chubuyamanashi and shizuoka
Mount Fuji
Mount Fuji is the highest mountain in Japan, a volcanic cone of 3,776 metres on the border of Yamanashi and Shizuoka prefectures, in the Chubu region, about a hundred kilometres southwest of Tokyo.
- Prefecture
- Yamanashi and Shizuoka
- Region
- Chubu
- Journeys
- The Custom Tour of Japan
overview
The mountain Japan has painted, worshipped and looked for from every window for a thousand years.
No mountain in the world is more closely bound to a country than Fuji is to Japan. Its near-perfect cone, snow-capped for much of the year, rises alone from the plains and the sea, and on clear days it can be seen from Tokyo, from the Shinkansen, from the coast of Izu and the hills of Hakone. It has been a god for longer than it has been a symbol: the shrines at its foot honour Konohanasakuya-hime, the goddess of the mountain, and for centuries pilgrims dressed in white came to it in confraternities, the Fuji-ko, led by guides who housed them in lodges on the northern side.
Fuji was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2013, not as a natural site but a cultural one, under the name Fujisan, sacred place and source of artistic inspiration. The inscription covers twenty-five places: the summit, the Sengen shrines of the foothills, the Fuji Five Lakes, the spring ponds of Oshino Hakkai, the Shiraito Falls, the pilgrim lodges of Fujiyoshida, and the pine shore of Miho no Matsubara, from which the mountain is seen across the bay. It is a recognition of what Fuji has meant to the art of Japan, above all to Hokusai, whose Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, among them The Great Wave off Kanagawa, carried the mountain around the world from the 1830s.
For a traveller, Mount Fuji is best seen, not climbed. The lake country on the northern side, around Kawaguchiko, gives the closest and fullest views, with ryokan turned towards the mountain; Hakone, across the border in Kanagawa, gives it framed above Lake Ashi; and the Shizuoka side holds the great shrine at Fujinomiya, the waterfalls and the sea views. The Fifth Station, high on the slopes, is reached by car. Two or three nights between Tokyo and Kyoto give the mountain the time it deserves.
see and do
What to see in Mount Fuji
The Fuji Five Lakes
Five lakes dammed long ago by the mountain's own flows across the northern foot of the mountain: Yamanaka, the largest and highest; Kawaguchiko, the lake town with the best ryokan; Sai and Shoji, small and quiet in the forest; and Motosu, the deepest and clearest. Each gives its own view of the mountain over the water.
Lake Kawaguchiko
The most visited of the five lakes and the best place to stay, with the full cone of Mount Fuji rising across the water from its north shore and onsen ryokan along its eastern side.
The Chureito Pagoda
A five-storey pagoda on the hillside above Fujiyoshida, framed with the town and the mountain in the view that has become the image of Fuji for the world.
Fujisan Hongu Sengen Taisha
The head shrine of some 1,300 Sengen shrines across Japan, at Fujinomiya on the southwestern side, dedicated to the goddess of the mountain. Its vermilion main hall was given by Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1604, and the shrine holds title to the summit of Fuji above the eighth station.
Kitaguchi Hongu Fuji Sengen Shrine
The great shrine of the northern side, at Fujiyoshida, approached through an avenue of ancient cedars to a vast wooden torii, from which the pilgrims of the Edo period set out on the Yoshida trail.
Shiraito Falls
A curtain of waterfalls about twenty metres high and some 150 metres across near Fujinomiya, where spring water that has filtered through the mountain pours from hundreds of points in a cliff of dark volcanic rock, all of it part of the World Heritage Site.
Oshino Hakkai
Eight clear spring ponds in a village of thatched roofs between Lake Kawaguchiko and Lake Yamanaka, fed by snowmelt filtered for decades through the mountain's volcanic rock.
Miho no Matsubara
A shore of some seven kilometres lined with pines on the Miho peninsula in Shizuoka, where Fuji is seen across Suruga Bay, and the setting of the Noh play Hagoromo, the tale of a celestial maiden and her feathered robe.
Fujisan World Heritage Centre, Shizuoka
A museum of the mountain at Fujinomiya, designed by Shigeru Ban as an inverted cone of timber lattice reflected in a pool so that it forms the shape of Fuji, with a spiral ramp that climbs the mountain's story.
The Fifth Station
The Fuji Subaru Line climbs by car from the lakes to the Fifth Station at about 2,300 metres on the northern slope, where the shrine, the old pilgrim lodges and the view down over the forest and the lakes are within a few steps of the road.
