Day 8 was our day trip to see Fuji! The majority of the day wasn’t planned out, since we weren’t even sure if we’d be able to see Fuji. The hope was that if we went a little earlier in the day we might be able to catch a glimpse before the mist rose up and covered it, but we figured we’d need to be flexible in order to get a good shot. And so we set off with hope in our hearts and more than little bit of concern that we’d be making a trip for nothing.
Unexpected Alarm
We got woken up quite suddenly at 8 AM when the alarm clock in the hotel suddenly started playing sounds. Lowkey it was kind of a catchy tune though, so I didn’t end up waking up until 8:20 AM anyways, which was our intended time. The alarm music definitely affected my dream though since it was blaring throughout it.
After showering and getting ready we went downstairs to get breakfast. At this point I think I’m finally getting used to natto after getting it over and over, since today wasn’t bad at all, especially with the mustard and sauce mixed in. Other than that it was pretty standard hotel fare. After eating we grabbed our bags and checked out, then went to Ebisu station to store them in a coin locker before heading to Shinjuku station to find our train.
Arakurayama Sengun
We had a reserved train seat on the Fuji excursion 15, however since the train is only partially covered by JR pass we only had the first part reserved. The second part from Otsuki station we’d have to hope our seats wouldn’t be reserved by someone else since we wouldn’t be able to get off and buy a ticket. Fortunately there were lights above the seats that showed the status of the seats, and when it flicked to green to indicate it was reserved, it happened to be at the stop we wanted to get off early at anyways (Shimoyoshida station). There were a decent number of people on the train standing so that could’ve been an option, but it was lucky we were able to sit the entire time. We weren’t sure how to pay for the ticket but it turns out you just show your JR pass and pay cash at the window as you exit.
Fortunately everything went pretty smoothly and we were able to start heading up to Arakurayama Sengun Park. Once we got there I realized that there was a ton of stairs we had to go up, which I was super not ready for. I overheard a tour guide near the bottom saying that there were 398 steps, which made sense because it actually was so exhausting getting to the top. However we made it with me only having to take a couple of breaks in the middle. I had left the entire day up to Friend J, so I didn’t realize until we got to the pagoda that this was the super famous view of the pagoda and Fuji. Or it would be if we could actually see!
To our disappointment, it was way too foggy/dusty to actually see Mt. Fuji, and instead we ended up with just the pagoda. We couldn’t even see the FujiQ amusement park. Friend J took a picture on his phone mimicking the famous shot and I drew a picture of Fuji on it, which he thought was pretty funny. I drew it live for him so it ended up a lot taller than Fuji would actually be but it was a great picture anyways.
We went even further up the hill where less tourists were since the viewing platform was mega crowded, and we had to push past people just to get back off the platform. We weren’t able to see much though, so we gave up pretty soon and decided that we’d just continue with the plan (that I was still not aware of). At this point we were really concerned about not seeing Fuji, however we were hoping that things would clear up at some point in the day. We looked up the live streams of cameras set up in different areas, and saw that at least one of them had a little bit of a view, but it was too far and we’d likely miss the train back.
Kawaguchiko Music Forest Museum
We decided to walk back down to the bottom, but not before stopping first for some ice cream. At the bottom we walked back towards the station and called for a taxi to take us to the next location, but it stopped back behind us since our pickup point was in an inaccessible area. We took the taxi up to the Kawaguchiko Music Forest Museum. I still had no idea what the plan was, and didn’t even realize we were at a museum, since it didn’t look like one that I would expect. So it was a surprise to me when we walked in and had to buy tickets. I purchased a pair of tickets for us and we walked in not knowing what to expect from a music museum. The museum was actually a bunch of small buildings scattered around a large courtyard. From the courtyard we could just barely ever so slightly see the snowcap of Fuji, maybe because we were a bit closer but also we had a feeling it was actually clearing up a little bit.
We checked out the gift shop first since it was nearby and it was filled with a lot of really cool music boxes, such as a small clear piano case, and preserved flowers in jars/perfume bottles with hidden music box components. I ended up buying a few boxes since they had some popular JPop songs, specifically IDOL, Kaibutsu and Yoru ni Kakeru by YOASOBI. Friend J bought some as well. We had noticed on our brochure there was an opera of some kind but didn’t know where it was, so I asked the clerk where we could watch it (wildly successful btw, most confidence I’ve had the entire trip so far). We went to the opera and turns out it was basically an opera singer performing alongside a bunch of huge automatic music machines. It was a really fun experience, and helped us realize that the museum actually focuses on automatic music machines, and they had a bunch of historical ones on display. We also went to see a sand art performance, which we weren’t sure what to expect but were blown away. It was a trio, one person using and to draw live that was projected on the screen and two people playing violin and piano. They told the story of snow white with live music, which was incredible to watch since the parts were timed perfectly, and the way they transitioned between scenes was really clever. It was a super memorable performance, and Friend J joked afterwards saying “Sorry I think they might be a better artist than you.” (referring to the Fuji art from earlier).
