Exploring Mount Fuji with Kids 🌸 Unforgettable Family Trip to Japan!

Exploring Mount Fuji with Kids 🌸 Unforgettable Family Trip to Japan!

We are Susie, Martin, Julian, and Leo, a family from Seattle traveling to Japan for a 25-day vacation, if you can call it that. Most people would not even consider doing something like this with a 9-month-old and a almost four-year-old. It’s our first overseas trip as a family of four, and we’ve got lots of adventures ahead, including stops at Mount Fuji, Tokyo, Kamakura, Itto, and Atami. But first, we need to endure the 10 and a half hour direct flight from Seattle to Tokyo. Are we ready for this? No. No. No. The truth is it’s not even started cuz it’s almost 11 hour flight and um we’ve barely made it to the gate. So, yes, it’s okay for now. But the real big block of challenge comes right now. Suffice to say, it was not easy. We did our best to keep the kids preoccupied and of course fed them lots of snacks. But unfortunately, they never fell asleep at the same time and we did not get a single wink of sleep for ourselves. It was probably the hardest flight that we’ve ever endured. I guess it could be worse, but we’re really exhausted and um it’s complicated. Like we haven’t slept for 20 something hours. Um, two kids, lots of baggage, new country, bureaucracy. I’m sad. I miss home. Oh, you miss home already? How are you, Leo? We stumbled to our Airbnb and all went straight to bed. You’re rolling. Yeah. This is how we’re getting to Tokyo right now. We’ll be going to Mount Fuji the day like this. I got my coffee. It was not easy in Tokyo. It’s not as much of a coffee culture as other places. So, we had to go bunch around the neighborhood, but I got nice good coffee. Actually, in the end, after coffee, it was time to find a place for the boys to play and expend their energy. Luckily, there was no shortage of playgrounds in most parts of Tokyo. This is where we came to Tokyo. Matt just clothes. So, we’re actually on our way out. Uh we’ll be leaving here in really less than an hour, but I thought I’d show you around our first accommodation that we’re only staying in in one night and unfortunately, but uh it’s an Airbnb. So, this is the entryway. Immediately opens into a kitchen. You get a fridge, freezer, washer, no dryer. You have to manually dry your clothes. Little sink, burner. So, sink. Toilet. You get the famous Japanese toilets here and big shower room. Actually, big shower, even a tub, a little sitting area. And then the main living area. Yeah. So little rascals in it right now. Hi buddies. Hi. Look at this guy. See, he’s standing now. Bed is folded up. But it’s in here. And that really is it. We’re on the bus to Mount Fuji. We’re touring and we’re fresh actually for having arrived yesterday. Very jetlike. Yeah. Well, I’m looking I’m looking out the window. Are you excited for Mount Fuji? Yeah. Yeah. Is it your favorite? From Tokyo, it was a 2-hour bus ride to Kawaguchi Station in the Fuji Five Lakes region. It was a smooth and peaceful ride, especially when the boys fell asleep. Best traveler ever. A couple hours later, we arrived. So huge mess up here near Mount Fuji where a lot of tourists and no taxis almost exist, no Ubers and taking it’s taking us one bus from Tokyo, another bus I mean between stations and now a third bus to get to our coast. So it’s crazy. Uh at least today it’s really sunny and so there’s a really really clear view of Mount Fuji. So I’ve tried to snap a couple of pics today. Uh hopefully the weather, you know, sustains, but there’s no guarantee. So, yeah, it is super busy. You holding on to I see yellow number two. Finally, we made it to the hostel. And despite its name, we actually had our own private room and bathroom. How you doing, Juju? Good. You good? I’m a little coughing. Yeah. He was asleep. Yes, he is. And my daddy has back. Well, we made it another harrowing day of travel. So, it wasn’t going to be that hard until we got here to Mount Fuji area, what’s called Fuji 5 lakes. And it’s so congested. It’s probably because it’s cherry blossom season in April, but uh we crawled here 3 mi took an hour by bus. Yeah. Yeah. So, and we were way out on the opposite lake or end of the lake. And we I chose that because that’s where you get the best view of Mount Fuji with the lake in front of it is super stunning. But um the congestion just killed us coming in and you know, especially with two little kids. And this is the day after we just flew and didn’t sleep for 24 hours. Yeah. So, I don’t know that I recommend other people do it with us really young kids, but uh but we did do it. How are you doing? Is the little one. After quickly settling in, we walked across the street to enjoy golden hour at Oishi Park. stick with us. Even though this park is very busy, it’s for a good reason. As you can see, this is a very popular place to be uh photographing Mount Fuji. There were endless photo compositions of Mount Fuji from here, especially when the lighting is on point. Yeah, the weather today is absolutely stellar. It’s also very clear. This is a really good shot. Sorry, hold