Hiking Mt. Fuji – Yoshida Trail
Hiking Mt. Fuji in Japan is a dream for many travelers and a spiritual journey for local residents. Mt. Fuji is a symbol of Japan, as it is Japan’s highest and most well known mountain. Every year (non-Covid) hundreds of thousands of locals and tourists flock to the Mt. Fuji area to hopefully get a glimpse of the mountain from afar or hike the trails that lead to the summit. Jill and I, both have wanted to hike Fuji for a while but travel restrictions have hindered us from doing so. Since we both got vaccinated and Japan loosened restrictions, we were able to book our flights and hike the Yoshida Trail leading to the summit of Mt. Fuji, on the 4th and 5th of July.
Mt. Fuji (富士山, Fujisan in Japanese) is Japan’s tallest mountain at 3,776 meters (12,388 ft.). Mt. Fuji is an active stratovolcano, but the last time it erupted was in 1707. Mt. Fuji is near the Pacific Coast to the southwest of Tokyo, Japan’s capital city. The mountain stretches across two Japanese Prefectures – Shizuoka and Yamanashi. For about 5 months out of the year, Mt. Fuji is snow capped. During the climbing season, the cone of the mountain is relatively snow free (Although we saw some snow in July).
Mt. Fuji has been a sacred site to the Japanese since the Edo era, around the 1600’s when Edo (Current Tokyo) became the capital of Japan and travelers began to take notice of the mountain.
Getting to the Mt. Fuji Area from Tokyo
Getting to the Mt. Fuji area from Tokyo is quite simple. You can rent a car and drive to the area, take an Express Bus, or take the Fuji Excursion (train) to Mt. Fuji Station in Fujiyoshida. Fujiyoshida is the main town at the base of Fuji and a great hopping point to other attractions in the area like the 5 lakes and the Aokigahara Forest (Suicide Forest).
We stayed near Shinjuku, in Tokyo the night prior to traveling to the Fuji area. We opted to take the Fuji Excursion first to get to Fujiyoshida and took the Express Bus back. Both options took about two hours from Shinjuku Station. The Fuji Excursion was the more expensive option at around ¥4000 or $40. The Express Bus was half the cost at ¥2000 or $20. Both the train and bus were very comfortable, it’s nice to have options.
Bus tickets can be purchased at the Ticket office at both the Shinjuku Station and Mt. Fuji Station, we didn’t need to make any advanced reservations. We just went up to the ticket office and selected a time. It appeared the bus left once every hour.
The Fuji Excursion, we booked the day of as well since we got to Shinjuku Station around 2300. We were lucky and got reserved seats without any issues. But there was a long line at the ticket office. I could imagine during high season when tourism is back to normal that booking tickets in advance is a must. The Fuji Excursion leaves Shinjuku station 3 times a day, at 7:30, 8:30, and 9:30.
Hiking Mt. Fuji
The official climbing season for Mt. Fuji is July 1st to September 10th. Although the mountain is open year round, this is the recommended time to go as conditions are the best and all the huts along the trail are open.
There are five trails that are accessible to reach the summit. The Yoshida Trail starting at 5th Station is the first trail that opens on July 1st, the other trails all open on July 10th.
The Yoshida Trail starting at 5th Station is probably the most popular and doable route. Although no walk in the park, a hike to the summit and back can be done in one day. There are several stations along the route that provide services – shelter, restrooms, food, water, etc. The 7th and 8th stations even have huts allowing visitors to spend the night on the mountain. It’s popular to stay the night at the 7th and 8th Station huts in order to wake up early and catch the sunrise at the summit.
We began our hike on the Yoshida Trail on July 4th from the 5th Station. The 5th station is the most popular starting point for the Yoshida Trail and can be accessed by trail from the Kitaguchi-hongu Shrine in Fujiyoshida or by bus. Buses run hourly from the Mt Fuji Train Station. Tickets can be purchased directly at the station, the bus ride is about an hour from the train station to the 5th Station.
We booked a hut at the 8th Station, so our goal was to hike from the 5th station to the 8th station. I recommend booking huts well in advance as they tend to book up quickly.
The weather was not ideal. We must have brought the rains from Okinawa with us as it rained almost the entire time. We didn’t let that get to us, since we had rain jackets, covers, and all things water proof.
