Mt. Fuji Climbing Season – Early July to Mid-September

The first thing to take note is Mt. Fuji’s hiking trails opens only during climbing season. The dates the trails open may change depending on how much snow remain. The usual climbing season is early July to mid-September, but the best time is late July to early September.

Please take a look at this site.
http://www.fujisan-climb.jp/en/basic/season.html

How To Reach Mt. Fuji

The second thing to take note of is that trains and buses are the preferred way to visit. This is because in recent years there are increasingly many visitors, causing heavy traffic jam. Restrictions have been placed on visiting cars. This is especially true for the Fuji Subaru line road which leads to the most beginner-friendly “Yoshida trail”. Restrictions have been placed on visiting cars every year.

◆Please check the various trails to climb Mt. Fuji here.
　http://www.fujisan-climb.jp/en/useful/access.html

4 Trails To Climb Mt. Fuji

There are 4 trails to climb Mt. Fuji from. “Yoshida trail”, “Fujinomiya trail”, “Subashiri trail”, and “Gotemba trail”. Here’s a brief introduction of the 4 trails.

◆ Fuji Yoshida Trail

This is the most commonly used and popular trail. It is easy to access from Greater Tokyo Area, and has many mountain huts for climbers to stay overnight at. However, during peak periods the trail and parking lots around the the entrance become incredibly packed.

Ascension time : 6 hours 10 minutes.
Descension time : 3 hours 30 minutes

◆ Fujinomiya Trail

This is the second most popular and also the shortest trail. Climbers on this trail can see the Pacific Ocean right behind them. This trail also gets heavy human traffic during peak periods.

Ascension time : 5 hours 30 minutes
Descension time : 3 hours 50 minutes

◆ Subashiri Trail

For those who want to have a quieter time climbing, or climb during weekends and peak periods, this is the recommended trail. One highlight of the trail is that it has plenty of mountainous plants along it.

Ascension time : 6 hours 50 minutes
Descension time : 3 hours 20 minutes

◆ Gotemba Trail

This is the trail with the greatest elevation difference between ground level and mountain peak, and also the longest one. As such, it is recommended for climbers to stay overnight at a mountain hut for a two-days climb. This is the least-used trail so one can enjoy the climb at his own pace without having to worry as much about blocking climbers.

Ascension time : 8 hours 10 minutes
Descension time : 4 hours 20 minutes

*Given time are estimates. During peak periods, the trails may get very crowded and cause human traffic jam, which can increase time needed. Do plan well beforehand!

Lightly-geared Climbers Face Danger!

The one thing that visitors must know is that Mt. Fuji climbing isn’t just an ordinary hiking. Even during midsummer when temperature elsewhere climbs to 30s, Mt. Fuji will still be around 7°C at the summit. Depending on the weather, it might even go sub-zero. Also, there are some actual rock climbing towards the summit. There are gravelly paths along the way that can be hard to traverse. Occasionally foreign tourists wearing T-shirts, short pants, and crocs can be seen trying to climb the mountain. Please never do that.

Be Properly Geared! Equipment Necessary For Safe Climbing

For our mountaineering advisor, we chose the outdoor equipment rental and retail shop, 「Sora No Shita」Kawaguchiko station-front shop. As it is right in front of Kawaguchiko station, it is very easy to spot!

Every you need for mountain climbing can be found here, including many well-known brands for mountaineering equipment.

What Exactly Do You Need For Mountain Climbing?

As you ascend Mt. Fuji, the temperature drops gradually. Every 100 m you climb is accompanied by a drop of 0.6°C. Hence, you start the climb lightly dressed, and put on more clothes as you ascend.

Climbers need to be prepared for rain as it can start raining on the mountain suddenly. When descending, the air can be very dusty, so it will be better to wear a surgical mask to prevent inhaling dust particles. Gravel can get into shoes while climbing, so gaiters are needed to prevent that.

Let’s Rent Mountaineering Equipment!

For those who do not climb mountains regularly, it costs a lot of money to prepare all the aforementioned equipment. Just a pair of mouintaineering boots alone cost more than 10,000 yen. That is money you won’t want to spend for a one-time climb. “Sora No Shita” not only sells mountaineering equipment, but also rent them at a much cheaper price.

Here let me introduce to you the 6 equipment set recommended for climbing Mt. Fuji. It comes in a cute-looking bag!

6 Equipment Set, 9,980 yen (2 days 1 night)

Instructions Given In English

Even if you can’t speak Japanese, no worries at all. They have English-speaking staff who can give you detailed instructions.

