A Mt Fuji Day Trip from Tokyo: Everything you Need to Know!

I KNEW I wanted to add Mt Fuji day trip to our Japan itinerary, but I did NOT know the extent of the time and effort it would take to get Mt Fuji views from Tokyo.

Mt Fuji is, at the least, about 1.5 to 2 hours from Tokyo (assuming no speed bumps along the way). Plus, all of the best views of Mt Fuji are SPREAD OUT and I vastly underestimated the travel time it would take to get even two viewing spots, much less the 6 I had marked on my wish list.

So here is everything you need to know about making a day trip to Mt Fuji from Tokyo. Your options on where to go, how much time you will need to get there and get between the locations and more!

There are what are called the “Five Lakes” that surround Mt Fuji, which all provide great views of Fuji.

However, from the popular viewing platform of Chureito Pagoda in Arakurayama Sengen Park it takes about 2 hours via public transportation, plus either an hour walk or a bike ride to the far side of the lake for the Mt Fuji views!

AND this is after you already took 2 to 2.5 hours to get TO Arakurayama Sengen Park from Tokyo!

So, you are going to really have to be efficient with planning and leave early in the morning to have a full day of Mt Fuji viewing. Otherwise, you will end up with only successfully seeing Mt. Fuji from one place (like us 🙃).

Okay, back to geography.

Mt Fuji is 12,388 ft (3,776 m) at its peak, but, more importantly, the base of Mt Fuji spans a circumference of 78 miles (125 km) and has a diameter of 25-30 miles (40-50km)!

For perspective, it is 60 miles from Tokyo to Arakurayama Sengen Park meaning it would take longer to drive the circumference of the base of Fuji than it would to drive back to Tokyo. And thats with a car; not even relying on the crazy public transportation that surrounds Mt Fuji!

SO, if you have in your head that you can quickly hop on a train and skip around Mt. Fuji and head back to Tokyo in a day, you can’t. You need to be strategic and narrow down your options.

So, as you can see, as much as you and I would like to view Mt Fuji from every angle in one Mt Fuji day trip, it isn’t possible. BUT, if you plan right, you should be able to see AT LEAST two locations, maybe even three.

The best way to do this is to choose a cluster of viewing points on one specific side of Mt Fuji. This may mean that all of your angles will be similar (north side vs south side of Fuji), but you will make the most of your time this way.

The two most popular “clusters” of viewing points are around Arakurayama Sengen Park and Lake Kawaguchi or going more south and visiting the Lake Ashine/Hakone area.

Arakurayama Sengen Park is the most popular destination to see Mt Fuji due to its famous Chureito Pagoda view. Another reason is that it is one of the closest viewing points from Tokyo. For both of these reasons, this is where we opted to start our Mt Fuji viewing.

I recommend heading to Arakurayama Sengen Park first because of its popularity and the crowds that come with it.

From Arakurayama Sengen Park, the closest lake is Lake Kawaguchi, making it the most time-efficient option for your second view of Mt Fuji.

Getting to Arakurayama Sengen Park from Tokyo

To get to Arakurayama Sengen Park from Tokyo, you will either:

1. Bus directly from Shinjuku Station
2. Take a direct Fuji Excursion train from Shinjuku to Shimoyoshida Station
3. OR train from Shinjuku Station to Ōtsuki Station to Shimoyoshida Station

Direct Routes to Arakurayama Sengen Park

The Fuji Excursion trains go directly from Shinjuku Station to Shimoyoshida Station. At Ōtsuki Station you will stay on the same train.

1. These are what you want to book! An example is the orange/red Chūō Line Fuji-Excursion 7 Limited Express
2. The yellow Chuo-Sobu line also goes directly to Shimoyoshida station, but it is a local train that will make more stops

The problem with the Fuji Excursion trains is that there are only a couple that run daily! AND, during peak season, those early morning trains are going to sell out quick. If you want to land a seat on an early-morning, direct train, you need to book like yesterday!

Book a direct train from Tokyo to Arakurayama Sengen Park

Alternate Route to Arakurayama Sengen Park

If you don’t score a direct train seat you can take the purple JR Limited Express train to Ōtsuki Station

If you take this train, at Ōtsuki Station you will:

1. Need a new ticket for the blue Fujikyuko Line express train (purchased at the Kiosk at the station where there will be a line, or purchased online. Book online)
2. Or you can use your IC card for the local train which will make frequent stops and increase your travel time by 30 minutes (don’t recommend)

Book a ticket fromŌtsuku to Shimoyoshida

Travel Time: Around an hour and 45 minutes for direct Fuji Excursions and about 2 hours and 10 minutes for the purple+blue line or the direct local yellow train)

I recommend just planning well-enough that you land that direct Fuji Excursion ticket to Shimoyoshida!

What to Expect at Arakurayama Sengen Park

Once you arrive in Fujiyoshida at the Shimoyoshida Station you will take about a 20 minute walk to Arakurayama Sengen Park (the path begins to the right when you exit the station).

