Explore Mount Fuji with Family | Vanlife Japan Tips

Explore Mount Fuji with Family | Vanlife Japan Tips

yeah unfortunately our her daughter’s going back to the States this is always the hardest part of military life love you [Music] bye [Music] hey good morning folks from beautiful countryside Japan here in Yamaguchi Prefecture check this out everyone the farmers are starting to plant their rice fields this is a really cool part of the year you know all the frogs and everything starts coming to life so for the past uh 8 nine months I’ve been following uh Ryan on YouTube Canadian young guy uh and he’s uh traveling around Japan van life absolutely 100% van life and uh we’ve been chit chit chatting here and there he’s like “Hey when you happen to be in the area you know look me up and we can uh meet up you’re welcome to spend the night stay at our guest house.” And so on and unfortunately last night it was a little bit late by the time I saw his message but he’s like “Hey I happen to be in Yamaguchi so maybe we can link up.” So absolutely to come on over unfortunately it was a little bit late but he was able to make it but anyway that’s his van right there and uh we’re going to eat some breakfast and kind of chitchat here a little bit he’s uh really really really talented uh he’s a very great content uh great personality free to go and do those kind of great things so check him out meanwhile we are going to get ready to go up to Mount Fuji so hopefully you enjoy this trip and we’re going to spend some time with uh our family so please come along and we yet again we decide to stay at this rest area is on the Sano it’s called Takara Zuka Kita uh the reason why we end up staying here and this is our third time I believe is because it’s probably about a 5h hour drive from our house uh north heading towards Tokyo so it’s a good really nice clean restrooms uh very modern even gives you instructions on how to use them and uh very clean with the the typical alcohol spray that’s pretty common in Japan unfortunately as you can see it is uh very popular with uh a lot of the truckers but that is quite common throughout Japan there’s not really much you can do about it if you’re going to make a quick stop in the rest area on the along the highways like this guy here is about to get right next to me but it is what it is fortunately our van it happens to be a um Kota High the the conversion company is a Toys Box they do a really good job at insulating it so it’s actually pretty uh quiet in there so but yeah let’s go ahead and uh get some rest and uh hit the road tomorrow towards Mount Fuji okay so we’re going to be spending two nights here hello Amelia what are you doing trying to catch bug trying and we’re going to be spending a couple nights here right and you got a little cabin or there’s Maya over there say hi Maya say hello all right let’s go i’ll show you how to do it it’s bouncy it’s bouncier than you think can you not this is so bouncy right here you step away from it i don’t trust my child coco push i can’t let go i’m going to fall push i’m trying not to mama push [Music] go Cody daddy cody’s turn and then my turn then it’s my turn it’s my turn after daddy dad it’s me my bra nobody can use this oh no why are you shaking so much [Laughter] [Music] swing it i don’t know how to swim it [Music] [Laughter] [Music] she’s made it further than all of you i’m doing it it’s hard to touch [Music] good job there you go Millia [Music] you’re doing it there you go don’t Don’t get distracted walk straight [Music] doing it doing it don’t get distracted you’re almost there can someone push that rope down push it down you got it down you’re going to have think you’re gonna You want to hold on to me so you can get off or you going to make it to the There you go good job here i did it you did it come on i did it good job hey good job just walk there you go so you’re doing it straight push it down a little bit for her [Music] good job Maya you’re doing it Maya i want to try it again but mama I hope you don’t fall asleep good job don’t don’t don’t distract her ma’s doing it why did it quick you yeah she did whoa look at her good job she can barely reach it she’s hugging now you’re helping her what do you mean you can’t reach it you’re not tall enough [Music] [Music] not going to get any water whoa oh good job she’s like I didn’t even need help getting it off and I actually did it on the first try that’s right [Music] papa can we eat with you sure we’re all eating together be right here but do it over there there’s no wind yet huh oh there’s plenty of wind y’all ready do it that way that way okay here we go ah that one was not very good huh are you ready oh I we got We have to go that way ah all right let’s do it from the balcony i am no no no no no no yes which way are you you ready yes that way hopefully it doesn’t land on the on the roof okay 3 2 1 go okay never mind ow look i’m not gonna pull it i just want to see if it’s off the Hey the airplane flew so far does that hurt [Music] they’re waiting they’re wondering where I’m at [Music] hold on Maya push us very very very very very very high very very very very very very high no um very very high only two very only two berries you ready go higher higher higher start over start over i’m ready bounce with it don’t fall down that one it’s too high [Music] careful i’m not [Music] Hold it down you said Yeah a little bit lower for you yeah you got it there you go move your hand when when you reach it i need help oh you almost you you’re there there you go i need help you need help with what this uhhuh a little bit more a little bit more a little bit more there you go you got it was so close you got it can you push me just one minute you got it i think yeah you got it [Music] there you go [Music] yeah unfortunately so far we have not been able to see Mount Fuji if I’m not I was thinking it’s back there uh let’s see today it’s going to be raining in the afternoon so most likely we won’t be able to see it all day but that’s the way it is uh we did come in uh Thanksgiving for a trip over here in this area and it’s absolutely gorgeous and uh we were able to see Mount Fuji the entire time which is really nice but this is where the campground that we’re staying at right here Fuji Grandpa they have a shower and actually even kind of a um bathtub not necessarily an onen a real onen but very similar and a really nice big uh spacious campground and they have uh like the uh trailers like let’s call it glamping and then they have uh tent spots down this way and then uh uh spots for vehicles uh the spot that we’re at there’s no power we don’t need power but if you’re looking for power I’m not sure if they have them around here but we do not so they probably don’t but they’re very spacious as you can see uh this is