Crossing Lake Kawaguchi
After we exited we saw the snowcap of Fuji was actually getting more visible, and filled with hope we decided to leave the museum and start walking closer. Our aim was to reach the Kawaguchiko Ropeway to get to a viewing point, which was a bit of a distance away. We walked most of the way for fun, crossing a huge bridge that spans Lake Kawaguchi, and as we were crossing we realized we could definitely see Fuji now, even though it was still kind of covered.
Crossing over we entered a town area that was really interesting cause the street signs all had Fuji pictures built into them.
We decided to take the bus the rest of the way, but while waiting for it we stopped by shop named the Kawaguchiko Herb Hall, which we didn’t have time to explore but at least checked out the gift shop. I found a really pretty iridescent necklace adorned with a star motif that kind of reminded me of Suisei, so I decided to buy it. I also got earrings with sakura blossoms and cats on them in case I decided to get piercings one day.
Finally a View
We got on the bus and took the 5 minute trip over to the ropeway station. The line was pretty long, but we managed to get up to the top with an hour to spare. We got a really nice view of the lake and surrounding town on the way up with the sun shining down during golden hour.
As we reached the top we were greeted with a really clear view of Fuji, which we were super thankful for since it made all worth it. It was a truly majestic view, and we spent pretty much the entire hour just looking at Fuji and walking around taking pictures. A family asked me to take pictures for them not too long after we arrived, likely cause I was carrying my camera around. I took some for them which they were really thankful for. When we went up to the main area I saw an older lady trying to take a selfie so I figured I’d offer to help her take a picture, which she was really happy about. We chatted for a bit afterwards and I learned that her husband was from Basque, France, and that she had a lot of relatives in Bakersfield, California. I thought that was kind of random but it turns out a lot of Basque people live in Bakersfield. She herself was a French person who was born in South Africa, and since her heritage is all over she just considers herself as being from the universe (since she’s just a speck in the universe). I thought that was a really interesting way to think about it! She also mentioned that this was her second or third day coming to look at Fuji since the previous days had all been too hazy to actually see it.
From the top it was easy to see Fujikawaguchiko, where we had just come from, as well as the lake itself.
Friend J had wandered off while we were chatting, so I went up to the photo spot by myself and talked with a mom and daughter behind me, asking them to take a picture for me. We swapped taking pics for each other, and I also helped the couple in front of me since they asked too. I had message Friend J to come meet me on the tower and he did, so we took some more pics and basically hung out waiting for sunset.
We ended up getting kicked off slightly early since that area was closing earlier. The last tram was at 6:15 PM whereas the sun set at 6PM so we had to start moving down. The sun got hidden behind some clouds on the horizon though so we ended up dipping before the actual sunset. Notably this also meant that we were abandoning our reserved train since there was no way to make it back on time, so we stayed longer than originally intended. (We had a back up plan so it was fine though, probably).
Finding a way back
We took the ropeway back down and looked for a place to get dinner. Across the street from the station there was a noodle place that specialized in Yamanashi style thick cut udon noodle soup. I also got horse meat sashimi just to try it out, but I think it had been just thawed from the freezer since it didn’t have much flavor and had that signature slightly icy feeling. It was still decent though! However the soup was really comforting and warm, with a light flavor contrasting with the thick chewy noodles. I would eat the soup at pretty regularly if it existed near me since it was just really nice and comforting.
We had to rush out after eating to try catch the 7:10 PM bus. Fortunately we were just across the street so we made it in just a couple minutes. Or so we thought, but it turns out you had to buy a physical ticket somewhere to get on. We went in to the station but it was unmanned now and we weren’t able to buy the tickets from the machine for some reason, likely cause the bus needed reservations. At this point we were mildly panicking since our backup plan had failed, however luckily when we checked Google Maps again we found that searching a way back to Otsuki Station we could split the trip into two parts and find a way back. We were able to take the first train while reserving seats online for the way back from Otsuki. This actually went really smoothly, until we got to Shinjuku where we realized we forgot where we had stored our luggage. Fortunately Friend J remembered that we had never left the JR area, and that it was near one of the bathrooms. Logically we must’ve left it near the Yamanote line, which was exactly where it was.
We headed back to our previous hotel to check in again. The Westin was a one day stay since the original hotel didn’t have an open room which was the reason we needed to hop around.
Thoughts
The day was overall a really good day, I feel like the best days are the ones where we have a loose plan then we figure out what to do along the way. Also, being able to actually see Fuji was a crazy stroke of luck, it felt so good being able to see it and also meet other people there. It made me feel like I was truly alive! I also don’t think I stressed enough how stressed I was about the train there and also the way back, since we had already messed up before and we were struggling to find info on how to get there. The best thing I did for my own stress was to have faith that things would work out somehow, which fortunately they did!
Day 8 Travel Numbers
~2.5 hour and ¥4,890 yen covered by JR Pass
~1.5 hour and ¥2,750 yen not covered by JR Pass
JR Pass Value after Day 8
Cost saved: ¥89,160
Time Travelled: ~24 hr
Not covered by JR Pass
Cost: ¥5,550
Total Transportation Time
Time Travelled: ~26.5 hr
Some information may be outdated