The staff will help you check if you wore boots of the right size, and also teach you how to put them on.

Ta-da! All ready to climb!

Regarding Rental

For detailed information on renting, please check the official website.

Pre-order is online only.
It’s possible to rent on the day itself, but the right sizes may not be available. Please pre-order online to make sure you get what you want. href=”http://www.soranoshita.net/en/” target=”_blank”>http://www.soranoshita.net/en/

Go Empty-handed. Return Empty-handed.

There are 4 places to rent and return equipment.

①Kawaguchiko station-front “Mt. Fuji LOCAL” (recommended for those taking Fuji Yoshida trail)
②Fujiyoshida “Sora No Shita” Shop (This is not Fuji 5th Station. It’s a 10 minutes drive away from Fujisan station)
③Mt. Fuji Fujinomiya 5th Station Rest House “Sora No Shita” Counter
④Mt. Fuji Subashiriguchi 5th Station “Mt. Fuji Villa Kikuya”

* Rental service for Mt. Fuji climbing is available only in summer.
No. 3 and No. 4 shops (Fujisan-Gogome shops) open only during mountain climbing season of Mt. Fuji.

How was it? Mt. Fuji climbing isn’t that hard after all huh!

Some other equipment Sora No Shita provides include tents that can be used for Summer outdoor live festivals, and rental bicycles (500 yen/hour) for cycling around Lake Kawaguchiko. Do drop by for a visit!

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Why do I want unripe Japanese plums, you ask? It’s because plum juice has to be made from unripe ones. Ripe ones will rot easily in the process of juice making.

This is Mr. Kawakubo, the owner of the farm. He showed me three types of Japanese plums in his farm. Shirakaga plums are the best for making plum juice. Juurou plums are the best for making umeboshi (salt plums). Nanko plums can be used to make both plum juice or salt plums.

Me holding bags of unripe Shirakaga plums. I was bursting with anticipation for that juice already.

This whole stretch of land is used to cultivate plums! This is a famous spot for viewing Japanese plum blossoms in March. I wrote a report about it back then.

Now, the making of plum juice. It is a long process that takes one week from start till end.

First and foremost, clean the plums and soak them in water for two hours.

Next, dry the plums and put them in a container along with rock sugar. The rock sugar is purely personal preference, as it makes the plum juice sweet instead of just sour. Let the plums sit for one week, and the plums skin will shed naturally and sink to the bottom. What’s left will be delicious, delicious plum juice.

This is what it looks like on the second day. Still quite a ways to go.

And this is the end product. Fuji Hakone Travel Guide plum juice! Love em’ plum juice!

Those interested, do try buying Japanese plums and make your own plum juice!

By Desheng.

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* This article was written by a trainee from overseas. Please note that there might be spelling and grammar mistakes.

Besides the free entry, even parking is free. That is very nice of them as it is rather difficult to access this location. It’s either a 30-40 minutes bus ride from Odawara station, or a 1.6 km upwards slope walk from Iidaoka station on the Daiyuzan Line.

The rose garden had a beautiful design. Alliums were also in bloom, and their purple gave even more colour to the rose garden.

The roses were in full bloom that day, and boy, they were gorgeous. The garden was permeated with rose fragrance, which further enhanced the experience.

That concludes my short photo report. For a free rose garden, it was a total steal. Do check it out if you visit Japan in May!

By Desheng.

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* This article was written by a trainee from overseas. Please note that there might be spelling and grammar mistakes.

May is rose blooming season in this part of Japan, so I picked this time to visit. As it is the “best season of rose”, the garden charges a higher admission fee from 15 May to 10 June.

Do take note that the “Atami Rose Festival” held in this garden starts from 26 March and ends on 15 July. However May and June are the best months as almost all roses bloom during these months.

Right after purchasing the entry ticket, a bus would take you to the very top of the garden. During the ride, the driver would introduce the garden as he drives pass each notable spot. Once at the top, visitors can alight and start descending the garden and watch the beautiful roses.

Without further ado, here are the photos I took.

At the very top, there was this seemingly irrelevant Japanese garden. Nonetheless, you could enjoy a great view of the sea from here.

On to the roses. There were many small rose gardens of various themes throughout the descend. In descending order from the top of the garden to the bottom, they were : English Rose Garden, Golden Rose Garden, Collection Garden, Queen of the Night Garden, Valley of Roses, Climbing Rose Garden, Propose Garden, Wedding Garden, France Fragrant Rose Garden, Herb Garden.

