Located in the jungles of Yanbaru National Park in northern Okinawa lies the beautiful Hiji Falls. Hiji Falls cascades down a steep and rocky cliff into a crystal clear pool below. The only way to reach Hiji Falls is to hike. The hike to Hiji Falls is no walk in the park but still very manageable for all levels. The Hiji Falls hike is mostly maintained. There are railing in parts that need it, stone steps on inclines, and suspension bridges crossing the waters below. Pay close attention to the wildlife that calls Yanbaru National Park home. I came across several reptile and amphibian species. Hikers are rewarded with picturesque views of Hiji Falls at the end of the hike.  **This post contains affiliate links. If you click on one of the links or banners throughout the page, whether it be TripAdvisor, Booking.com. Agoda.com, or any other affiliate, I might receive commission at no extra cost to you. For more information, you can visit my affiliate link page here. Thanks for the support! Park Information: Admission and Hours Hours: April until October: 9:00 am to 1800 November until March: 9:00 am to 1730 Admission: ¥500 per person Hiji Falls Hiji Falls, or Hiji Otaki in Japanese, is the tallest waterfall in Yambaru National Forest in Northern Okinawa at 26 meters tall. The waterfall is fed by the Hiji River that empties out into the East China Sea.  Hike to Hiji Falls The hike to Hiji Falls is fairly short, it’s only 1.5 kilometers. The park did a nice job at maintaining the trail as there were cement logs in place that acted as stairs on steep terrain and there were ropes along the path so there is no way to get lost! About midway through the hike, there was a suspension bridge about 17 meters high overlooking the valley. After the suspension bridge, the incline of the trail gradually increases until reaching Hiji Falls. Once at the falls, there are benches to take a breather or eat a snack. You can get fairly close to the waterfall, there are ropes and posts barring entrance to the pool at the base of the falls so unfortunately, no swimming allowed! I guess that is a good thing.  One aspect I really enjoyed about this hike were the options. At certain locations along the trail it branched off and visitors are allowed to take alternative paths. For example, at the start of the trail there was a board walk you can follow or the alternative was to follow a river path until the paths met up again at a point. Another part of the trail, hikers could actually trek through the river. We had our tennis shoes, so we decided to stay on dry land. But next time, we will definitely wear our Keens and hike through the water. After all, the water was crystal clear and somewhat chilly which would have been perfect since it was so hot and muggy out.  Wildlife Encountered Along the Trail Spotting wildlife along the Hiji Falls Hike was definitely the most rewarding aspect at least for me. There is an abundance of wildlife here in Okinawa, most are reptiles and birds on the smaller side. But many animals only exist in Yambaru National Park and nowhere else on the planet. It’s been my goal to document all the wildlife I encounter in Okinawa. Hiking to the falls was an incredible experience as we saw so many insects and reptiles. Okay, so maybe bugs and reptiles are not on everyone’s wish list but they are just as important to the ecosystem as anything else.  Along the Hiji Falls Trail we saw a couple Tree Lizards, a Sakishima Grass Lizard, several Ryukyu Brown Frogs, Giant Golden Orb Weavers, a Ryukyu Odd-Tooth Snake, and a Ryukyu Green Snake. Conclusion For many reasons from the spectacular views of Hiji Falls to the wildlife encountered, Hiji Falls is one of the better hikes in Okinawa. At 1.5 kilometers in length and a fairly maintained trail, the Hiji Falls hike is still a challenging yet rewarding hike that can be conquered by almost anyone. Just keep in mind it’s still a hike in nature, so bring water, be aware of your surroundings, and be safe! Enjoying my photos and want to see more? Check out my Picfair Store. 📸   Plan Your Trip: 🗺️✈️🇯🇵  Booking Accommodations ⛺️🛖  For booking recommendations on the best deals and locations, check out Agoda or Booking.com Activities and Tours  🏖️🚁  Find fun activities and things to do through Tripadvisor. If you are looking for tours and day trips, Viator and Get Your Guide have a lot of great options.  In need of a car rental? 🚗🚘  I recommend checking with Rental Cars. Train Travel 🚂🚊  For the JR Pass, tickets can be purchased on the JR Pass site. 

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 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