Summer in Tokyo Part 7
My favorite experience while in Japan was that of climbing Mt. Fuji. Summer is the official climbing season for Mt. Fuji. The Kawaguchiko route (which I used) is 3.6 miles each way. You start at the “go-gome” or 5th station (crazier or more athletic people can start from the bottom if they choose) and climb to the 9th station at the top. It’s traditional to begin the climb at night and reach the top in time for sunrise. Some people start in the afternoon and sleep in one of the mountain huts along the way before finishing in time for sunrise, but I opted to climb the whole night through. I began my climb at about 8 PM:
All the little lights you can see in the top of the picture are people with flashlights. The Mt. Fuji trails are quite crowded during climbing season–once you get to the top there is actually a traffic jam of people trying to make the sunrise, and you can spend a long time waiting your turn to continue. Even though I went by myself I never felt alone–there were so many people around! Another cool thing about climbing Mt. Fuji is the Fujisan (what the Japanese call Mt. Fuji) hiking stick. You buy a blank stick at the go-gome, and as you climb you can get brands for the stick at each of the stations (including one for reaching the top). I was very proud of completing my stick (and had a huge hassle getting it back to the US, as it was too big for my suitcase).
I finally reached the top at about 3:30 AM, just before sunrise. There was a Tori gate to signify the end of the hike:
I was so tired by the time I got to the top, it was all I could do to get the stamp for my stick, buy a bowl of instant ramen and camp out on a bench. I had mostly dozed off when the people around me started yelling because they could see this:
I quickly got myself together and took the pictures I’d come such a long way for:
This picture should give you a better idea of just how many people were there to see the sunrise:
The way down was also quite beautiful, though being on the mountain was definitely more intimidating when I could see where I was:
Still, I had a ton of fun and I am really glad I went. It was an incredible experience, hiking up the mountain with so many other people from all over Japan and the world. If you ever get the chance to do it yourself, I would definitely go for it! Mt. Fuji from the 5th station starting point:
