Kawaguchiko and Gateway to Mt Fuji

August 19 from the itinerary: Today, you will travel from Tokyo to Kawaguchiko. You will spend halfway up to Mt. Fuji and

relax for the rest of the day. You will go via bus to the Fuji Subaru Line 5th station and stay

there, so you can start early tomorrow.

To Kawaguchiko

• JR PASS*: Shinjuku > Kawaguchiko (Fuji-Excursion No.11 for Kawaguchiko)

◦ Departure: Shinjuku 09:30

◦ Arrival: Kawaguchiko 11:26

*Even though most of the route is covered by the JR Pass, you will need to buy a ticket for the

Fuji Excursion Limited Express for the section from Otsuki to Kawaguchiko before you leave

Shinjuku.

To the 5th Station of the Mt. Fuji

The detailed timetables for the bus from Kawaguchiko to the Fuji-Subaru Line 5th Station can

be found on the official website of the Fujikyuko Bus. You can also get more detailed

information concerning the bus options here (in English).

I left right at 7:45 after breakfast and a last glass of champagne. The weather was still hot and humid

I was still reeling from Tokyo station yesterday, so was really happy that Shinjuku Station was quieter and very well marked in English. Even I was able to find the right track. It was harder to find where to stand for the right car.

There were 3 markers on the floor for each car stop with different information. I asked 3 different train stewards ("trust but verify") to confirm I was in the right place, which was the polar opposite of where I was when I first got to the platform.

I was really excited when the train came in until I remembered and saw that they have new bullet trains which are not as "modern" looking as the old ones were. The old ones had a distinctive nose on the front and the new once have an ugly brown blunt nose. Actually, it looks a bit like Iron Man. Anyway, here it is coming in.

Quite a lot has changed since I was last did this journey in 2015, possibly due to the Olympics. Besides the look of the train, there used to be a train transfer at Otsuki to a cute little 3 car train with animations drawn on the outside having to do with Mount Fuji.

Then I got off at the Mt Fuji station and took the bus from there.

Now you stay on the same train all the way to Kawaguchiko, but the ticketing from Otsuki to Kawaguchiko is still a separate extension which you can only buy at the Otsuki station, or possibly online if you have access to the right app which I didn't. Suffice to say I lost a lot of sleep about this because there was no clear guidance online and I didn't want to either stand or there not be enough room on the train. Somehow having the JR Pass made things harder and you only get errors when you tried online. The blogs were warning of standing room only if you didn't have this extension ticket.

Things turned out to be really quite easy- no reserved seats from Otsuki, only reserved seats to Otsuki from Tokyo.  If you don’t have a reserved seat you sit in a seat with a red light over it or you stand between cars.  (I agree- the seat color light system is backwards).

At Kawaguchiko if you don’t have a ticket for the portion after Otsuki, you go to the window rail side and buy the extension ticket with cash/card.  A lot of time/worry on my side for nothing.

I ended up sitting next to an investment banker going to a work colleagues house in the mountains for a “retreat” with other colleagues and his boss.  Most of the other people appeared to be day trippers

Once out of Tokyo you enter an area referred to as the "Japanese Switzerland"- mountainous and lush green. A lot of long tunnels through the hillsides.

The weather when we left Tokyo was sunny, hot and humid. 91, feels like 105:( I was hoping it would cool off in the mountains, but it didn't really. On the good side, the weather is looking more promising for the climb with high pressure cell coming into the area

My pack was incredibly heavy because of all the water I brought- there is no water on Fuji and usually you see 500 ml bottles for sale which would be a real pain since you have to take out all your garbage, so I had 2.5 liters in my camelback and 2 more liter bottles, one of which I drank during the train ride. Yes, you heard right - you have to take out your own trash - carry it up the mountain and back down again....

I put my suitcase in storage(carrying only my pack)- yet another thing that is quite easy on the ground, but made complex in the telling/blogs- Kawaguchiko has luggage storage and you don’t have to screw around with the lockers which aren’t very big and cost 500 yen- only payable using 100 yen coins.  I guess most prefer the lockers as they are half the price of the luggage storage.

The bus trip up to the 5th station took about an hour through a wooded switchback road.  The clouds were coming in so, true to form, no view when I go hiking….here's a photo of Fuji from my 2015 trip

  The 5th station is at 2305 meters, or 7500 feet.

I’m sure in 2015 I got off at the “Mt Fuji” stop (vs Kawaguchiko) and took the bus from there as I remember the amusement park quite well which this time we passed on the train. From the 2015 bus journey:

I had time to kill before checkin so wandered around the souvenir stores and had some soup- surprisingly good.

Also got some pictures of the 5th station. The main square is a pano shot. There's an official sign for the station and the Yoshida trail trail head marker which I wanted to get while not too many people were around. There's also a shrine.

Here are some of the same shots in 2015 (the horses are I n the far right photo)

They have some horses which are available for those not wanting to walk to the 6th station. Horses have played a key role in Mt. Fuji's rich history. Prince Shotaku aka Umayado Prince (574-622) was a member of the royal family during the Asuka Period and a regent under Princess Suiko. Because of his many achievements he was "sanctified" and many "legendary" stories were documented after his death. One of which said that he climbed

To the top of Mt Fuji on the back of the Black horse of Kai and took a break near my tea house (see a later post about this). Later horses were used to carry people and their luggage, construction materials and supplies. One of them actually went all the way to the top (poor horse).

My “room” is a capsule - luckily with electricity and lighting because they turn off the main lighting at 8pm.  This is a bit like a hostile on steroids.  The toilets have a smell all their own and it’s not a good one. I could smell it all the way to my capsule....

Storms were predicted for the afternoon and, sure enough, at 3:30 thunderstorms started.  The thunder part lasted about 30 minutes and then things started to clear up.  It was quite a storm.

I’m off to bed now as I plan to be up at 4:30 to start at first light.  Weather for tomorrow is predicted to be rainy/sunny in the morning with thunderstorms in the afternoon again- I want to get to the 8th station before 3pm and the rain/thunder .  The 8th station is at 3100 meters or ~10170 feet.

Here is a picture of the Yoshida trail.  So you can follow along:)

There are 10 stations, or rest areas/tea houses, from the start- usually 5th station . there is also a volcano ring- station I had a reservation at the 8th station which was a good time to stop for the night. On this picture, 5 th station is in orange