The bus we took to the 5th station was full of Marines from Okinawa, so it seemed everyone had the same itinerary as us. We made a few friends on the bus and began the hike with a few Marines from Camp Foster.
We set off at the trail head at 5th station and headed toward the 6th station for a quick water break. This section of the trail was relatively flat and the whole path was made of broken down volcanic rocks. Once we made it to the 6th station, about a 30-minute hike we stopped for water before pushing onward to the 7th station.
After the 6th station, the incline became much steeper and the trail kind of zig-zagged toward station 7. The winds picked up as did the rain. Thankfully, there were barriers along the trail to help keep erosion at bay, these were great as they provided a little shelter for a minute or so.
After hiking the zig-zagged path for a little over an hour we made it to the 7th station. The stations are made up of several buildings along the trail. Each station has a restroom along with food and water to purchase. We took a brief break at station 7 before pushing onwards to the 8th station. At the 7th Station we lost our Marine friends and trekked the rest of the day by ourselves.
Between the 7th and 8th station, the trail started to get a bit more interesting. The hike started to become more of a climb as the rocks got bigger and the path became steeper, I enjoyed the challenge! Once leaving the 7th station, the winds and rain started to pick up and it was another 1.5 hours hike to the 8th station.
Below are a few photos of the trail. As you can see, pretty rocky but there are ropes to hang on to if need be.
Hiking Mt. Fuji - 8th Station
8th station is the final station before reaching the summit of Mt. Fuji. We arrived at the 8th station at around 1600, soaking wet. Since we made reservations here for the night, we were instantly greeted by staff and changed out of our wet clothes.
The huts at the stations were so much nicer then we expected. Originally, I thought we were staying with a bunch of people in an open space, but we each had our own private areas.
The huts were cold, since there was no insulation and it took a while to dry and warm up. The winds were howling the entire time we were here and the temperatures dropped quickly. But for dinner the hut offered rice and curry which hit the spot. I heard great things about the curry on Mt. Fuji. I figured, people just say that because it’s a warm meal you get after a long days hike. But it was actually pretty good! Not the best Japanese curry I’ve had, but still pretty solid! They even provided us with breakfast for the next morning which consisted of a croissant, roll, and a hot dog wrapped in pastry dough. Delicious!
After dinner, the rain lightened a lot, and we stayed outside watching all the cool cloud formations that constantly changed. I’ve never experienced anything like it, but we were above one layer of clouds and above us were more clouds. Jill, while sipping on hot chocolate, referred to it as us being in a cloud sandwich. Below are photos of some of the fun clouds we saw while at the 8th station.
As night came, there wasn’t a whole lot going on, so we went back to our beds to catch some sleep. The plan was to wake up at 2:30 am to start trekking to the summit to catch the sunrise on top of Mt. Fuji. I didn’t expect to sleep much at all as the wind and rain picked up again. There were 60 mph wind gusts all night and into the next morning. Needless to say, the wind kept us up all night.
Hiking Mt. Fuji, Push to the Summit
We woke up as planned at 2:30 am, I went outside and for the first time it was clear out. I saw city lights and stars and was hopeful for the sunrise. Unfortunately, the wind gusts were still over 60 mph and the employees at the hut advised us against hiking to the summit. With it being dark outside, wind guests, and low visibility, they were worried about rock slides and flying debris. The whole reason we stayed at the hut and woke up at 2:30 am was to see the sunrise, so we decided to just be extra cautious and go.
The summit was about a 1.5 hour trek from the 8th station. Of course, the second we started our trek, clouds started to roll in, winds picked up, and the mist became really dense. The whole time hiking, I felt as if we were on an expedition because it was pitch black outside with powerful wind gusts and rain. Several times the gusts were so strong we had to position ourselves and brace for it until the winds past us by. Other times, the wind would pick up loose gravel and we would constantly get pelted by the rocks.
We passed a few abandoned structures along the way, some areas looked like a war-zone, below is one of my favorite pictures I took along the way.
After about an hour and a half we finally passed by the Torii Gate and Shisa’s and made it to the summit of Mt. Fuji! There was absolutely no sunrise to be seen or any kind of view, bummer! I guess we’ll have to hike it again. From what I saw, there were places to sit on top and a few structures that were all closed. I’m not sure if the buildings were closed due to Covid or if they are abandoned.