Some photos of the rose gardens.

Close-ups of roses.

That’s a lot of roses!

Somewhere in the middle of the garden, there is an open cafe where you can have rose ice cream. The entranceway was real rosey.

The lowest garden here is the herb garden. The lavenders hadn’t bloomed while I was there.

All the way at the bottom, there was a herb workshop, where visitors can make various items such as soap, cologne, and bath salt, using natural herbs.

A very nice and big rose garden. Roses are really beautiful flowers, and I had a great time taking photos of them.

By Desheng.

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* This article was written by a trainee from overseas. Please note that there might be spelling and grammar mistakes.

This fountain is perhaps the face of Hakone Gora Park. One could enjoy soft-cream from the nearby “Isshokudo charo”restaurant while sitting on the benches around the fountain, and enjoy the scenery of surrounding mountains.

The two pictures show items made in the dried flower arrangement and glassblowing workshops respectively. Other workshops available here are : pottery (handbuilding or wheel), sandblasting, style beads, and lampwork glass beads. Do take note that for some workshops finished items cannot be collected within the day. They could mail it to you though; glassblowing items take 3-4 days, and pottery items take 45-60 days.

The park has a wide array of flowers that bloom at different times of the year. Roses bloom in late May, so I was too early for it. I did manage to catch Japanese azalea, Japanese hydrangea, Japanese wisteria, bougainvillea, and peony.

There is a huge Himalayan cedar a flight of stairs above the fountain that towers over every other tree in the garden. Quite a sight to behold.

You can also have a cup of tea at the “Haku-undo Tea Garden”, located within a Japanese-style garden complex.

I had a really relaxing time here. There were many benches in the park which encourages visitors to sit down and appreciate the scenery. Good variety of flowers and activities makes for a great park.

By Desheng.

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* This article was written by a trainee from overseas. Please note that there might be spelling and grammar mistakes.

It was said that some time before year 800 A.D., a Dragon God rose out of the Ryujin-ike Pond and warned of a volcanic eruption by Mt. Fuji. Heeding his warning, villagers evacuated the vacinity and were saved from the eruption. The shibazakura fields were designed in the likeness of the Dragon God out of respect, although this would only be apparent from a bird’s-eye view.

I visited on a bus tour, and arrived far too late for Diamond Fuji. Also, the sky was cloudy so Mt. Fuji was totally blocked in the first place. Still, the focus of the day was shibazakura, not Diamond Fuji, and I got plenty of those.

There was a small mound shaped to resemble Mt. Fuji. A pink Mt. Fuji.

Here’s a photo shows a patch of shibazakura in the likeness of Diamond Fuji. Tilt your head to the right and look at it.

To those wondering what they look like upclose, here you go.

Left : Tamano-nagare
Right : Oakington Blue Eyes

There were flowers other than shibazakura here as well.

This is a really popular tourist spot, so go very early in order to avoid the crowd. Also, be sure to pick a sunny day to visit.

By Desheng.

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* This article was written by a trainee from overseas. Please note that there might be spelling and grammar mistakes.

In my last month here, I had the honour of taking part in this event as the chief vassal of the 5th Hojo, Hojo Ujinau. It was the second most important role in my squad of 29 people.

Without further ado, let me introduce to you the event from the perspective of a participant.

Firstly, the gathering place was Odawara sports center. All the armours were laid out nicely on the floor with a number tag so everyone could easily find theirs. Epitome of Japanese efficiency.

This was my cool armour.

And this not-so-cool armour belonged to everyone else in my squad except the Hojo.

My squad turned out to be about a third foreigners. There were many foreign students from Tokai university. German, Spanish, Italian, Swedish, Russian, Nigerian, Thai. Very colourful mix of nationalities.

There was a long greeting speech given by mayors from many cities as well as descendants of the Hojo clan. The event was opened with gun shots, and the long warriors parade began.

This was Yanagisawa Shingo, a celebrity who was born in Odawara. He was chosen to represent Hojo Soun, the very first Hojo.

Various squads.

And then there was a squad of custom-made armours.

This guy won the coolest-armour-of-the-day award in my opinion. Wish I could wear that instead.

And here was my squad.

And then here’s me.

…Totally not chief vassal-like at all.

Taken with one of my squad mates.

I doubt most spectators, or even participants, learnt much about the Hojo clan through this event, but it was a fun event that raised awareness about the Hojo clan at the very least. Sengoku fans would get their fix for the entire year. Also, it was nice to see such a crowded and lively Odawara. It was perhaps one of the two only days of the year the city got so crowded, the other being Hakone Ekiden. If you happen to be visiting Tokyo during Golden Week, do check out this event!