on. Anyway, super pretty because there are cherry blossoms, but also this is just a really nice garden with a lot of colorful flowers in the area too. So, lots and lots of compositions for uh photos. We made it. Yeah, we have made it. It was so much work, but it’s amazing. This, I think, is the best view of Mount Fuji, I think. So, a lot of other people seem to agree. There’s a lot of people here. I hope they don’t crowd the restaurants cuz we’re all very hungry. We might. Uh, but yeah, this is definitely a good time of day to be here as well. I think it’s coming up on golden hour. And yeah, it’s just so pretty. Yeah, it’s very very iconic. This lake, I guess, is the big lake here out of five. The area is called Fujifire Lakes. And this is my bodyuch. And so I picked the one that looked like it had the best view. It has a decent host for us with a private room. So to us it’s practically a hotel. Mhm. And um coming here was a huge pain like we mentioned. But now it’s calm and we have three days. So we’ll get we’ll make the most out of it. There you are. Rasco. It’s the most you get from him right now. I’m picking up. Yes, he’s picking rocks and being muddy. For dinner, there ended up being only one restaurant that stayed open after sunset. We ordered tempura for the boys and soup, a regional specialty of udon noodles and miso soup. Martin here. Morning at Mount Fuji at Lake Kavaguchiko. I snuck out of bed so I can get this shot. There’s Mount Fuji in all its glory. I do believe this is the best view of it on the opposite bank of Lake Kavaguchiko. So you can see the lake and the mountain. Famous for its perfect slopes. Very very appealing shape. Special moment out here. You can see Mount Fuji behind me. Very beautiful place. And the one of the kids is sleeping. The other one is a little jet lag waking up. So it was a good time to come out here. I didn’t quite get the sunbreak. That happened really early. I may try one other time. But the light was quite nice and now it’s actually starting to get really bright. I took some nice soft light photos in the morning lights and birds are singing. It’s nice. No mist. I was wondering if the yoga missed. Good. Good. Very special meditative moment out here at Mount Fuji. So far the vacation is off to a good start with the small um problem that we’re really tired. But today is the first day. We’re actually doing a lot better. We’re here for 3 days now and we’re settled and we have slept properly and everything. So now it begins the real fun part. Meanwhile, everyone enjoyed a hearty breakfast at the hostel and then we were off for the day. Boy, off to a good start actually. Mhm. Everybody’s cleanly fed. We’re bathed. We’re fed. And I think we all got pretty good sleep last night relative to uh the other nights. So hopefully today goes a lot better than the other two days have been because honestly it’s been hard. Well, this might be one of the most picturesque playgrounds we’ve ever seen. Look at that. There’s no doubt about that. That’s incredible. Woo! Amazing day here by Mount Fuji. They tell you it’s often not clear, but we have just complete blue sky and warm, really warm t-shirt weather basically. Mhm. No jackets today. Yeah. The kids are playing with the glorious view of the glacier. Mhm. And we’re just going to keep walking. Smash me. And Julian is happy. Leo is at the playground with his shoes on for the first time pretty much cruising. So yeah, family vacation in a way, but also we’re traveling really hard. We’re not really sitting and um kind of doing it to ourselves. Most people would not even consider doing something like this with a 9month-old and a almost fouryear-old. Uh we’re staying in five different locations. We’re traveling a bunch through Japan, mostly in Tokyo. But that too is a crazy thing of its own. But right now, at this moment, this playground right on the lake right by Mount Fuji is makes it all worth it. Very magical. So yesterday, we caught a bus out here to this uh little town uh on the side of Mount Fuji, and it took a long time. like that bus, it just made a lot of stops and uh there was just a lot of traffic. And so today we’re deciding to walk back to the busier part of town just to avoid that crazy bus hopefully. And also just because it’s so pretty. I mean, look at this backdrop. Who wouldn’t want to walk here in this kind of weather? So yesterday when we drove in on the bus, we uh went through a bunch of tunnels and we were wondering how this walking path was going to deal with those tunnels and it turns out it just goes around. So so far so good with this walking path. It is uh taking us where we need to go. It is also stroller friendly, bike friendly, so it’s a nice alternative if you don’t want to drive or you don’t want to take the bus. This is how we’re crossing Japan. Everyone said it couldn’t be done with two children this age. I mean, it’s not easy. Let’s be real. But it it is worth it. This is just gorgeous. Look at that. Yeah. We finally found this little park here with a bunch of blossom, cherry blossoms. It’s super gorgeous. I’m just