Though the views at the top are worth the climb, there are also great views at the middle landing (located at the top of the first steps and bottom of the main concrete stairs) and there is a great pull-off on the right side of the stairs (toward the top) to have a photo op with less people as well.

(My favorite photo of Mt Fuji actually came from the open area at the bottom of the concrete stairs!)

Prepare yourself; you will have to climb about 300 steps to get up to the observation deck and the famous pagoda. Will there be crowds at the observation deck? Yes. Especially in the spots that will give you a good view of the pagoda.

However, there is enough room in this area to spread out and find a spot to get a photo with Fuji without a lot of crowds. You will just have to be patient and take your turn.

Plus, as I mentioned before, the pagoda view isn’t the ONLY view here. There are plenty of spots to get a good view of Mt Fuji from Arakurayama Sengen Park!

How to Get to Lake Kawaguchi from Arakurayama Sengen Park

After finishing up at Arakurayama Sengen Park and Honcho Street in Fujiyoshida, head to the train station to visit your next destination!

Lucky for you, the train ride from Shimoyoshida Station to Kawaguchi is only about 30 minutes. You can take the local train and use your IC card for this ride.

However, once you arrive at the Kawaguchi station, your journey doesn’t stop. You are going to have to work for the views a little. If you just start walking to the lake, you will lose site of Mt. Fuji; the southeast shoreline of Lake Kawaguchi is obstructed.

Where to Go to Get Mt Fuji Views at Lake Kawaguchi?

So, where do you need to go to get views of Mt Fuji? And how do you get there?

The best views of Mt Fuji at Lake Kawaguchi are:

1. At the top of the Mt Fuji Panoramic Ropeway
2. From the Kawaguchiko-ohashi Bridge
3. Or, probably the best view, is on the north shoreline at Oishi Park

I truly hope you make it to Oishi Park because it looks amazing!

Guided Tour to Arakurayama Sengen Park & Lake Kawaguchi

If this all sounds quite exhausting (which it kind of is 😅), then another option is to take a guided tour to Arakurayama Sengen Park and Lake Kawaguchi. The perk, obviously, is that you don’t have to worry about hopping on muliptle trains and buses to catch a view of Mt Fuji from two different viewpoints.

In all honesty, after doing this day trip on our own, I kind of wished we had just taken a guided tour!

And, if I would have booked a guided tour, I would have booked this tour that includes a stop at Arakurayama Sengen Park, Lake Kawaguchi as well as stops at Oshino Hakkai, and Lake Saiko. It has a 4.9/5 rating on Get Your Guide based on 523 reviews!

I spent a lot of time on Arakurayama + Lake Kawaguchi because it has some of the best views. However, I know many people want to avoid the crowds at the popular spots, so here is an alternative Mt Fuji day trip.

Another area for good Mt Fuji views is the Hakone Area which includes views at Lake Ashi located south of Mt Fuji. These views are a more distant view compared to Arakurayama Sengen Park and Lake Kawaguchi, but will still give lake views with less crowds likely.

The best views of Mt Fuji at Lake Ashi are:

• On the south shore of Lake Ashi between Motohakone area and the Hakonmechi area, which you can walk between in about 20 minutes
• One of the two ropeways located on the lake (Hakone Ropeway or Hakone-Komagatake Ropway aka Owakudani)
• On a boat tour (the pirate ship ferries)

How to Get to Hakone/Lake Ashi from Tokyo

Lucky for you, there is a bullet train to Odawara station that takes about 30 minutes. However, from Odawara station you will have to hop on a bus that will take another hour. But total time is still reasonable!

To get from Tokyo to Lake Ashi you will train from Tokyo Station (not Shinjuku) to Odawara Station where you will switch to a bus. Which bus you need depends on where you want to go on Lake Ashi.

• To get to the south shore of Lake Ashi you will take bus Z03 from Odawara Station.
• To get to the cable cars you will take bus J03 or J04.

Bus tickets can be purchased on board with cash only and run every 30 minutes.

Book a train ticket to Odawara Station

Getting Around Lake Ashi

Good news is, Lake Ashi can be pretty walkable. The shoreline is a little over 12 miles and takes about 5 hours to walk.

However, as I mentioned before, the best views of Mt Fuji are on the south shore, on the lake via boat or up the cable car.

• All of these spots are within an hour walk or 36 minute bus ride (there are two cable cars; one located in the middle of the east shoreline and one on the northeast side, Owakudani. The cable car in the middle is an hour from the south shore; the northeast cable car is a 2 hour walk)

If you want to get your exercise in and explore the lake slowly, you can gradually make your way along the shoreline via walking or biking.

Or, your other option is to hop off and on the bus that makes regular stops along the lake.

Another Mt Fuji View from Mishima Skywalk

If you get an early enough start and utilize your time wisely, you can likely fit in a short trip to the Mishima Skywalk.