By Desheng.

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* This article was written by a trainee from overseas. Please note that there might be spelling and grammar mistakes.

Firstly, I got myself an entry ticket as well as a safari bus tour ticket. There were plenty of time till the tour so I visited the zoo zone first.

The interaction zone. Plenty of cute little animals visitors could touch, hold, or feed. There were plenty of families here, with parents taking photos of their children interacting with animals.

Another popular attraction for kids was the miniature horse/pony riding zone.

Left picture shows a miniature horse. Right picture shows a pony. Do you know the difference?

Besides the restaurant, there was a bread making workshop. You could make bread in the shape of animals here. Do take note that the bread would take an hour to bake, so do this before anything else.

And lastly, the normal zoo zone.

Then it was time for the safari tour. I looked forward to it, as it was what I came for.

I got on a hippopotamus bus (left picture), though I would have preferred the tiger bus (right picture).

The bus driver was both the driver and the tour guide. Upon boarding the bus, the driver handed out a box of feed to each person.

He briefly talked about all the animals we drove past, as well as gave instructions on how to feed animals. One had to use a pair of scissor tongs to reach out of the bus.

Bears, leopards, lions, tigers, camels, rhinoceroses, giraffes, deers, are some of the animals you would see in the drive.

Those with their own cars could go around on their own. Although of course feeding would be impossible that way.

Deers crossing the road. In the foreground was a rental car provided by the Park.

The tour lasted for slightly longer than an hour. Pretty good, other than the lack of tigers due to them sleeping. That couldn’t be helped, as this was a safari and animals did whatever they wanted.

Finally I dropped by the souvenir shop to see what they have. As expected they have a huge collection of animal soft toys. I liked the hand puppets.

I feel like this Park is designed to be very family-oriented. Still, solo travelers and friends can enjoy it perfectly well. There aren’t that many safari parks in Japan, so this is a good place to visit along with Mt. Fuji.

By Desheng.

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* This article was written by a trainee from overseas. Please note that there might be spelling and grammar mistakes.

Like any other shrine, there wasn’t much to do here on an ordinary day besides appreciating the architecture. Asama faithful performs their usual ceremonies here occasionally. Also, on 5 May, there was the annual Yabusame (Japanese mounted archery) festival held on the shrine grounds. Perhaps one could also check out the Wakutama Pond.

The first notable structure was this huge torii.

From a good angle it’s actually possible to frame Mt. Fuji within the torii. I wasn’t aware of that until later, unfortunately. Visitors take note.

And then there’s the gate, called Romon.

Lastly was the main shrine.

I believe this girl was praying for something other than Mt. Fuji to not erupt. Despite its mountain worshipping origins, I believe this shrine is treated like just all other shrines now. At least to an average visitor.

Something noteworthy in the shrine grounds would be the Wakatama Pond. It was one of the largest Mt. Fuji springs, and its water was snow melt from the sacred mountain. Pilgrims and visitors could drink the water with a small donation in the form of buying empty water bottles to fill the water with.

According to the shrine’s records, during the Muromachi period, pilgrims would perform a cleansing ceremony at the pond before they ascended Mt. Fuji.

The air around the pond was cool despite it being a warm day. A great resting spot.

And that about sums up the shrine. Mountain god worship is pretty new to me, so I had my horizons broadened here. Otherwise it’s a nice and peaceful shrine good for a short visit. I suggest visiting the nearby Shiraito Falls after or before this.

By Desheng.

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* This article was written by a trainee from overseas. Please note that there might be spelling and grammar mistakes.

The waterfall was so named due to it resembling countless white threads. This was possible due to the formation of the lava bed which funnels the river into countless thread-like streams.

Surprisingly, the waterfall was not difficult at all to access. A short bus ride from Minobu line Fujinomiya station and a short walk was all it took.

Visitors would see the Otodome Falls first if they followed the trail from the main entrance.

A pretty great waterfall in its own right, but pales in comparison to Shiraito Falls.

Just look at how magnificent it was.

And here’s a closeup

Other angles.

Such wonderful natural scenery couldn’t be found in my country, so I wanted to appreciate it for as long as I could. I sat on the rocks and watched waterfalls for a long time. It was real peaceful. Perhaps my new favourite nature site in Japan. It goes without saying, but I highly recommend this place.

By Desheng.

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* This article was written by a trainee from overseas. Please note that there might be spelling and grammar mistakes.