Climbing Mount Fuji – Watch the Most Beautiful Sunrise in the World [Cinematic Hiking Japan Vlog]

Climbing Mt Fuji is an experience of extremes. From your first glimpse from afar it’s a serene, gently sloping mountain. On the trail it’s a barren never-ending zig zag ascent of doom, reaching the summit and catching the sunrise is a once-in-a-lifetime event and then the descent will wreck your knees.

Mount Fuji is actually a volcano that last erupted in 1707. Located 60 miles away from Tokyo, it was first climbed by a monk in 663 and later, the base of the mountain was used for training samurai. Nowadays, over 300,000 people climb Fuji each year – making it possibly the most-climbed mountain in the world.

The ‘bullet climb’ is a way of hiking Mount Fuji by ascending overnight to catch the sunrise, then heading straight back down in the morning. Watching the sunrise from above the clouds was one of the most astonishing sights we’d ever seen – the Japanese even have a word for it: goraikō, meaning the ‘arrival of light’.

In this cinematic hiking video, we make our way from Tokyo to the start point at Fuji Subaru 5th Station (2300m). Following the Yoshida ascending route, we make our way up the trail until we take a break at Tomoe-Kan 7th Station (2800m). From there we power on, catching the sunrise at 3550m and reaching the summit at 3715m, 11 hours later.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
– The climbing season is short – from July to early September.
– There is an ‘optional’, yet highly encouraged donation of Y1000 and don’t forget to bring some change for the toilets/vending machines.
– Altitude sickness is a real danger and you don’t know how your body will react until you experience it. You can take Acetazolamide as a prophylactic but consult your doctor first.

Where should we go next? Let us know in the comments!

Cinematic Hiking Vlogs is a video series that combines cinematic hiking video and vlog styles to showcase the best walks and hiking trails in the UK. We’ll cover everything from undulating beginner hikes to mountain climbing adventures – so make yourself a strong cup of tea, grab a couple of biscuits and kick back as we take you on a cinematic tour of the UK’s best hiking destinations.

HIKE DETAILS
Full Route:
Distance: 14km
Difficulty: 4/5 for 1415m of ascent on a 30% gradient

HIKING DIFFICULTY RATING
1/5 – Flat or Undulating Trail
2/5 – Hills (Under 600m)
3/5 – Mountains (600m+)
4/5 – Mountains (900m+) with ridge walking or scrambling
5/5 – Mountains (900m+) with ridge walking or sustained scrambling

SOCIAL MEDIA
Follow us on Instagram:
Follow us on Facebook:
Follow me on Instagram:
Follow me on Facebook:

CREDITS

Music
Flight Pack 1 – 4/6 (Segeln) by Sascha Ende
Link:
License:

Sound Effects
Sound effects from
Nightingale from
Free sound effects from
“Let’s Play with Free Sound Effects”

Images from Freepik
“Night Tropical Island Ocean” Designed by upklyak
“Comic Speech Bubbles” Designed by macrovector
“Kawaii Expressions” Designed by gstudioimagen

Video
Various CG Backgrounds by RoyaltyFreeTube

#mountfuji #cinematichiking #cinematicvlog