happy being here. You running? I’m coming. There we go. You know, you’re going to have to roll your sleeves cuz you’ll get wet. The boy just wants to throw rocks in Lake Kagucho with the view of Mount Fuji. Well, we’re walking by and we see French flags and European architecture to our left. Yeah, they call it the musical forest. They made some kind of little European village with classic music and classic European architecture with a view of Mount Fuji. cuz why not, right? It’s pretty special. So, I mean, it looks pretty nice, actually. Especially for Asians, it’s a cool thing because Yeah, they don’t get to see Europe as much. Mhm. There are some other things like that, but it’s not really what we’re after. Though, the classical music and architecture do tempt me and the views. I like the idea. Yeah, it’s nice to have that as an option if if you want to do that here. What’s cool is that we get the view for this whole walk. Yeah, it would be probably like 40 minutes uninterrupted, but at the moment with the kids and so on, it’s probably like an hour, an hour and a half. Mhm. And we’re stopping and stuff. And most of it now has been lined with cherry blossom. And previously, it’s still just an amazing walking path right on the lake. Mhm. You don’t mess with the traffic that way. Mhm. And every country should always make a walking path, especially near natural settings, but everything should at least have a walkable alternative. walkable and or wheel friendly because it’s working perfectly with the stroller and also bikes. So, it’s nice to, you know, I’ve even saw a guy in a wheelchair, a motorized wheelchair doing this path. So, it’s nice for all ages and all abilities to take advantage of it. Attempting to translate this with Apple transl. Yeah, this is working real well. Yes. Right now, uh our translation apps are not working. They’re not really serving us too well. How is it? Good. You like it? I like Yeah. Good. So, on the menu, they had uh homemade grape juice, which I don’t know if I’ve ever had homemade grape juice before, besides wine. That doesn’t really count. Oh, that’s good. You’re right. That is delicious. Yeah, it’s all very proper. It’s like real ingredients and the prep is nice and the dishes are traditional, like wooden and metal and whatnot. And I had to get unagi cuz I love unagi. I think there’s unagi two ways actually. I think this is unagi tempura and then unagi the way that we know it. Really good. Soft and it doesn’t taste like the unagi we usually have in the US. I don’t know what’s different about it, but it tastes I don’t know fresher. It’s a more subtle flavor to it. a eating tempura trying himself. Yeah. The temple. So, um after lunch, we caught a taxi to catch a postcard famous view of Mount Fuji. Hey, Juju. What are we going to do now? Go upstairs to the new world. Yeah, you can ride on my back. We’re going up a hypoda. I forgot its name, but it’s like the classic view supposedly. So, we’re going to climb with two children on our backs and so on. Let’s see how it goes. It looks beautiful so far. Okay. Happy boy. Not such a happy daddy, but we’ll make it. We haven’t even started yet. Can’t be unhappy yet. This is a workout. You see, this is a workout. Go. In case you’re wondering, it is 398 steps up to the pagota. I don’t know if you can tell, but that is quite vertical. We’re doing it, Leo. We are doing it. Yeah, the two of them are over combined. Combined. Yeah, there’s no entrance fee, but you might pay in time as there can be a long line to the primary viewing spot on top, especially during high tourist season. We actually lucked out. It was about a 30inut wait and we got 5 minutes to enjoy the views from the observation deck on top before being told to move on. It’s a cool view, but I wasn’t the most creatively inspired seeing that everyone around me was getting the exact same photo. So, even if you choose not to go to the primary viewing platform, there are plenty of stunning views all around. Short train. From the pagota, we walked 15 minutes to the Shimo Yoshida train station where we enjoyed our first Japanese strawberries. It puts those really gross strawberries in the grocery store to shame. Japanese strawberries are famous for being as sweet and juicy as they look. And these definitely lived up to the hype. Leo’s first Japanese strawberry. Yes. Dad, you give you strawberry and that’s what that means. So, this is the Japanese invented citrus, the deco pon, which in America is called sumo. We buy it from California on the west coast. But this may not be the best one in Japan, but it’s close to what we eat, but ours is better so far. We’ll look for more cuz this is my favorite citrus of all. So about a 5minute walk from the train station in town, you can get to another shrine. This one obviously doesn’t have the views of Mount Fuji. They’re kind of obstructed by this grove of trees here, but it’s nice. Delicious mountain water. Yeah, if you’ve seen her Bulgarian videos, you know I’m a fan. Delicious. This shrine was a nice change of pace from the crowds at the pagota. It was peaceful and