­tain in its raw form as you con­quer and to grab those scenic pho­tos of the whole of the moun­tain from the var­i­ous incred­i­ble pho­to shots includ­ing the 5 lakes that gives you a stun­ning view of this incred­i­ble won­der of the world.

Top Tip:

For those who attempt to sum­mit the moun­tain – make sure you come pre­pared with the nec­es­sary gear and cloth­ing as it gets very cold at the sum­mit. IN par­tic­u­lar it’s strong­ly advised to have a decent pair of gloves, a wool­ly hat, sol­id hik­ing shoes, walk­ing sticks, torch­es, and avoid shorts at all costs, as well as rain proof cloth­ing – be pre­pared for the moun­tain and espe­cial­ly the sum­mit to pro­vide you with lit­tle pro­tec­tion from harsh winds and rain.

For those that do make the sum­mit, it’s strong­ly advised to go dur­ing the on peak sea­son, as peo­ple have been blown off the moun­tain in the past due to high winds – and try and time your vis­it for a day with good weath­er fore­cast and on a week­day in July – as at times crowds can be too much on the ascent and you may end up queu­ing – and also be ready to make sure you get to the bus stop on time, as you may end up at the back of the queue and find your­self strand­ed on the moun­tain till the evening.

For those who do ascend, make sure you time your jour­ney so that you see the sun­rise from the moun­tain – it’s a tru­ly stun­ning expe­ri­ence, to do this we’d rec­om­mend mak­ing the hike from lev­el 5 or the base in mid after­noon arriv­ing at the huts on the 7th or 8th lev­el at sun­set – and then jour­ney upwards for the sun­rise at 4:30am the next day – or time your ascent so that you go straight from lev­el 5 in the evening up to the sum­mit for sun­rise – but be warned that the lat­ter route would mean you trek up the moun­tain in the dark increas­ing your risk of alti­tude sick­ness and injury.

Cost:

To vis­it or climb the moun­tain from inside the nation­al park you’ll be expect­ed to give a 1,000 yen (100 USD) manda­to­ry dona­tion – and you can expect to fork over 300 yen (3 USD) for each toi­let break you need (using bot­tles is not encour­aged) with a hut reser­va­tion which can be made at (https://www.fujimountainguides.com/mountain-hut-reservations.html) com­ing in at 5000 yen – or 7000 yen if you opt for meals – which com­bined with the aver­age 5000 yen bus cost to get to lev­el 5 puts the aver­age cost of climb­ing Fuji at around 6,500 yen.

For those who don’t make the climb but opt for a tour – expect to pay around 1,500 yen to be giv­en a guid­ed tour of the moun­tains base and the sur­round­ing 5 lakes park.

Fun Fact:

While you’ll hear the moun­tain referred to as Fujiya­ma in pop­u­lar cul­ture, it actu­al­ly has no mean­ing in Japan­ese – so expect some fun­ny looks if you ask for direc­tions to Fujiya­ma, the same prin­ci­ple applies for the use of Fuji-San – with san used to refer to people’s names but mean­ing moun­tain when describ­ing Fuji-San.

For those who do make the climb, as touristy as it may sound we’d rec­om­mend pick­ing up a date stamped walk­ing staff, not just to help you up the moun­tain but as it makes a great sou­venir and serves as proof that you’ve con­quered the moun­tain of the gods.

Best photo spot:

Unques­tion­ably the pin­na­cle pho­to of Mount Fuji is from its sum­mit, as you watch the light of Japan rise giv­ing life to the beau­ti­ful city of Tokyo and beyond below after the hike up the Moun­tain – it’s cer­tain­ly a shot worth brav­ing the cold con­di­tions at the top for !

Along­side that you’ll want to grab a pho­to that actu­al­ly has the icon­ic Mount Fuji in it, and for that giv­en it’s size and that it’s vis­i­bil­i­ty stretch­es across the areas of Shizuo­ka and Yamanashi we’d rec­om­mend first grab­bing a shot from incised the fuji Five lakes nation­al park – and espe­cial­ly from the lake of Kawaguchiko – where the great shore­line and reflec­tive lake offers a stun­ning view of the whole of the moun­tain on a clear day – with an insid­ers tip being to head there in the evening, to cap­ture the moun­tain against the back­drop of the stars.

For those want the same shot as that which appears on the Japan­ese Yen, you can head fur­ther into the Five Lakes park to Lake Moto­suko – where you’ll need to hike to the west­ern side to be faced with a stun­ning view of the great Moun­tain.

For those who arrive out­side of climb­ing sea­son but in the mid­dle of cher­ry blos­som sea­son (link) – one of the famous spots for cher­ry sea­son te five sto­ried pago­da of Chure­ito Pago­da hap­pens to be one of the best places to take in the Great Moun­tain, whose beau­ty is enhanced in a snap when accom­pa­nied with the stun­ning Cher­ry Blos­soms in full bloom.

For those who want to enjoy the beau­ty of the Moun­tain whilst soak­ing in hot springs – a par­tic­u­lar­ly great option for those tak­ing in the moun­tain in win­ter, then the Hakone Hot Springs are the best bet, which offer stun­ning views of the full scale of the moun­tain whilst enjoy­ing a bit of pam­per­ing.

And final­ly for those who want to see the full beau­ty of the moun­tain but find them­selves only with a day in Tokyo – you can jour­ney up the many sky scrap­ers that line the city for a birds eye view of the full moun­tain with the Bunko Cen­tre in par­tic­u­lar­ly being known to offer free yet fan­tas­tic view of this god­ly and tru­ly unique won­der of the world.