The Mount Fuji is the highest mountain of Japan. It culminates at 3776 meters high. It is in the south coast of the island of Honshu, southwest of Tokyo. It is considered as an active volcano, although its last erupted in 1707. Each year, between 100 000 and 200 000 people come to climb Mount Fuji. Climbing Mount Fuji is done by people of all ages, the Japanese are going with their family, with children and the elderly are also going for the pilgrimage. The official season opening of the Fuji is the summer, when the shelters and tourist amenities open. It begins early July and ends around September. For climbing Mount Fuji, you will pay 1000 yen per person to help preserve the site. A good tip: avoid the weekends and the week of Obon (around August 16th) to climb Mount Fuji, there are a lot of climbers and so there will be the tail on your way to the top. From Tokyo, there are many buses that make the trip Shijuku-Kawaguchiko or Tokyo station-Kawaguchiko in 2 hours or 2:30. From Osaka or Kyoto, it is also possible to take the bus to Mount Fuji, they are night buses but they are cheaper than taking the train.
For climbing the Mount Fuji, you need a minimum of preparation. The rise can last between 5 and 8 hours, so take few equipment to mount. Remember that the Mount Fuji is primarily a mountain and a volcano. Although the summer in Japan is very hot, you must take warm clothes, hiking boots and gloves as there are many steep slopes and rocks can be sharp. Up there the temperature can be -5 ° C. So it is better to cover and bring water and some energy bars. While there are shelters that sell food and water. But the more you will climb, the more, prices will rise as well. It is also possible to climb at night in order to admire the sunrise at the top. For this, it is essential to be equipped with frontal lamp or torch. There are 4 routes up to the summit of Mount Fuji :
- Yoshida Trail : this is the road we took and it's also the busiest trail (136587 climbers in 2015). It begins at the 5th station Fuji Subaru Line and a bus goes there directly from Kawaguchiko station. The bus ticket costs 1540 yen one way and 2,100 round trip. The 5th station of this road is situated at 2305 meters above sea level, leaving 1471 meters high to climb over 7.5 km. The climb on this trail is done in 5-6 hours daytrip and 7 to 8 hours at night. On this path, the sunrise is visible from all stations. There are 20 shelters on the road where you can buy a drink, food, transportable bottles of oxygen and also to stamp your pilgrim's staff :). The stamps cost between 300 and 500 yen, so prepare cash on you. Please note, it is not possible to enter a shelter if you do not book or if you do not pay to stay and rest. There are benches where you can take a break but they are outside and toilets are also paid (200 yen). Even though this is the busy road, it does not mean easy to mount, we really suffered (especially at night) between the 7 th and the 8 th station. The slope was very steep. And in addition to the strong wind, we're lack of oxygen so it is really very hard but the sunrise is beautiful from up there ;
- Fujinomiya Trail : this is the 2nd busiest road (57912 climbers in 2015 . We wanted to take this path but it is a bit more complicated to go from Kawaguchiko. In fact you have to go to the opposite side of Mount Fuji over Kawaguchiko. The bus to the 5th station Fujinomiya Routeis from the train stations JR Shin- Fuji, Fujinomiya and Mishima. The 5th station of this trail lies at 2400 meters above sea level, leaving 1376 meters over 5 km. The route to climb is between 4 and 5 hours daytrip and 6-7 hours at night . Sunrise is visible from the 7th station and there are a total of 9 huts on this route. This path allows to see the Hoei crater if you make a small detour path Hoei Crater trekking (only feasible during the day) ;
- Subashiri Trail (24005 climbers in 2015) : This route starts at the 5th station Subashiri Route at 2000 meters altitude. The bus to this 5th station is from JR Gotemba and Shinmatsuda station. There are 1776 meters to climb over 7.8 km. To climb to the top , it takes an average of 6.5 hours of day (count more over night). This trail shares the same way down as the Yoshida trail up to the 8th station, then the path to descend separates at the Shita - Edoya junction. Warning descent this path consists of a sand slide. The descent is slippery, shoes sinking into the sand and it's difficult to put one foot before the other without projecting sand everywhere. It is possible that you will need to mask and especially glasses to avoid having sand in the eyes, mouth and nose. On this path , the forest extends up to the 7 th station. There are 12 shelters on this trail ;
- Gotemba Trail : this is the least popular trail (15713 climbers in 2015) and the longest. The fifth station Gotemba Route is located 1,440 meters above sea level. So there is 2336 meters high to climb over 11 km. The bus to this 5th station is from the JR Gotemba train station. The climb is on average 7.5 hours day trip. There are only five shelters on this path and descent is quite special becausethere is a big sand slide on the descent. Sunrise is visible everywhere on the road. This is the path where you can admire the volcanic landscapes. The ascent by this way is easier because the slopes are gentler but there are more distances ;
There, you have all the needed information to make the ascent of Mount Fuji. For our part, we have not got to the top. By taking the road at night, we stopped at 3250 meters. It's a shame but I think we were not ready enough. So the only advice I can give you is Get prepared, equip yourself, it is never enough preparation and especially do not take too much in your backpack, water and a little food is enough. Good luck and have a nice adventure!
Photo gallery