The 100 Views of Mt Fuji

富士山がある風景100選

The best places to see Mt Fuji are round the Five Lakes on its north side, in Hakone, at its west and south foot and across the water in Izu, and there is an official list of them. In 2017 Japan's Ministry of the Environment, with the four prefectures and 36 cities, towns and villages of Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park, named 104 viewpoints: lake shores, shrine gates, road stations, ropeway decks and summits, the nearest 4 km from the summit and the farthest 91. All of them are on the map below, each with how to get there and the ministry's own grade for how hard that is. By that grade, 84 of the 104 need no hiking experience.

Entries: 104
Chosen by: Ministry of the Environment, with the park's 4 prefectures and 36 municipalities
Year: 2017
Prefectures: 4 of 47

The name says 100 and the list has 104. The official numbers, 1 to 104, run town by town and are not a ranking. The ministry also grades each viewpoint for how hard it is to reach, from step-free to a mountain hike: that grade is on every row below.

All 104 entries, placed from their real coordinates. Tap a marker to jump to it; tick the ones you've visited below and they fill in here. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

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If You Only See Five

1
Arakurayama Sengen Park
The one view that holds a pagoda, a town and the whole mountain in a single frame, from a deck at the top of 398 steps, and the only pick you can walk to from a train that runs direct from Shinjuku.
Half a day from Tokyo: about 105 minutes by Fuji Excursion train to Shimoyoshida, then 25 minutes on foot
2
Oishi Park
The easiest great view on the list: flat, free, the lake in front of the mountain and a flower walk in front of the lake from April to November, at the last stop of a bus that runs every 15 minutes.
An hour or two; 27 minutes by Red Line bus from Kawaguchiko Station
3
Lake Tanuki
The mountain square-on across still water from due west, the side most visitors never see, and the deck where the sun rises out of the summit around April 20 and August 20.
Half a day from Fujinomiya Station: 45 minutes each way by bus, seven a day. The first arrives at 8:20, so the 6:00 sunrise needs a car or a night at the lake
4
Moto-Hakone Lakeside Path
Hakone's classic composition, the red torii standing in Lake Ashi with Fuji over the rim, for no effort at all on a route you are probably taking anyway.
Part of any Hakone day: 32 minutes by bus from Hakone-Yumoto, or arrive by sightseeing ship
5
Darumayama Kogen
Fuji from across the sea: the mountain over the whole curve of Suruga Bay, 44 km away, in the view shown at the 1939 New York World's Fair as a landscape representative of Japan. The deck is two minutes from a bus stop.
Half a day from Shuzenji Station: 23 to 27 minutes by bus, 10 to 12 a day

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Hakone (16)

1Mt Kintoki金時山KanagawaHike

The highest point on Hakone's outer rim, 1,212 m, where Fuji's skirts spread wide and gentle 26 km away. Two tea houses serve food on the summit, and their keepers told the park's rangers that the mountain shows on about one day in three.

Getting there: Hakone Tozan Bus (line T) from Hakone-Yumoto Station to Sengoku, 24 min; the Kintoki-tozanguchi trailhead is about 5 min on foot, then 75 min up by Yagurasawa Pass. Or change at Sengoku to a Gotemba-bound bus, 2 min to Kintoki-jinja-iriguchi, and climb 75 min past Kintoki Shrine. Our Hakone guide

2Mt Myojingatake明神ヶ岳KanagawaMountain hike

Fuji rises behind the round hump of Mt Kintoki from this open summit, the second-highest point on Hakone's rim at 1,169 m, with Owakudani steaming across the caldera and Sagami Bay at your back. Winter gives the clearest view, but nothing breaks the wind on top and snow lies there.

Getting there: Hakone Tozan Bus (line T) from Hakone-Yumoto Station to Miyagino-shisho-mae, 15 min, then 95 min up (3.5 km). From the Minamiashigara side: Izuhakone Bus from Daiyuzan Station to Doryoson, 10 min, then 160 min up from Saijoji temple (4.9 km). Our Hakone guide

3Ubako Station, Hakone Ropeway箱根ロープウェイ姥子駅周辺KanagawaStep-free

The quiet middle station of the Hakone Ropeway, about 875 m up, where Fuji stands above the caldera rim; the view carries on through the gondola windows on the ten-minute ride up to Owakudani. A gondola from the line's first years sits in the small garden beside the station.