relaxing. Where are we going, Gigi? Tallest land. Yep. For our last day in this part of Japan, we decided to do something for Julian. And on the way out, we marveled at the huge pileup of traffic to reach Oishi Park. There’s so many people. They’re maxing at the parking lot. So, where are they going to go? I don’t know. After a quick 20-minute taxi ride, we arrived at Fujik Highlands, an amusement park that opened in 1968. Back in Paris, Ranjevu. So, we’re here to find Thomas Land, but instead we’ve walked into Little Paris. It’s actually pretty cute. It’s nicely done. Oh, he has a banger, so I’m happy. Needless to say, a Japanese amusement park was not on our to-do list, but uh it happened to be right by the bus station that we pulled into here. And uh most importantly, it has Thomas Land. So, we’re going to go to it today just for the boy. All right, we found Thomas Land. Are you happy, too? I had Harley weight. Wait for Thomas. Okay, now you got to turn. Keep turning. If you’ve got a Thomas fan in your life, then definitely bring them here. What’s in there? So cute. It is cute. Yeah, there’s your jeans. It’s not too crowded, but it has enough people and entertainment to be an easygoing family adventure. There. Now you’re bigger. You’re bigger than Thomas now. You’re on daddy’s shoulders. There you are. It’s definitely geared toward young children and as many gentle rides and activities for them to enjoy. A dinosaur. Gordon’s building a dinosaur. Oh, there’s another one right here. Top of hat. Top of the hat is a stamp. Okay, let’s put it right there. Very good. Yep. There we go. Really hard there. Who’s in there? I am. You are. Are you making Thomas whistle? I love that even the bathroom here is themed. And they have the little mother’s room here, which is nice. Changing room and kidsiz sinks. So, we’re done with Thomas Land and Fuji Q. And uh on this side of it, we exited and it looks like there’s a train station for a real train. So, we’re going to try to use that to get back. I guess had we known we could just take the train here, we could have done that this morning, but it’s nice to be able to take it back. So, turning bugs. Yeah. Did you like Thomas? Yeah. Thomas Land. Still looking at the things. I had a lot of fun riding the rides with you. I love that even at these train stations, they have like vending machines for like actually good stuff. Like you can get ice cream bars. You can get, you know, soda, you get juice, you can get your lattes, you can get all kinds of tea, and pay with a QR code. So, very easy to get a snack if you need one. And they don’t even need staff here to run this. Hi, baby. You feel good after your nap? Hi. We caught the Fuji View Express and we’re really impressed with how modern, clean, and fast it was. It’s really too bad we only rode it for one stop. All right, we got off the train. The train was actually one of the nicest trains I think I’ve ever been on. And unfortunately, we only rode it Fortunately, we only rode it for one stop. Wish we rode it longer. Yeah, I wish we rode longer. Yeah. What do you think about Japan? Good. I I miss home. Oh, you missed one. Yeah. Whoa. It’s cool. It’s cool. It’s vlogging. Yes. What’s that brown train behind you? How’s the next one? Oh, and look at what’s behind the station. Is that Mount Fuji? Oh, yeah. Yeah. It’s cloudy today. Yeah, it’s very windy here. So, we’re walking and I’ll show you what the sidewalk is. green line is the sidewalk, but it’s also actually how they drain in case of rains and floods. So, the only space they reserve for walking is the drain, the ditch where where the water goes when it rains and it’s covered and you walk on it and that’s your sidewalk. For the sake of saving space, which is a art form in Japan, I’ve been preoccupied with getting us through and not talking on camera too much, but about the topic of getting through, transportation abound in Japan is crazy. like all kinds you can get around. We have a nine-year-old and an almost fouryear-old. Nine year old. Nine month old. Nine month-old. Yeah. So, a little baby and a little boy. And um we’re going around with baggage and all kinds of stuff using public transit pretty much. At times we’ve taken taxis. Google does an amazing job navigating you across all these ways of moving around walkways and public transit. Everything goes very well through the phone. Um it helps us that we have um international coverage through Tree Mobile with our normal plan. And so we just arrived, we turn on our phone and we were like, “Okay, where in Japan do we want to go?” And it works. We’re actually doing it. So far traveling with the boys has been pretty good actually. We’ve obviously had some ups and downs. It hasn’t all been perfect, but for the most part, we’re getting I think they’re recovering from jet lag for the most part, which is the most important, you know, part of this all. Um, and the most important thing so far has been traveling with snacks, especially for the really little one because he just likes to nibble on things. And so just to keep their moods up, even if they say