How to Easily Travel to Mt. Fuji from Tokyo|| Solo Travel Japan|| Day Excursion to Mt. Fuji from Tokyo|| Travel by yourself in Japan ||
It’s a taken that if you go to Japan, you will go to Mt. Fuji and that too, when it’s so close to Tokyo.. Noo it’s not the lane next.. use some common sense, will you!! It’s a short train journey from Tokyo and it surely is a must. I went for a day trip, while I will share all my experiences, suggestions and tips & tricks, it surely is an indisputably must tour. Can’t miss it!
How To go??
Let’s get to the journey straight away.. so from Tokyo city, Mt. Fiju is a 2 hours train ride away (considering Sinjuku station), IF you are taking the direct train. Now there are a few things. To take this fast train, one needs a reserved seat to board the train, otherwise you can’t board. Weekends are very busy and during season time you can’t wait to buy the ticket on the counter on the day of your journey. You have to prepurchase few days before to make sure of availability and to get a confirmed ticket.
However, if you are a last moment like me, who thought oohh! I can manage, then there are ways too. I got to the same train which goes up till Mt Fuji, but I didn’t get seats available till that route. I got a ticket till Otsuki. After Otsuki 3 cars of the train goes to Mt. Fuji and rest take a different route. Hence I had to change train at Otsuki. But not to worry at all.. there are staffs standing with sign board/ signs to help you catch the connecting train to Mt Fuji right after getting down.
Google Map also shows you different train routes to reach your destination. This is not the only way, as while coming back I took a different line and changed twice to get back to Sinjuku. Hence you have various train lines available to get you to Mt Fuji.
Now most of the tourists get down at Kawaguchiko, which is the most popular town to get a view of Mt. Fuji. There is also Kamakura, and a station named after Mt Fuji as well. All of them are quite popular among tourists for a night stay, hiking, touring the towns etc.
I actually got down at Mt. Fuji station by mistake or by some seer luck. As, that was when I got a clear shining view of Mt Fuji. As if, it was just a small walk away and I didn’t expect to get such a view. But good I got down by mistake, as at Kawaguchiko, the peaks were under the blanket of grey clouds.
** can I give you a secret?? Not related to this tour but still, I can share with you.. I was lucky enough to get window seats both the times and I did get a good view of Mt Fuji from the flight. While coming to Japan I got a close to twilight view, but at the time of departure Mt Fuji was flying with me till the flight changed route. it was ecstatic for me.. I don’t know how.. but my good fortune was kind of smirking at me!!
Stay:
There are plenty of hotels, AirBNBs Mt Fuji, Kawaguchiko and Kamakura. I say, stay here. I recommend a 2 nights’ stay. I went for a day visit, but people should stay here for sure.
What to see:
Ask me what not to see!! There’s so much. It’s a beautiful town.. walk around.. sit at the restaurant, slurp on ramens, enjoy a shokupan or maybe a hot coffee at a café.. or just enjoy the scenery all across.. it’s a quiet town, with so many tourists going in and out..
Lawson store: there are a few view points from where one can enjoy a view of Mt. Fuji. The Lawson store for example, very close to the station is one of them. Unfortunately, that day Mt. Fuji was under the cover of black clouds and of course I didn’t get any view of the mountain from Kawaguchiko but from Mt. Fuji station; hence I didn’t focus on the main stream attraction in Kawaguchiko which are famous for Mt. Fuji’s view. I concentrated on other places. Trust me, that was a great decision..
Fuji Omuro Sengen Jinja Shrine: roughly 2 km from Kawaguchiko station, this is kind of a hidden gem as I didn’t find a lot of people visiting this place. You won’t know what you are going for, unless you are finally at the main shrine. One of the oldest shrines of the region, in the mid of consciously well-preserved dense greenery stands this shrine. Quite similar to Meiji shrine (since I visited Meiji before), you walk through the quiet park surrounded by trees (not as big at Yoyogi park of course), then there stands the shrine, keeping lake Kawaguchiko at one side. And the entire sight was painted with autumn colours. Yellow, orange, red and their all types of unknows shades. It’s so difficult to find the correct words to describe the scenes. They are ‘one of a kind’, every site seems different from the just-seen-one, nature is at her uncanniest esotericism here, that too in all good ways..
