Mt. Fuji: Tourists for a Day

After more than three months in Japan, the closest we’d come to the famed Mt. Fuji was spotting it from a speeding bullet train window far away. We decided we wanted a closer look. And to get it we joined up with a day tour.

It was certainly strange to be in a bus full of people who’d obviously only recently arrived in the country. And it was weird to sit there as the cheerful English-speaking guide told people how to say “hello” and “thank you” in Japanese, and explained about customs that we’d learned about months before.

But the tour was efficient, and we drove straight from Tokyo to the Mt. Fuji Visitor Center, and then on to the so-called 5th station (out of 10, marked for climbers) at about 7,500 feet. Getting there on our own would have involved a succession of trains and buses. The two-month Fuji climbing season just began yesterday, so there were a lot of people gathered there, ready and anxious to scale the 12,385 peak.

Intermittent clouds and dramatic mist meant that picture-perfect postcard photos of the mountain weren’t possible. But there’s no question that the peak is an imposing presence. It is, of course, the highest in Japan. Mt. Fuji is (or was) a volcano, and the last eruption was in 1707. The mountain is quite beautifully shaped, and has been the subject of countless paintings and drawings. The Japanese call it “Fuji-san,” and a lot of people assume that the “san” (which is also used to address people, as in calling me Beth-san) is a sign of their love and respect for the mountain. In fact, “san” also means mountain, so Fuji-san just means Mt. Fuji in Japanese.

We walked around the mountainside, browsed through all the souvenir shops we were led through, ate our “traditional Japanese lunch” in a group-tour type hotel, and then took a short boat ride and cable car journey in the Fuji Five Lakes and Hakone region. It was nice to get out of the city, and the cool mountain air (there’s still some snow at the top of Fuji) was delightful. It was also kind of relaxing to let someone else worry about all the travel arrangements for a change. But we all agreed afterwards that for the rest of the trip we’d do what we usually do, and get around by ourselves.