they’re not hungry, just making them stop and eat, stop and use the bathroom. All of that has been pretty important for keeping them on track. So, one thing I was warned about before we came here is that there aren’t a lot of trash cans. Like, they’re, you know, much harder to find here than they are in the US. So, it’s a good idea to always have a bag with you that you can just kind of carry your trash in. And so far, most of the stores that we’ve stopped to buy things, they all offer you plastic bags. And I don’t think they’re charging for it. So, it’s not a thing here yet where you have to have your own plastic bag, but it’s a good idea to pick it up occasionally and use it as your trash bag. Even though the boys had snacked, we were all really hungry for a real meal. I’m starving. All right, follow daddy inside. Well, we find ourselves having our first uh yaki niku beef meal here in Japan. So, we are somewhat cooking for ourselves because the uh beef came like medium rare. So, you can heat it up on the stone and cook it a little bit further if you want to, which is essential for the boys really. It’s really nice presentation and so far pretty fun cooking experience. And we have our own private room here, which is nice. Good to have all this space for the little one to roam around a little. The beef was tender and delicious. And overall, the experience is worth the stop. Yeah, okay. Get you some beef. It’s nice and soft. Mhm. Mhm. So now it’s about 4:30 and we walked from town to where the train station/ bus station is. We’re going to walk back to our hostel. This is why it’s nice to walk behind a stroller sometimes cuz you never know what can fall out. Sometimes it’s important. So there’s our walking trail. And this lake, by the way, is Kawaguchi. I booked this trip on this side here on the lake knowing that there’s a walking path all around. And I don’t know who else, you know, with a 9-month-old and a three something year old who does that, but we legitimately were planning to be walking an hour by the lake instead of, you know, sitting in the busy area or whatever. uh but is because I trust you that in Japan they’ve done a fantastic job uh with the walking path and you can actually get where you need to go because many countries don’t do that properly but here everywhere the walking path is very very nice and so for a few hours a day or maybe one or two we’ve been walking on the lake with a big view of Mount Fuji right here and the Sakura blooming and all that and And that was like part of the trip for me, like these nice awesome walks. So, this part of the path deviated a little bit where this bridge is. We actually have to go under the bridge to get to the other side, which is nice cuz that way we don’t have to continue with traffic to uh cross the bridge. clear directions, easy to find this path. Uh, a lot of people biking it. It seems like really good bike path. We just passed another stroller, so there are some people choosing to bring their kids out here, too. But I will say we really have not seen very many babies out here. If you have seen babies, they tend to be with the tour groups and the tour buses. I don’t think anybody that we’ve encountered anyway has brought their two kids on their own. All right, there we go. Jesus is that tickles. That tickles. All right, made it on the other side of this bridge by going underneath. Well, we made it back. It’s about 6:00 now, so it took us about an hour and a half. Uh, and yeah, it’s like sunset right now, so perfect timing. But we made it. It was actually a really great walk. So, if you like to walk, I do recommend uh trying to do that walking path because uh it’s pretty pristine and it was a pretty nice walk the whole way. A little noisy at times, but uh generally really pleasant. You got your little treasures for the day? Yeah. On the next episode, we travel to Tokyo and spend eight whole days there, exploring popular neighborhoods. What is it, Juju? cuz there was in the city as well as some off the beaten path. 32. Yeah. With two drinks, um four or five appetizers in one meal. Mhm.

Join us for our first BIG family trip with two young kids! We venture to Japan, with a brief stop in Tokyo and several days at Lake Kawaguchiko, with stunning views of Mount Fuji and the full bloom spring cherry blossoms. This is the beginning of a 25 day trip to Japan, with more vlogs of Tokyo, Kamakura, Ito, and Atami coming soon.

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We are Suzi, Martin, Julian, and Leo, travel family vloggers based in the Pacific Northwest of the USA. Here we share our adventures traveling as an adventurous couple and now a small family with a young baby. Join us as we explore the United States and beyond!

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0:00 – Intro
0:25 – Seattle to Tokyo Flight
1:40 – Tokyo Pit Stop
5:03 – Lake Kawaguchiko
16:48 – Chureito Pagoda
19:47 – Fujisan Simomiya Omuro Sengen
20:28 – Fuji Q Highland / Thomas Land
27:40 – Gyukatsu Yakiniku
28:47 – Walking to Oishi Park

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