Being the tallest mountain in Japan and the seventh-highest peak on an island on Earth, you can spy Mount Fuji from many vantage points in Japan. Viewing Mount Fuji from Fujiyoshida is relatively easy if you get a clear day. Here are the best places in Fujiyoshida to view Mount Fuji from. If it’s not cloudy or raining, that is. We were fortunate for our two days that Mount Fuji was visible; albeit a little hazy.

The Fujikyu Railway from Otsuki to Fujiyoshida

Whatever train you get from Otsuki you will see Mount Fuji in the distance on the left hand side of the train. The Fuji Tozan Densha train is quite a lovely train with wood interiors which will stop for a bit on the best part of the track to view Mount Fuji. You’ll pay more though so get whatever train is leaving when you get to Otsuki.

The small bridge beside Don Quixote!

As we stayed in the Bself Fuji Villa Onsen we had to do a bit of walking to get from wither the Mount Fuji or Fujikyu Highland train stations. Actually Bself couldn’t be more awkward to walk to but I’ll leave that to my Tripadvisor review. Anyway beside an oddly places Don Quixote and near their car park there is a small bridge which has quite a nice view of Mount Fuji. As you can see from the photo below, without a bit of zoom you will get a lot of lines and not the most scenic dried out river bed. But still a nice little spot off the beaten bath.

Here is the location on Google Maps

Fuji-Q Highland Theme Park Viewing Platform

You can actually just wander up to the Fuji Q theme park and ask for a free entrance ticket to just wander the grounds (we are over the whole thrill seeking rides section of our lives). There are a number of eateries inside and you can just gape at the rollercoasters as they swoop around you. There is a small viewing platform in the middle of the park where you can get a good view of Mount Fuji with the park in the foreground.

Lake Kawaguchi

Take the local train (after figuring out limited express add-on fees grrrrr!) to Kawaguchiko Station and walk towards the impressive Lake Kawakuchi. There are boat tours every 30 minutes and it only takes 20 minutes for the trip. Worth your while. It costs ¥1000.

To take full advantage of your views of Mount Fuji from Lake Kawaguchi having a suitable zoom camera is best (I had a 135mm lens on my SLR). There are a small number of objects along the way to get into the foreground to make for interesting compositions.

Mt. Fuji Panoramic Ropeway

After you get off the boat on Lake Kawaguchi walk a couple of minutes to Mt. Fuji Panoramic Ropeway. You pay ¥900 for a return ticket at a vending machine and make your way on to the cable car. It’s a cable car, it’s not some strand of rope where you sit in a bucket and get manually winched up or something. Don’t worry.

The views from up top over the neighboring towns of WHERE AND WHERE are worth the price of admission and from up there you can imagine the fear and respect that Mount Fuji has had over its minions ever since people started congregating at its base.

You can walk up a little further to an observation deck where there is a nice little red torii to frame Mount Fuji.

If you suffer from vertigo it might be a little uncomfortable looking down as you back on to the cable car.

Fujisan World Heritage Centre

The Fujisan World Heritage Centre is a nice little sojourn to get the history of Mount Fuji and the cultural impacts it has had over centuries. When we arrived the reception lady immediately asked if we wanted to view the video in English which we readily agreed to. It is a very informative and interesting insight into Mount Fuji. In the same building there are geographical information and rock samples from the mountain.

In the other building there is a 3D model of Mount Fuji and another informational video which runs every 15 minutes (if I recall correctly).

After doing all of that we retired to the small cafeteria (which was out of beer in a shocking revelation). We grabbed some potato wedges and a Mount Fuji ice cream which tried valiantly to represent Mount Fuji. Beside the cafeteria is a viewing platform which gives a somewhat blocked-by-trees view of Mount Fuji. Any chance someone could chop them down and replant some replacements out of the field of view? Probably not.

On a side note it’s kinda hard to get to the Centre if you’re walking from anywhere in the town.

Chureito Pagoda

Yeah, that’s right I saved the most likeliest way of viewing Mount Fuji from Fujiyoshida to the end. So there. The most famous photo you will take in Japan most likely. Best visited during cherry blossom season one would imagine. Also best visited during a clear and sunny day.

The Pagoda itself was built in 1958 to enshrine citizens from the Fujiyoshida area who died in wars after 1868.

As we visited during Covid times, it was relatively peaceful and not so crowded. I could imagine how the photo taking spot behind the pagoda would get crazy with elbows and shoulders. On balance, I still would like Covid to go away, though.

So as you can see viewing Mount Fuji from Fujiyoshida is relatively straightforward and there are a number of vantage points to do from. I wish you clear skies in your Mount Fuji viewing adventures.

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