48 Hours at Mount Fuji

During a trip to Japan, a visit to the iconic Mount Fuji is a must. I only visited the area around the famous volcano for the first time on my third trip to Japan - and looking back, I regret not going sooner. In this post, I’ll take you along on our visit to Fuji, where we spent 48 hours.

Day 1

Most people travel from Tokyo to Mount Fuji, but we were coming from Kyoto. For extra flexibility, we decided to rent a car - I didn’t feel like relying on the buses around Fuji. We took the shinkansen to Atami, a small coastal town. There, we picked up our rental car and drove to our first stop: Gotemba Premium Outlets.

The only reason we went there was because my boyfriend is on a mission to visit all the Pokémon stores in Japan. This outlet happens to have a small Pokémon Store, so we made a detour to Gotemba. It took us about an hour to drive there. The outlet is said to have stunning views of Mount Fuji, but due to rainy weather, we couldn’t see a thing. No worries - we still thought it was worth the trip.

The outlet has a wide range of stores where you can buy brand-name items at much lower prices. I got UGG slippers for only € 60,-. One advantage is that at most stores you can shop VAT-free if you show your passport. At the Pokémon Store, we picked up a special Mount Fuji Pikachu plush as a souvenir. We also stopped by Adidas, Nike, Abercrombie, and Arc’teryx. We didn’t linger too long, as we were eager to reach our final destination: Mount Fuji. Before continuing our journey, we had lunch at Shake Shack—our favorite burger place, which unfortunately we don’t have in the Netherlands. All in all, we’d definitely recommend a trip to Gotemba Outlets, as long as you have a car (and space in your suitcase).

From Gotemba Premium Outlets, it’s only a 30-minute drive to our final destination for the day: Lake Yamanakako. We had booked one night at a ryokan called Guesthouse Zen, located right on the lake. We parked the car, checked in (the owner wasn’t there, so we messaged him and simply let ourselves into the room), and admired the space. It was a simple, traditional Japanese room: tatami mats, two futons, a closet, and a low table with two chairs. The window looked out toward Mount Fuji—but it was so cloudy, we couldn’t see a thing. The other facilities (bathroom, toilets, kitchen, and living room) were shared with the two other rooms in the ryokan.

After sitting by the window for a while, we were surprised to see Fuji slowly emerging from the clouds. It was the end of the day, so we grabbed the camera and ran outside, soaking in one of the most beautiful sunsets of our lives. We felt incredibly lucky to see Fuji at all - September is notoriously unreliable for visibility. To also witness such a breathtaking sky was beyond words. We spent about an hour at the lake, taking photos and just enjoying the moment.

When it got dark, we walked to one of the few restaurants near the ryokan for a simple meal. Before bed, we grabbed some snacks from a 7/11 and then tucked ourselves into the futons - our backs definitely needed time to adjust to the firm bedding.

Day 2

The next morning was cloudy and rainy again. When we woke up, Mount Fuji had completely disappeared from view. No problem, we were just happy to be in such a beautiful area. We checked out and drove to a popular restaurant called The Park. Normally, it has a stunning view of Fuji, but all we could see were clouds. We had to wait a bit for a table, but once seated, we enjoyed delicious soufflé pancakes - an excellent breakfast in our book.

After breakfast, we drove around Lake Yamanakako. Along the way, something caught our attention: swan-shaped pedal boats - and the swans were wearing little hats! Even in the rain, we were determined to get out on the water.

We parked by the lake and asked a rental shop for a pedal boat, but they strongly advised against it because of the strong winds. Instead, they offered us motorboats shaped like swans, which would handle the weather better. Fine by us - though sadly, these boats weren’t wearing hats (very important), but you can’t tell when you’re inside anyway. In hindsight, we were very glad with this choice: everyone in the pedal boats was barely moving, while we sped past them with ease. After about half an hour, we returned the boat. I can imagine it’s even more magical with Mount Fuji in the background, but we still had a great time.

Next, we grabbed a coffee (and a hair comb, because the wind had turned my hair into one big knot) at 7/11 and got back in the car. Our next destination: Lake Kawaguchiko. On the way, we made two stops - first at a large Book Off to hunt for secondhand treasures, then at a roadside udon restaurant for lunch.

Overall, we had a wonderful two days at Mount Fuji. Would it have been nice to see more of the mountain? Absolutely. In that case, our itinerary probably would have looked quite different. But we knew visibility is notoriously poor in September, and we’re very grateful that we got to see it, even if just for a little while. We’ll definitely be back - hopefully with better luck next time.