Getting there: Hakone Ropeway, about 10 min from Togendai or from Owakudani (9:00–17:00, to 16:15 in December and January). By car, the station has a free car park for about 90 cars. The Togendai to Owakudani section stops for maintenance from January 12 to February 26, 2027, with substitute buses about every 15 min. Our Hakone guide

4Owakudani大涌谷KanagawaStep-free

Fuji over a hillside of sulphur steam: the ropeway station stands at 1,044 m on the lip of a valley torn out of Mt Kamiyama about 3,000 years ago, and the Chikyu no Tani viewing area opened beside it in April 2025. Volcanic gas is measured around the clock, and people with asthma or heart or lung conditions are told not to come.

Getting there: 10 min by Hakone Ropeway from Sounzan, at the top of the Hakone Tozan Cable Car from Gora, or about 20 min from Togendai by Ubako. Izuhakone Bus from Hakone-Yumoto Station takes 34 min, but drives past Owakudani on the busy weekends and holidays it lists each month. By car, the car park opens 9:00–16:20 (to 16:00 in December and January) and the road up is shut from 17:00 to 9:00. The Sounzan section of the ropeway stops for maintenance on December 7–24, 2026 and the Togendai section from January 12 to February 26, 2027, both with substitute buses. Visitor guide · Our Hakone guide

5Mt Kamiyama神山KanagawaMountain hike

Hakone's highest summit, 1,438 m, named for the god it has been worshipped as since ancient times, looks north-west across Sengokuhara on the caldera floor to Fuji. Shut for ten years after the 2015 eruption at Owakudani, the summit trail reopened on March 28, 2025, from the Komagatake side only.

Getting there: Izuhakone Bus from Hakone-Yumoto Station to Hakone-en, about 1 hour, then the Hakone Komagatake Ropeway, 7 min (first car up 9:00, last car down 16:50). From Komagatake's summit it is 65 min on foot (20 min down to a junction, then 45 min up) and 60 min back the same way: the trails on to Owakudani and Sounzan stay closed for volcanic gas. Deer are being culled with firearms on these slopes until February 28, 2027, so keep to the trail. Our Hakone guide

6Mt Komagatake, Hakone駒ヶ岳KanagawaStep-free or hike

A bare, wind-swept top in the middle of the caldera, 1,356 m, with Lake Ashi straight below and Fuji to the north-west; Hakone Shrine's mountain sanctuary, Mototsumiya, stands on the summit. The ropeway climbs it in 7 minutes, and the summit plaza reopened in April 2025 as Ashi no Sora, with a deck of about 400 m² outside the top station.

Getting there: Easy way: Izuhakone Bus from Hakone-Yumoto Station to Hakone-en, about 1 hour, then the Hakone Komagatake Ropeway, 7 min, every 20 min from 9:00 (last car up 16:30, down 16:50; ¥2,200 return); the summit is 8 min on foot from the top station. Walking way: 50 min along the lakeside path from Hakone-en to the Bogasawa trailhead, then 90 min up (2.5 km). Our Hakone guide

7Moto-Hakone Lakeside Path元箱根港付近湖畔路（芦ノ湖）KanagawaStep-free

The picture most people carry of Hakone: Lake Ashi, the red Heiwa no Torii of Hakone Shrine standing in the water about 500 m across the bay, and Fuji above the outer rim. The lakeside park runs for about 800 m along the shore by the sightseeing-ship pier, and walking along it slides the torii toward the mountain or away from it.

Getting there: Hakone Tozan Bus (line H) from Hakone-Yumoto Station toward Hakone-machi-ko, 32 min to Moto-Hakone-ko; the path starts at the pier. The sightseeing ships from Togendai also dock here. Our Hakone guide

8Michi-no-Eki Hakone Toge道の駅箱根峠KanagawaStep-free

A roadside station on Route 1 at Hakone Pass whose car park looks straight down on Lake Ashi, with the Hakone peaks behind and Fuji off to the north-west when the air is clear. Toilets and parking are open around the clock; the shop keeps 9:00–17:00, and its soba counter, with seats facing the lake, takes last orders at 15:50.

