The iconic image of Japan, a stratovolcano (according to Wikipedia) – a conical volcano characterised by a steep profile with a summit crater and explosive eruptions – and one of Japan’s 3 holy mountains. She has an exceptionally symmetrical cone which is covered in snow for a large part of the year, and at 12,389 feet high she’s the world’s 7th highest peak on an island. Notoriously shy, Mount Fuji often chooses to stay hidden in cloud and only pops her head out occasionally – 80 days per year on average – giving visitors only a 20% of catching a glimpse of her beauty. There’s an official forecast showing the chances of seeing Mount Fuji from the North (Kawaguchiko) and South (Hakone) for the following 7 days, and most tourists make their decision on whether to visit or not based on that.

Not us – we had a non-refundable stay booked for 3 nights at Hotel Mystays Fuji Onsen Resort in Kawaguchiko (Fuji Five Lakes Area), so we were going no matter what the forecast!

We took a Keio coach from Shinjuku Bus Terminal – cost £11 each – thankful that Debbie had prebooked seats as the day of our departure had a 10/10 forecast for the possibility of Mount Fuji popping her head out and so all buses were full for the entire day, much to the surprise (and ‘oh shit’) of guys waiting at bus stops along the highway. The huge and very busy bus terminal ran with typical Japanese efficiency, so our 11.45 bus departed at exactly 11.45 for the hour and a half drive out of Tokyo and into the mountains.

The ride out of Tokyo was amazingly smooth – you’d never guess that this was the biggest city on the planet, even the traffic appears to run in an orderly fashion. Nearing Kawaguchiko Debbie shrieked to Steve, who had his AirPods in and was listening to The Archers omnibus, “Look, there she is, Mount Fuji”. The forecast was accurate and we were in luck. We got some great views that afternoon and evening, even if we misjudged the closing time of the observation platform, and we had to view from the exit road of the theme park, but we concluded that if that was the most we’d see of Fuji then we’d been very lucky indeed – she really is a beauty!

She came out to play the next day too, also a 10/10 forecast. For our final day the forecast was rain and a 1/10, effectively no chance of Fuji saying hello, so we resigned ourselves to a lazy day and late breakfast. But there she was – the clouds were low and the sky was grey so the photos were never going to be brilliant, but the mountain was a splendid and unexpected sight.

This is not a cheap area – and we ended up paying more for a hotel here than in Tokyo, but Hotel Mystays Fuji Onsen Resort was lovely. A mile or so out of town, but very close to Fujikyu Highland railway station so just 1 stop (2 minutes) away, and on the doorstep of a theme park and Thomas Land (we didn’t go!). A large modern hotel with our budget room being unexpectedly lovely and twice the size of our Tokyo room. Tiny pyjamas were provided, which we swapped for ones that actually fitted, along with leather slippers and little baskets for taking towels to the onsen on the top floor – and everyone seemed to go to the onsen in their PJs so off we went….

An onsen is a bath or pool filled with hot spring water, usually separate for men and women and where there is a proper social etiquette to be followed. Basically you get your kit off (compulsory, swimwear not allowed), have a proper wash while sitting on a little stool, and then get into the communal bath, rest your little towel on top of your head and wallow in the heat with a load of other naked people! It is strange that the very reserved and proper Japanese have not the slightest inhibition about sitting naked in a bath in public, but we embraced the culture.

Our hotel did have a restaurant but there was no way that we were prepared to pay £30/head for a buffet, instead enjoying a Chinese meal (delivered by a robot) nearby, Yakatori in town and a picnic in our room from the local Lawson when we couldn’t be bothered going out. Debbie discovered that Lawson do even better egg sarnies than 7 Eleven and a lovely tuna one, and their custard chocolate eclairs are to die for 🙂

Kawaguchiko is very touristy so there were all manner of excursions and sight-seeing options, and we chose a 2-day sightseeing bus pass covering 3 separate routes around the Fuji Five Lakes areas and included a boat ride and a trip up the ropeway (cable car). So much for being intrepid travellers! The red line took us to the North shore of Lake Kawaguchi, to an area with fields of flowers and which gave fantastic photo opportunities across the lake to Fuji. Naturally we weren’t the only ones taking pictures and the Instagram & Til-Tok devotees were in their element. They were also bizarrely congregating outside the Lawson – apparently the most photographed convenience store in Japan with Mount Fuji rising majestically behind.

After some confusion on the direction of the buses (who knew it would go to stop 6 before 5 and then 7?), and then getting on one going in the wrong direction, we switched onto the green line for a 90 minute ride around some of the other lakes – all very picturesque. After visiting the impressive Kawaguchi Asama-Jinja shrine we headed steeply uphill through the woods looking for the Tori gates for the iconic Fuji photo, before realising that we were in totally the wrong place. The ropeway gave a nice view over the lake, but not as pretty a vista of Fuji as it took in the town, highway and rollercoasters of Fujikyu Highland theme park.

We were incredibly lucky with our visit to this beautiful region – Fuji visible on all 3 days and no rain, although it did get a little chilly at times and our fleeces came out of our bags for only the 2nd time this year. On our last morning more ‘normal’ service resumed – Mount Fuji had taken herself back into hiding, there was zero visibility and the forecast for the next week was 2/10 at best. We pitied the poor tourists arriving as we waited at the bus station – they had little or no chance of seeing the mountain, but there are other things to do here…..

We had planned to take a bus from Kawaguchiko to Mishima and pick up the train to our next destination from there, but the timings didn’t work so it was quicker and easier (and only a little more expensive) to re-trace our outbound journey and return to Tokyo.

Next stop Kyoto……