Since getting another great view of Mt Fuji was out of question, after this shrine visit, I decided to go for this ‘seasonal’ Maple leaf corridor. It was about 3-3.5 km walk from the shrine, on the way to Oishi Park. Oishi park is another 1 km from the Maple corridor.
Kawaguchiko Lake: on the way to the Maple Corridor, I crossed Lake kawaguchiko over. OH.. it was a scene. You get a 360-degree view of the lake, fenced by the mountains and autumn colours poured so generously all over. All you have to do is, stop at every 10 steps, realise your position, look around over and over again, get wooed every time at every site. It’s crazy.. crazy good.. ‘good’ is so underrated standing there in those moments.. does my words make any sense!! Probably not.. but that’s what it does to you.. hope you now understand..
Maple corridor: it will be a stupid question to ask as to what was the best part about a trip to Kawaguchiko?? Mt Fuji Of course!!
Yes.. that’s what people go there for and I have already given you the story from left-right and front.. but.. can’t deny this ‘BUT’.. this Maple corridor took me away.. I don’t know how to explain what I saw.. Ok.. let’s start from the beginning.. I was searching the internet.. I found this Maple corridor, which is a seasonal attraction. Especially designed to celebrate the autumn, the autumn colours, very close to the Kawaguchiko lake, there are these maple trees lined up and stretched as long as you can walk.. almost a kilometre long or maybe little more but that’s not important. Autumn colours are everywhere in Japan during this time, Yes.. but this was inexplicably different.. the world around me just shifted all of a sudden! You are in a world of maple trees.. you are surrounded by cherry red, raspberry red, golden and dandelion yellow, bright orange, tangerine and all their shades, and there’s nothing else. And you are walking in some sort of trance as if this is your new world now. This maple corridor is unbelievably spectacular a sight. So difficult to take your eyes off the sight, had to push myself off to leave this place. Usually, this corridor is open from mid Oct to mid Nov. there is also a food market area where you get local street food and you can enjoy freezing autumn evening even more. There are a few local shopping options available as well. But this maple corridor was.. I mean it seemed rainbow could even have consisted of 3 colours and we would miss nothing (saying this even after blue and white being my favourite colour but I forgot it for sometime!)
Oishi park: I skipped it as it was getting dark and no way I could have gotten a view of Mt. Fuji. Also, after the Maple corridor, I didn’t have room for anything new or anything else.. I was still coming to terms with dream and reality..
Commuting the town:
- Walking is good if you start early. But only walking won’t help you see the entire town.
- You may pre book your tour online, or upon arrival right next to the Kawaguchiko station, there is a tourist information centre, you may get options to book a local bus tour
- You may also rent a bicycle to go around. Its may cost somewhere 300-500 YEN per hour.
Clothing:
Depending on when you are going, you should choose your warm clothes. I went during November 2nd week. It was very cold, this area is always 2-3 degrees lower than Tokyo city. Luckily, I was wearing layers, carrying a woollen cap and gloves; they saved my frozen hands.. Funny enough, even my jaws were frozen, I was having difficulty in speaking at one point. So yes, check the weather before coming and accordingly pack your warm clothes.
Suggestion:
- Staying for at least a night is better to explore the entire town. 2 is nothing-like-it..
- Book a bus tour to go around the town, it’s faster. Later you may keep sometime for a walk. Walking in this town is beautiful, because I walked 10 km, though it was freezing, I loved it.. it’s so scenic, quiet, and google map helps you to the T.
- Slow down, nature is at her charismatic bewitchment, get enthralled.
- Wear comfortable shoes of course, especially in winter, don’t forget a pair of comfy socks before sliding into your sneakers
I know I didn’t explore kawaguchiko completely, then I missed on Kamakura or Hakone.. but even then, I was in a trance.. a day visit was too less, but I loved every bit of it.. and surely that gives me enough reason to come back again.. what say!!
TurtleGotWings 