Mount Fuji (3776m) is the tallest mountain in Japan. It near-perfect cone shape makes it one of the most prominent landmark of Japan.

The official climbing season is from early-July until mid-September, when there is no snow along the trails and the mountain facilities are open. The peak of the peak season is during the Obon Week in mid-August, when climbers will experience human-traffic jam all the way to the summit.

There are four trails to reach the summit of Mount Fuji:

1) Yoshida Trail

2) Subashiri Trail

3) Gotemba Trail

4) Fujinomiya Trial

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We chose the most popular one: the Yoshida Trail. We started the climb from Fuji Subaru Line 5th Station (as highlighted in red in the map above).

There are many ways to access Fuji Subaru Line 5th Station. We took a direct coach at 8am from Tokyo Express Bus Station and reached Kawaguchiko Town at about 10am. From there, we transferred to a 50 minutes shuttle bus to Subaru Line 5th Station.

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We finally arrived at Subaru Line 5th Station at about 1130am. The goal for the day was to reach the 8th Station where we would call it a day and continue the ascend to the summit (10th Station) on the next day. Usually, it takes 4-6 hours in average to achieve that.

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The initial climb was a pleasant one as the trail was mostly covered with vegetation. Soon, we reached a scenic spot where an unblocked view of the Fuji Five Lakes Region was presented right in front of us. From that point, the landscape turned bold and we were all exposed to the blunt of the weather.

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It took us quite some time to marvel the beauty of the nature. Of course, we spent quite a little bit of time taking photos as well. Soon, we can see the dark cloud was looming..

Time to continue our journey. We started to question if the “average 4-6 hours climb” was merely a word of encouragement.

Time to catch up with other climbers.

We had to quicken our pace in order to reach our lodging at the 8th Station by night fall. The route was windy, never-ending and the volcanic soil was skiddy. We came to realize that the climb was not as easy as we thought. Furthermore, the approaching dark cloud was posing a threat with cold and wet weather.

Anyway, we still managed to capture some nice photos. And then, we saw the light:

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Close, but not yet. This was the 7th Station, just one more to go. It was already 5pm, we cheered “kanbate” and pressed on.

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And here we continued the journey again, just another 2 hours plus before we finally arrived at the 8th Station. There was still light in the sky, but it was actually almost 8pm, thanks to summer.

We stayed at Taishikan Hut (太子馆) at 8th Station. It costed JPY7700 for a night stay inclusive of dinner per person, but exclusive of the use of toilet at JPY200 per entry. The condition of the hut was quite satisfactory, except we need to squeeze in a big common sleeping area, shoulder to shoulder.

It started raining while we were enjoying our dinner. Although the meal was of little surprise than we expected, swallowing every grain of rice with warm curry was simply an act of impulse with all our gratitude. Yes, we were saved.

We heard the storm pounding the seemingly fragile wall and roof of the hut. Our heart was sinking, our hope to reach the summit was diminishing too. Feeling helpless, we still turned in after dinner, because the wake up call was set at 1.30am. Lying down shoulder to shoulder, none of us was sure if we had fallen asleep..

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The battle drum was beaten loud at 130am, sharply on time. We were all waken up. It was raining like cats and dogs when we were trying to sleep, but miraculously, the weather was all clear for us to pursue the march to the summit.

We set off from 8th Station at about 2am, it took us almost 3 hours to inch up the long queue of human traffic to the summit.

It is exactly like the saying: “Something is more beautiful to see from far”. Fortunately, we had the beauties to glorify the victory.

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That’s it! After submerging in the euphoria of “been there, done that” for about an hour, it was time to descend before the grilling sun rose to its full strength.

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We were blessed with clear sky on the way down. We went back to the hut at 8th Station to collect the bulk of our belongings first, before descending all the way down to Subaru Line 5th Station.

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The descend route is supposed to be on the adjacent side, however, we misread the information and took the original climbing route. It was a knee breaking torture, even though it was not as stamina-demanding as the ascending.

The air was cool, but the sun was scotching. Nevertheless, clear sky is always one of the most important factor for nice photos, who cares if it is hot or cold.

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A bright and clear sky allowed us to have a better review of the Yoshida Trail that we rushed through on the previous day due to the impending bad weather.

Finally, we were all back to 5th Station, safe and sound. We must thank the mountain god for embracing us and blessing us with the favorable weather to the top. Of course, the great company and the excellent team spirit of every member made this expedition a wonderful and memorable one.

Tomodachi-San, otsukaresama deshita. Arigato!

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