This is only about a 25 minute bus ride from the southwest shore of Lake Ashi and will give you a unique view of Mt Fuji from a suspension bridge!

Guided Tour to Lake Ashi

Again, if you don’t want to navigate the 3 hour train and bus ride on your own, you can opt to take a guided tour from Tokyo to the Hakone area.

The tour below is the highest-rated tour that takes you to Lake Ashi on Get Your Guide. It includes a stop at Oshino Hakkai (like the previous guide I mentioned), but then continues to Hakone and includes a ride up the longer cable car, Owakudani.

Can you visit all 5 lakes in one day? Technically, you can. Definitely not by public transportation though. If you really want to visit all or several of the lakes I recommend renting a car.

Via car, you can drive from the further most west lake to the furthest east in a little under two hours. So the total distance isn’t bad.

However, you are going to be MOVING all day. If you opt to do this, I recommend starting at Lake Motosu and making your way east.

The drive from Tokyo to Lake Motosu will be about 2.5 hours (for perspective, it would take your about 4 hours via public transportation and then you would have a heck of a time getting from one lake to another).

Rent a car to visit the 5 lakes around Mt Fuji

Where to See Mt Fuji at the 5 Lakes

Some of the best viewpoints at each lake are on labeled in green on my Mt Fuji Google Map, which should save you time on deciding where to go at each lake.

1. Lake Motosu- Nakanokura Pass View Point
2. Lake Shōji- Tatego-Hama Beach
3. Saiko Lake- Saiko Nenba-hama
4. Lake Kawaguchi- Oishi Park
5. Lake Yamanaka- Yamanakako Panorama-dai or Nagaike Water Park

As I write this and am researching drive time between lakes, Google Maps shows that 139 is closed, which would more easily connect Lake Motosu to Lake Shōji and Saiko Lake and significantly cut back on drive time. In all honesty, I can’t find why its closed or how long it will be closed.

Want to get a little closer to Mt Fuji? 5th station is about as close as you can get to Mt Fuji. But, sometimes closer isn’t better, right?

5th station is a popular place for climbers to begin their treks up Mt Fuji. So, you can imagine it is much closer to the peak of Fuji than the 5 lakes at the base.

As I was researching, I was looking into visiting 5th station. However, upon researching it seems you will be way too close to the peak to get a good view of it.

In my humble opinion, I think your best views for a Mt Fuji day trip are going to be the aforementioned spots that are further from Mt Fuji’s peak.

How Much Time Do You Need for a Mt Fuji Day Trip?

All the time. You should plan to spend the majority of your day on your Mt Fuji day trip.

The guided tours are about 10 hours and you should plan for no less than this to do the day trip on your own as well.

Depending on where you have decided to go, your one way trip will be no less than about 2 hours, which means you will need at least 4-5 hours round-trip just for transportation to Mt Fuji!

Additionally, if you opt to try to see two or three stops in your day trip, that will be 30 minutes to an hour between each location, which could take you all the way to 5.5 or more hours of getting to/from your viewpoints!

Cost of a Mt Fuji Day Trip

A Mt Fuji day trip won’t completely bust the budget. Your major expenses will be your train tickets.

Strangely enough, when you take the Fuji Excursion trains, you have to purchase both the local and the express tickets

A one-way ticket on the Fuji Excursion train from Shinjuku to Kawaguchiko is about 4,130 yen (Around $28 USD).

However, the Ōtsuki to Kawaguchiko portion also requires a separate ticket which is 1,770 yen (about $8 USD) one-way. I still don’t understand this concept, but we did end up buying two tickets going one direction.

Therefore, your total train ticket cost for Shinjuku to/from Kawaguchiko will be about 11,800 yen ($80 USD) round-trip.

So, if you are on the fence about a guided tour due to cost of tours, you are going to spend about the same price whether you do the day trip on your own or do a guided tour.

Best Time of the Year for Viewing Mt Fuji

All of this is a waste of breath if the weather isn’t right. Did you know the entirety of Mt Fuji is only fully visible on about 35% of days throughout the year?

The best time to view Mt Fuji is actually in the winter, from around November to February. This is directly opposite of the most common times people visit Japan, unfortunately.

So before you plan a whole day visiting Mt Fuji, make sure the weather will be right! Here are two resources for checking the visibility of Mt Fuji when you visit:

1. Fujisan Watchers provides a live cam view of the current conditions of Mt Fuji
2. Fuji-San provides a rating for predicting visibility so you can plan a little more ahead of time

Unfortunately, you are at the mercy of the weather to get epic views of Mt Fuji, so may the good luck be with you!

As you can see, it can take a bit of effort for a Mt Fuji day trip from Tokyo, but I promise if you catch it on a clear day it will be worth it!

Also, bonus tip, if you plan to visit Osaka, you can get a great view of Mt Fuj from the bullet train if you are sitting on the right side of the train on the way there!