Hakone and Lake Ashi
Across the border in Kanagawa, on the far side of the mountain, the onsen resort of Hakone looks to Fuji over Lake Ashi, with the red torii of Hakone Shrine standing in the water. A boat crosses the lake towards the mountain.
From the Shinkansen
The Tokaido Shinkansen passes the southern foot of the mountain between Mishima and Shin-Fuji, about forty-five minutes out of Tokyo, and the view from the train is one of the great sights of a journey to Kyoto.
experiences
The best of Mount Fuji
A night with the mountain in view
An onsen ryokan by Lake Kawaguchiko, its rooms and its open-air onsen turned towards the mountain, where Fuji is the first thing seen in the morning and the last in the evening.
The sacred mountain with a guide
A day on the pilgrim road: the cedar avenue of the Sengen Shrine at Fujiyoshida, a lodge where Edo pilgrims slept before the climb, the Fifth Station by car, and the meaning of the mountain to the people who walked it.
Lake Ashi by boat
From Hakone, a boat across Lake Ashi towards the mountain, past the torii of Hakone Shrine in the water, and an onsen to follow.
Hokusai's mountain
Mount Fuji seen through the prints that made it famous, with a specialist who can stand you where Hokusai and Hiroshige drew it, from the lake shores to the pines of Miho.
Fuji from the sea
From the western coast of the Izu Peninsula, the mountain across Suruga Bay at sunset, seen from an onsen ryokan above the water.
plan your visit
Mount Fuji on a journey through Japan
- How long to stay
- Two nights at Lake Kawaguchiko is the measure we suggest for Mount Fuji, and three if Hakone is part of the journey, with a night or two on each side of the mountain.
- Getting there
- From central Tokyo to the Fuji Five Lakes is about two hours by road. The Tokaido Shinkansen reaches Mishima in about forty-five minutes and Shin-Fuji in about an hour, for the Shizuoka side and Hakone. From Kyoto, Mishima is about two hours by Shinkansen.
- Pairs well with
- Most journeys see Mount Fuji between Tokyo and Kyoto: two nights at Lake Kawaguchiko, often with Hakone on the far side, and the Izu Peninsula for the mountain seen across the sea.Lake KawaguchikoHakoneIzu PeninsulaTokyoKamakuraKyoto
journeys
Mount Fuji on a private journey
We shape a journey to Mount Fuji as a Custom Tour of Japan: created around your party alone, on your dates, with a Tour Director beside you.
questions
Mount Fuji: questions answered
Where is the best place to see Mount Fuji?
The north shore of Lake Kawaguchiko and the Chureito Pagoda above Fujiyoshida give the closest and most famous views. Lake Ashi in Hakone, the pine shore of Miho no Matsubara and the Shinkansen between Mishima and Shin-Fuji are the other classic places.
How far is Mount Fuji from Tokyo?
About a hundred kilometres to the southwest. The Fuji Five Lakes are about two hours from central Tokyo by road.
Can you go to Mount Fuji without climbing it?
Yes. The lakes, the shrines, the waterfalls and the Fifth Station, reached by car at about 2,300 metres, show the mountain at its best without a climb.
Should you stay at Lake Kawaguchiko or Hakone to see Mount Fuji?
Lake Kawaguchiko for the nearest, fullest view of the mountain; Hakone for onsen ryokan, gardens and museums, with Fuji seen across Lake Ashi. Many journeys spend a night or two in each.
Why is Mount Fuji a World Heritage Site?
It was inscribed in 2013 as a cultural site, a sacred place and a source of artistic inspiration, for the shrines, pilgrim routes, lakes and springs that grew up around its worship and for its place in the art of Hokusai and Hiroshige.
Which side of the Shinkansen is Mount Fuji on?
On the right travelling from Tokyo towards Kyoto, the E seats in the ordinary cars and the D seats in the Green Car, about forty-five minutes after leaving Tokyo.
Can you visit the Mount Fuji Fifth Station by car?
Yes. The Fuji Subaru Line climbs from the lake country to the Fifth Station at about 2,300 metres, about forty-five minutes from Lake Kawaguchiko.
Can Mount Fuji be part of a private tour of Japan?
Yes. The Custom Tour of Japan is created around your party alone, on your dates, with a Tour Director beside you, and it can include Mount Fuji. For independent travel, the Expert Japan Itinerary plans every day for you.
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Mount Fuji, planned for you.
Tell us when you would like to travel and what draws you to Mount Fuji. We will answer with a journey shaped around it: one of our tours, a journey of The Private Collection, or a Custom Tour of Japan created around your party alone.