MOUNT FUJI

Mount Fuji, located in Japan, is an iconic symbol of the country. Standing at 3,776 meters, it offers breathtaking views and attracts thousands of visitors each year, both climbers and sightseers alike.

Japan’s Mount Fuji or most commonly known as “Fuji-san,” is an active Stratovolcano in the southwest of Tokyo. Fuji-san, as the natives like to call it, is among Japan’s “Three Holy Mountains” including Mount Tate and Mount Haku. It is situated in Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park, standing tall at 3,776.24 meters.

Mt. Fuji is a symbolic beauty in and around Japan for widely known reasons; it is not only a scenic beauty that attracts tourists from all around the world but also a cultural icon of Japan.

The Japanese cultural art and photography is highly inspired by the “snow-capped” mountain and is often witnessed in paintings and pictures. This is not even half of what Mt. Fuji has to offer. Every year, almost more than a million tourists visit the mountain out of which approximately 300,000 climb up to its peak.

Climbing the mountain is not taken as a difficult task anymore but rather a calming and pleasing experience because of all the satisfying facilities around, such as accommodation, food, and other fun activities. Not only that, on June 22, 2013, UNESCO announced Mt. Fuji, a World Heritage Site and an important cultural location.

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How To Reach

- By Bus: Most visitors opt for this mode of transport and take the highway buses. However, this mode of travel depends on the time of the year one is travelling. Secondly, the Mount Fuji year-round buses are available as the name suggests. Excluding the climbing season and for general visitors, this service is totally apt.

The buses operate between Shinjuku, Shibuya, Tokyo, and the broader Fuji Area. There are Special buses in the climbing season that is July to mid-September). The climbers can take a direct bus from the Shinjuku Expressway Bus Terminal to the 5th Station (a tourist spot and the starting point for the summer sunrise hike). The bus tickets cost about 2,950-yen one way each and take up to 2.5 hours to reach the destination.

- By Train: Take a train from Tokyo to Mount Fuji, that would be a great option if you don’t like the idea of buses. However, the train journeys are a bit more expensive than the bus options.

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Best Time To Visit

Statistics suggest the best time to view and visit Mt. Fuji is from autumn to winter. A seasonal forecast shows a 77.4% chance of seeing the mountain in December, proving to be a very attractive season for the tourists. In addition, January showed better results of 80.6% in the whole month, hence it was more than December. All in all, the climate and weather are the primary factors determining the clear view.

The best time to visit Fuji depends entirely on what activities you want to indulge in once you reach. Japan has a set of four distinct seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. The spring time (March to May) is a relatively cooler season and therefore hazy and foggy days are natural. So, if you just want to enjoy Fuji from a distance, springtime is a negative.

Months from June to August is the time period when June brings in the heavy rains along with typhoons of July at its peak. Attempting to look at the mountain would be a total waste at this time of the year.

Moving onto February, it carries the December weather forward, meanwhile, November embarks on the autumn journey. Having said that, both the months have good chances of viewing the mountain with 67.9% and 56.7% respectively.

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Other Essential Information

An ascend to Mt. Fuji can take up to 5-10 hours on a minimum, depending on the trail a climber takes. Most commonly, the climbers start from the Kawaguchiko 5 th Station, leading for a 5 to 6 hour climb to the summit. Also, a climber should stretch their ascend into two days in order to avoid altitude sickness. Despite a 2-day climb, the descent of the mountain is far less time-consuming. It only takes 3 or four hours.

However, one should be careful of the loose rock and pebbles that causes you to slip and fall. These falls can injure you deeply. Other than that, climbing down is going to put your physical strength and muscles to test with all the steep slopes you’re ought to face.

Trails at Mount Fuji

The Yoshida Trail is the most preferred trail by the climbers and is opted almost 70% of the time. One might want to reconsider their decision if they are tired too easily and too often because the journey uphill doesn’t get easy, for starters, you will have to cover a distance of 1,400m with temperature difference at the starting and ending points.

The trail starts at the Subaru Line 5 th Station where there are a few restaurants, gift shops that sell climbing gear, toilet facilities, and an information desk.

Fujinomiya Trail is the second most selected route and a little more difficult than Yoshida Trail. The trek starts at Fujinomiya 5 th Station, the journey gets difficult with time because of the slopes and rocky path. However, it is a rather shorter journey with mountain huts and facilities as you walk along upwards.

Subashiri Trail is an undeveloped starting point that meets the Yoshida Trails at the 8th Station. The trail is, in fact, harder than both Yoshida and Fujinomiya Trails. Lastly, Gotemba Trail is the least preferred among all four. It is considered to be the most difficult. In contrast, the Sun Abashiri or “Great Sand Run'' is the fastest descent down.

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