If you are in Japan, you have to see this iconic mountain!
It is unbelievably accessible from Tokyo. Standing at 3,776m (12,380 feet), it is a reasonable tall mountain. There is a huge difference in temperature between the foot and peak of the mountain. Due to the height difference, the weather can change suddenly.
Climbing Mt. Fuji without adequate preparations can lead to altitude sickness, hypothermia, and other life-threatening situations. Be well prepared before you embark on your journey.
Even during July, which is the peak of summer in Japan, you will find some snow near the summit. It can get extremely windy and cold during the night and early mornings. Although, you can climb during the day, but climbing in the night and seeing the sun rise from the top, at the break of dawn is arguably one of the best Japanese experiences.
A little bit about the mountain, Mount Fuji is the symbol of Japan. The mountain contributes to Japan’s physical, cultural, and spiritual geography. It is the tallest mountain in Japan. Mount Fuji has been a sacred site for the practitioners of Shinto (native religion of Japan) since 7th century. The Japanese are generally clean people but not finding even a single piece of trash on the entire trip was the absolute stand out take away for me.
P.S: You can send post cards to your loved ones from the top of Fuji, so keep a pen and addresses of your loved ones handy before you start climbing 🙂
HOW TO GET THERE: Since every time I went straight to the mountain from the airport, out of the two different routes I tried, the best one was to take NEX train directly from Narita airport to Shunjuku. You can leave your luggage at Shunjuku in the cloak room or lockers at the bus terminal and take the bus directly to Fuji Subaro Line 5th station. You can start trekking from the point the bus drops you.
DISTANCE: About 6 KMS
MAX ALTITUDE: 3,776 meters
DURATION: 6 to 8 hours ascent and 3 to 4 hours descent
TEMPERATURE: Lowest (-5°C) , Highest (20°C)
CAMERA: Sony Action Cam, Sony Xperia Phone & Sony Alpha 7 series
MUSIC: Japanese Dawn – Daniel Kaede
Alo Japan.