our van and our daughter’s car and there’s plenty of room and the daughter and family are staying in one of the the trailers over there so all right we’re going to go ahead and uh just get ready and enjoy the day with the girls on Canva I had two mugs made and also little business cards type like to give out when we’re traveling and some t-shirts but this is our logo kuinashi in Japanese basically uh 9174 [Music] which is our license plate and also translates to uh no regrets what do y’all think wow mount Fuji decide to come out look at that there you go yeah so let’s go outside and take some nicer pictures yeah so we were fortunate to see Mount Fuji she decided to come out there for a minute i thought that we were not going to be able to see Mount Fuji because it’s you know as you can see it’s still kind of cloudy uh much less snow obviously so this is towards the end of May uh but if you have a chance to come in the winter that’s the best time and then usually the best opportunity to see it because uh there’s less clouds in the the sky for our particular site the toilets are right next to us so we’re still relatively uh new at using our Renault solar panels that I installed and as you can see it’s still quite cloudy let’s go ahead and check out how much wattage we’re bringing in we’re still bringing in 81 watts right now yes I will [Music] [Music] i don’t know [Music] mama you do it is there a weight limit for those things [Music] he’s going to explain how to do it [Music] doing a practice run okay okay good okay good so much yes there you go there you go you can’t do it that way you cannot do that put your legs down like that you okay okay there you go there you go there you go see good job now Maya is ready to move on [Music] good job good job just got to go with it there you go good job okay you’re okay yay [Music] i can’t do that [Music] woo good catch woo she’s fine thank you for worrying about her though oh that’s the crazy one right there i tell you she’s she’s fearless if you notice she starts trying to get higher and higher down was that fun Maya bless you ameilia did you have fun yeah how did you say you feel free you said you felt free too small too small [Music] [Applause] where is he [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] come on good job papa she cannot win [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] you want one of them ah [Music] [Music] heat i think Cody’s having more fun than the Amelia so they have a Fuji view and non Fuji view you ready there you go say hi to papa i mean daddy and mommy where are they they’re back there you see them somewhere over there but mom Fuji is back over there somewhere this thing is for free wow that’s a big bowl huh it’s beautiful out here it’s beautiful out here so beautiful so beautiful go ask them as soon as they come out this way okay did you Did we Did you What no no uhhuh did you What they said no they said no huh why maya said I Maya said I hope they don’t smooch a kiss [Music] she’s almost to me [Music] if we actually do the whole thing can we earn thousand thousand $1,000 $1,000 how about just 100 how about a good night’s sleep 50 each then you have 50 each wow that’s good math on the mouth i know [Music] okay heat not fast did you have fun taking pro racer lanes that was fun it was fast [Music] yeah unfortunately our her daughter’s going back to the States this is always the hardest part of military life love you [Music] [Music] bye well after we said goodbye to our daughter and granddaughter and son-in-law we are heading back home uh kind of the the long route we’re taking down the ocean through Shizuoka and Fuji uh destination is uh Biwa uh Lake Biwa and uh that’s uh where we’re heading for but not sure where we’re going to end up so that’s kind of the goal for today so let’s go [Music] is not so great that’s pretty cool how the reflection of the water kind of bouncing off [Music] hello i stayed at this miti noi last summer on my way back to Iwauni from Tokyo and I actually spent the night over there across and you could walk from under under that tunnel down into ocean it’s really beautiful the only thing is it was quite uh noisy at night i was just telling my wife that you see all these bikers and everything two three o’clock in the morning there were a bunch of young kids over there having fun which was great but not for noise-wise so not not recommended on this side but here I’ll show you on the right side where I stayed at and it was actually much nicer yeah where I stayed at was in this parking down this way which is on the opposite end of the Mino they even have a foot on there isn’t that so cool so this is Mi Noeki Den Park but we still have about two more hours to Biwa well we made it to the Mi Noeki here in uh Lake Biwa Biwako we’ll be spending the night here and tomorrow heading back home hey good morning folks yeah I always like being a little nosy see who showed up overnight what kind of rigs they have what are they using so it’s kind of cool all the different types of RVs and people in their little minivans and little cars and unfortunately many times truckers in their big trucks usually you don’t see that at Minokis but because we happen to be at Lake Biwa Biwako which is over there right behind us we happen to be over the bridge by it so it’s a little bit more busier than than usual type of places but short walk to the bathroom pretty clean the market is over there most likely we’re going to wait around and get a stamp for my wife’s book and walk around and make the drive back home which is about 6 hours from here we’re near actually pretty close to Kyoto from here all right let’s go ahead and uh get some breakfast [Music] i don’t feel [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] That’s interesting [Music] [Music]

Explore Mount Fuji with your family the off-the-beaten-path way! In this video, we take a camper van trip to Campica Fuji GrinPa, a quiet campground with incredible views of Japan’s most iconic mountain.

If you’re tired of overcrowded tourist spots and overpriced hotels, vanlife in Japan might be the solution. Whether you’re traveling by camper van, RV, or just a car, this is how you can see Japan differently—especially with kids.

On Coco Lencho Japan, we document life as a foreigner in rural Japan, including:
🚐 Vanlife Japan tips
🏡 Akiya (abandoned house) renovation
🧑‍🔧 How to find real jobs in Japan as a foreigner (not just teaching English)
🌱 Living in the Japanese countryside

This family trip reminded us why we chose this lifestyle—peace, nature, and freedom.

📍Highlights of this video:

Family-friendly Mount Fuji campground
Japan vanlife gear & travel tips
Life in Japan off the tourist path
Budget-friendly travel ideas for families
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