Getting there: By car on Route 1 at Hakone Pass, between Moto-Hakone and Mishima; 23 parking spaces. By bus, Tokai Bus's Mishima line (N) stops at Hakone Yasuragi-no-Mori, about 100 m away, nine times a day each way: 5 min from Moto-Hakone-ko (hourly 9:25–16:25, then 17:50) or 39 min from Mishima Station (8:15–16:45). Izuhakone Bus on the Atami line calls there too, six a day, 8 min from Moto-Hakone. Our Hakone guide

9Taikanzan Observatory大観山展望台KanagawaStep-free

The view the painter Yokoyama Taikan made famous, from the hill that took his name: 1,011 m up at the top of the Hakone Turnpike, with Lake Ashi below and Fuji over the far rim. The Sky Lounge beside the car park opens all year, and since October 2026 the only way up is by car.

Getting there: No public transport: both bus companies withdrew the Yugawara to Hakone route by Taikanzan on October 1, 2026. By car, it is the top of the 13.8 km Anest Iwata Turnpike Hakone toll road from Odawara (cars ¥900 each way, open 5:30–22:30, last entry 22:00), or free by Prefectural Road 75 from Yugawara or from Hakone Pass. Our Hakone guide

82Otome Pass乙女峠ShizuokaStep-free or hike

The saddle where the oldest road over Hakone crossed the rim, 1,005 m up, facing Fuji square across the roofs of Gotemba; Kanagawa Prefecture calls it the pass with the finest Fuji in Hakone. Most people see a lower version of the same view from the roadside lookout at the Gotemba mouth of the Otome Tunnel on Route 138, about 200 m below.

Getting there: Easy way: the roadside lookout by the Otome-toge bus stop on Route 138, at the Gotemba mouth of the tunnel: Hakone Tozan Bus (line T) from Hakone-Yumoto Station to Sengoku, 24 min, then a Gotemba-bound bus, 7 min (16 a day on weekdays, 19 at weekends). Walking way: the pass itself is a 40 min climb from the Otomeguchi stop, 3 min from Sengoku by the same bus, or 40 min up from the Otome-toge stop. Our Hakone guide

83Nagao Pass長尾峠ShizuokaStep-free or hike

A 911 m notch in Hakone's rim where the prefectural road from Gotemba goes through a tunnel: Fuji stands over Gotemba on the west side, and the east mouth looks across the caldera to Mt Kamiyama. Gotemba City counts it among its ten Fuji views.

Getting there: Easy way: by car on the prefectural road from Gotemba, about 20 min after turning off Route 138 at Fukasawa-higashi, or up from Sengokuhara through the tunnel; the lookout is at the tunnel's Gotemba mouth, where the Hakone Skyline toll road begins. No bus. Walking way: the rim trail, 60 min from Otome Pass over Mt Maru (3 km), or about 30 min up from the Sengokuhara-side trailhead, itself 40 min on foot from the Golf-jo bus stop. Our Hakone guide

86Mikuni Pass, Ashinoko Skyline三国峠ShizuokaStep-free or hike

The most open lookout on the Ashinoko Skyline toll road: Fuji from summit to foot, with the Southern Alps, Suruga Bay and the Izu Peninsula in the same sweep. The name means 'three provinces', for Sagami, Suruga and Izu, whose borders met here.

Getting there: Easy way: a free car park on the Ashinoko Skyline toll road, marked by a stone carved 三国峠, about 10 min by car from the Hakone-toge gate on Route 1 (cars ¥1,000, cash only, open 7:00–19:00). No bus, and walkers and cyclists are not allowed on the road. Walking way: the outer-rim trail over Mt Mikuni (1,102 m) between Kojiri Pass and Hakone Pass, a ridge walk of about 5 hours end to end. Our Hakone guide

87Yamabushi Pass, Ashinoko Skyline山伏峠ShizuokaEasy walk

A pass in name only: it is a 1,035 m knoll on Hakone's rim, a short climb above the Ashinoko Skyline's Lake View rest house. One way lies Lake Ashi with Hakone Shrine on the far shore and Mt Kamiyama behind it, the other way Fuji and the Amagi range.

Getting there: By car on the Ashinoko Skyline toll road (cars ¥1,000, cash only, open 7:00–19:00) to Rest House Lake View, which has free parking and opens 9:00–17:00, then a short climb up the knoll just north of it. No bus. It is also on the 5-hour outer-rim trail between Hakone Pass and Kojiri Pass. Our Hakone guide

98Jukkoku Pass十国峠ShizuokaStep-free or hike

Named for the ten old provinces that could be seen from it, this 770 m top has a full circle of view, from Fuji and Suruga Bay round to Sagami Bay and, on the clearest days, the Boso Peninsula. A 316 m cable car has hauled visitors up in 3 minutes for about 70 years, and a glass-walled 'slope car' is due to replace it in summer 2027.