There is also a crater hike you can do around the summit that is another hour hike. The crater hike was roped off, thankfully because the weather at the summit was awful. The winds and rain continued and there were no signs of the weather letting up so we decided to descend the mountain. At this point, we were pretty miserable. We had on rain gear but even that wasn’t good enough for the weather up there. We were soaked from head to toe. Although conditions were not ideal, I still had a great time and happy with how my photos turned out. Below are a few photos from the top and me exiting the Torii Gate from the summit.
Descending Mt. Fuji
The descent from the summit back to 5th station was fairly easy. Again the weather was not ideal, so we hustled down the mountain. I think it still took about three hours to descend. The Yoshida Trail was well planned out, the descent trail differs from the ascent that way you don’t have to battle your way through people going the opposite direction. The descent trail was wide and zig-zagged down the mountain until the 5th station. There were no real rocks to climb like we had to while ascending, it was definitely a nice break from the trekking the day before. As we got further down, the weather did clear up a bit and the clouds started to separate. We were rewarded with fantastic views of the mountain range between Fuji and the Pacific Ocean. The landscape and clouds were amazing, below are some photos of the view we had. The cool cloud is a lenticular cloud formation. See, you learned something new!
We finally made it back to the 5th station. Since we woke up at 2:30 am, we arrived at station 5 at like 7 am. The earliest bus that would take us back to Fujiyoshida didn’t depart until 11:40 am. We had several hours to kill. Thankfully the 5th station was huge and had several shops, restaurants, and lounging areas. We changed into some dryer clothes and just relaxed. Japan has these melon bread treats that we ‘ve had in other places, but 5th station had a bakery that made these in the shape of Mt Fuji.
The lounge started to fill up with other hikers and we found ourselves drinking Premium Mt. Fuji Whiskey with a lot of new friends until the bus got there. I normally don’t say this, but the people we met while hiking Mt. Fuji really made it a memorable experience. We met so many interesting people, most from Okinawa, but still. Sitting there drinking Japanese Whiskey with a group of Marines from Okinawa at 8 am talking about how bad the weather was and other adventures was a great memory I’ll always have. Once the bus came, the whole ride to town was full of passed out trekkers!
Hiking Mt Fuji was an incredible experience. Even though the weather wasn’t ideal, it still makes for awesome stories and photos. I am glad we booked the hut at 8th station and decided to hike early the next morning. Staying in a hut on Fuji is an experience in itself. We met a lot of great people on and around Mt. Fuji and the memories will last a lifetime. I’m not sure how long I’ll be in Japan or if I’ll ever hike to the summit of Fuji again. But there are other more difficult trails that I wouldn’t mind hiking, so you never know! At least now I can say that I hiked to the summit of Mt. Fuji.
Mt. Fuji from Chureito Pagoda
The photos below was taken from the Chureito Pagoda in Fujiyoshida. This iconic photo is what you see when you look at postcards of Japan or see Fuji in documentaries. There are 400 steps to the pagoda, each step is worth the incredible view. We came here twice because the first time was so cloud covered we didn’t see Fuji at all. Thankfully we got lucky the day we were leaving and Mt Fuji made an appearance. We raced back up to the pagoda just to take some photos. Worth it! Below are two photos taken at the same location. Whether it’s cloudy or sunny, the photos still turn out great!
Packing List
Mountain weather can change at any minute. You can encounter hot weather, cold weather, snow, rain, heavy winds, etc. all in a single day and we did! I can’t tell you the amount of people we saw in just a t-shirt, shorts, and sneakers thinking they were going to make it to the top, no problem. We encounter those kinds of people all over the world. Either way, here is what we brought and used on our hike and other recommendations.
- Rain gear (jacket, pants, gloves, and rain cover for backpack)
- Hiking shoes – a good pair and not ones you just purchased. Break them in a bit
- Headlamp or flashlight for hiking at night
- Thermal layers for both lower and upper body
- Beanie and gloves
- Extra socks and a dry pair for later
- Zip lock bags to place valuables in, in case it rains
- Plenty of water and snacks
- Small towel always comes in handy
- Sun is no joke at that elevation, bring sunscreen, a hat, and UV sleeves
6 Comments
Lyn Perry
What a wonderful travelogue! Thanks for sharing. Looks like you two had the hike of a lifetime. Just beautiful.
zimminaround
No problem, thanks for reading! It was quite the hike, the weather was horrible, looking back now though I am glad we did it and makes for great stories!
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