Day trip from Tokyo to Mt. Fuji

When my father gets it into his head to do something, it usually gets done. I was somewhat surprised when he suddenly announced that he would climb Mt. Fuji before he died. I thought it was only a passing comment because he saw a television show in May about the mountain being recommended to be added as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site. But he was determined, so two months later we were waiting for a bus from the JTB Sunrise Tour to pick us up at the Keio Plaza Hotel in Shinjuku, Tokyo for a day trip. By this time, Mt. Fuji had been officially designated as an official World Heritage site, becoming the 17th world heritage site in Japan.

Mount Fuji image from Lake Sai

There was one concession I was able to get my father to make. Even he knew that his 82-year-old body with the recent hip replacement would not make it to the top, so he settled on a good view of Mt. Fuji from the 5^th station, about halfway to the top. The travel agent warned us that sometimes the peak is not visible due to cloudy weather, and I prayed fervently that we would be lucky enough to avoid that problem.

Fortunately, it was sunny when we were warmly greeted by the guide and invited aboard the bus. She did not say anything, but upon seeing my father’s cane, made sure we had a front seat. We settled in for the drive, my father commenting that at least they were more comfortable than the airplane. We were prepared for a boring ride, but the guide told fun stories and interesting facts about the things we saw from the window. The passengers relaxed and laughed and it certainly did not feel like two and a half hours before we made it to the visitor’s center.

Hakone Fuji

We did not stay very long, but had adequate time to see the displays and learn more about the geology of Mt. Fuji and the surrounding area. I had no idea that it was still so volcanically active, and the most recent eruption was in 1707! That explains the hot springs I had heard about in the area.

Mt Fuji Visitor Center

Our next stop was the 5^th station. I thought there was only one, but the guide explained that there were several trails going up the mountain, and all of them had a 5^th station. This one, on the Yoshida Trail, was the most famous. It was the highest we could go in a vehicle. The website had photos, but they did not prepare us for what we saw when we got off the bus.

Fuji store

Of course, there was a sea of cars and buses in the parking lot, and a chalet-type building that had shops. There were crowds of tourists with cameras that my father scoffed at, ignoring the fact that he was snapping away with his own. We had expected all those things. But the part that we did not expect was that Mt. Fuji would look so close that you could touch it.

View from Mt. Fuji 5th station

And it was beautiful.

It was just like the advertising posters, but somehow more so. More awe-inspiring, more subtle in colors. No wonder it has been the subject of so many paintings and poems! My father, who usually has plenty to say about everything, just stood there, leaning on his cane and drinking it in with his eyes. Finally, he turned to me and said, “Well, I guess we need to go buy some postcards for relatives.”

Mt Fuji 5th Station

I pulled out my camera and had another visitor take a photo of us, because my father had been so wrapped up in his personal reflections that he had forgotten about that.

By lunch he was back to his usual, garrulous self, complaining that the sushi was not well enough cooked and the portions were too small. Meanwhile, I was glad that we had ordered the Japanese meal that came with the tour because it was quite delicious, even though I tend to prefer more western fare as a general rule.

The next stop on the tour after Mt. Fuji was Lake Ashi, which is a crater lake with clear blue water that reflected the peak of Mt. Fuji. It was another place that looked just like it belonged on a postcard. Our group was scheduled for a cruise, which turned out to be on a vessel shaped like a pirate ship.

Lake Ashi whimsical boat

I never did get a good explanation why there was a brightly painted fleet of classic ships with masts and rigging and ornate woodwork. We wanted to sit outside, but upon seeing the stairs to the upper level, my father agreed on a seat next to a window in the cabin. I think his hip was bothering him, though he refused to say anything, he was relying a lot on his cane and my shoulder.

The ride was all too short. Though we were a bit cynical about the décor, the ship had great views of the forested mountains and lake. There was even a beautiful red torii gate in the water, indicating the entrance to a shrine. But all too soon we were back on the tour bus to our final destination.

Ashi Lake gate

 The Komagatake Ropeway had huge gondolas suspended on cables leading up a mountain near Mt. Fuji. Everyone from our bus was able to fit onto one, and because of his cane, the others let him sit on the bench near the window. The views were spectacular, and it gave us a totally different perspective than our other stops．It felt like we were now sailing through the sky, over the treetops. When I had read about the tour, I thought that several different views of Mt. Fuji would be redundant, but each had its own beauty and attraction.

Komagatake Ropeway, Hakone

We rode the gondola up the mountain, then had a short break before taking it back down. It was a great chance for more photos. It was also nice to be outside in nature, since we had not seen many trees or green spaces like this since our arrival in Japan.

The bus then drove us to the train station. There were several options for going back to Tokyo, and my father had firmly decided that we would take the shinkansen. He had heard about the bullet trains and wanted to try one out for himself. The rest of our vacation was all within the Tokyo metropolitan area, so this was our only chance.

After all the hype, the shinkansen was a bit of a letdown. It was clean, fast, and modern. We flew back to Tokyo in a fraction of the time of the bus ride. But it was still just a train. I guess we were expecting something more exciting in some way.

When we were finally back in our hotel room, my father gave his verdict, “That was wonderful. Mt. Fuji was all that I could have hoped for. Next year, let’s climb to the top.”

Trip submitted to JapaneseSearch.com subscriber ‘Randall’. Many thanks for sharing such a lovely trip!

photos by: trinidad sky & dozodomo, e_chaya, Joshua Rappeneker, e_chaya, wyzik, sunxez, e_chaya