Mount Fuji

Mount Fuji is Japan's highest mountain at 3,776 m, an active volcano on the border of Yamanashi and Shizuoka prefectures about 100 km south-west of Tokyo. Climbers go up in July and August on four trails, usually over two days with a night in a mountain hut, and sightseers come all year to the Fuji Five Lakes for the view.

Fuji rises almost alone from the surrounding land, so its nearly symmetrical cone can be seen from Tokyo on clear days. The present cone, called New Fuji, formed over older volcanoes about 10,000 years ago. Its last eruption, the Hōei eruption, began on 16 December 1707 halfway down the southeast flank, where the side cone of Mount Hōei still stands, and spread ash across the surrounding provinces.

For centuries Fuji has been a sacred mountain. The Fujisan Hongū Sengen Taisha shrine at Fujinomiya, at the foot of the mountain, owns most of the summit area above the eighth station. Members of the Fuji-kō pilgrimage groups climbed it in large numbers during the Edo period, and women were officially barred from the summit until 1872. Artists made the mountain a national symbol, notably Hokusai in his series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji. UNESCO inscribed it in 2013 as a cultural site whose components include the Fujisan Hongū Sengen Taisha shrine, the Shiraito Falls and the Miho no Matsubara pine beach.

Four trails start at fifth stations around the mountain. The Yoshida Trail on the Yamanashi side is the most popular, with many mountain huts. The Fujinomiya Trail on the Shizuoka side has the highest fifth station, while the Gotemba Trail starts lowest. The Subashiri Trail, also in Shizuoka, completes the four. Many climbers stay overnight in a hut and set off in the early hours to watch the sunrise, called goraikō, from the summit.

At the foot of the north side, the Fuji Five Lakes, among them Kawaguchi and Yamanaka, give famous reflections of the cone. The mountain's flanks hold more than 70 lava tunnels, and to the southwest the Shiraito Falls spread as hundreds of small streams of spring water fed by Fuji.

Climbing is only allowed in the summer season, and each prefecture has its own climbing fee, registration and gate rules, so check the trail you plan to use. Huts must be booked in advance, and climbers without a hut reservation have to start in the morning. Temperatures at the top can be near freezing even in August, so bring warm layers and rain gear. For views without climbing, clear winter mornings are best, as summer haze often hides the summit by midday.

Highway buses run from Shinjuku Bus Terminal to the Fuji Subaru Line 5th Station during the climbing season and to Kawaguchiko all year, and the Fujikyu Railway also reaches Kawaguchiko. Private cars are banned from the 5th Station roads in peak summer, so drivers park at designated lots and take the shuttle. In season, trail gates close at 14:00 and reopen at 3:00 for anyone without a hut booking. The Yoshida Fire Festival on 26 and 27 August marks the end of the climbing season in Fujiyoshida.