Getting there: Easy way: Izuhakone Bus from Atami Station to Jukkoku-toge Noboriguchi, 38 min (nine a day, 9:18 to 14:18; last bus back 16:45), then the cable car, 3 min, every 15 min 9:00–17:00, ¥730 return. Walking way: about 2 h 30 min return (5 km) from Himenosawa Park, 27 min from Atami Station by the same bus.

99Takichiyama Observatory, Izu Skyline伊豆スカイライン滝知山展望台ShizuokaStep-free

A viewing plaza beside the Izu Skyline toll road, about 660 m up, that takes in the whole horizon: Fuji to the north-west, and round from Suruga Bay in the west to Sagami Bay in the east. It works after dark as well: the skyline is listed among Japan's night-view heritage sites.

Getting there: No public transport: on the Izu Skyline toll road, about 2 km south of the Atami-toge toll gate. Use the loop on the west side of the road that the operator calls 滝知山園地 (Takichiyama Enchi): its other pull-in here, 滝知山駐車場, looks over Atami and Sagami Bay instead. The gate is about 1 km beyond the Jukkoku Pass cable car base, which its operator puts 25 min by car from Atami Station. Cars pay ¥500 for the Atami-toge to Kameishi-toge section; bicycles and mopeds are not allowed.

100Mt Kurotake玄岳ShizuokaStep-free or hike

The summit on the ridge between Atami and Kannami, 798 m, has a view all round: Fuji, Mt Ashitaka and the Southern Alps one way, Hatsushima and Izu Oshima out at sea the other. Twenty minutes below the top, Kori-ga-ike pond mirrors Fuji when the water is still.

Getting there: Easy way: Kurotake Parking on the Izu Skyline toll road, just past Kurotake IC, 5.5 km south of the Atami-toge gate (cars ¥500), has a viewing deck over the pond toward Fuji; no bus runs on the skyline. Walking way to the summit: Tokai Bus from Atami Station (platform 3) to Kurotake Hike Course Iriguchi, 18 min; take one bound for Hibarigaoka (24 a day), not one that turns back at Momijigaoka. The walk from the stop by the pond to the summit and back is about 8 km and 3 h 30 min, the first 25 min of it just to reach the trailhead.

Fuji Five Lakes (46)

10Arakurayama Sengen Park新倉山浅間公園YamanashiEasy walk

The picture on a thousand brochures: the red five-storey Chureito Pagoda in front, the roofs of Fujiyoshida below, and Fuji square-on from 17 km, taken from a deck at the top of 398 steps. About 650 cherry trees bloom in the park in April, when the city puts the deck on a timed rotation and warns of waits of one to three hours.

Getting there: Fujikyu Railway to Shimoyoshida Station: about 15 min from Kawaguchiko, 40 to 45 min from Otsuki, and four Fuji Excursion limited expresses a day run through from Shinjuku in about 105 min (¥4,010). From the station it is 25 min on foot to the deck, about 15 of them on the steps. Drivers pay ¥1,000–1,500 at the four city car parks; in cherry season the nearest one shuts and the streets round the park close to cars (April 1–19, 7:30–17:00, in 2026). Best: Cherry blossom, in full bloom between early and mid April in every spring from 2019 to 2026 (the city guide's chart); autumn colour from late October to early December.

11Fujimi Bypass富士見バイパスYamanashiStep-free

A view for the windscreen: National Route 139's bypass runs straight for 4.7 km down the east side of Fujiyoshida, and heading south the mountain stands just right of the road's line the whole way, 18 km off at the north end and 13 at the south. The ministry's own photograph was taken at dusk, looking down the carriageway.

Getting there: By car on National Route 139 between the Fujimi Bypass Kita and Fujimi Bypass Minami junctions. Without one: the north end is about 600 m east of Yoshiikeonsen-mae Station on the Fujikyu Railway, and the Fujikko-go bus from Fujisan Station reaches Katsurabashi, a stop on the bypass, in 5 min.

12Kanadorii Gate金鳥居YamanashiStep-free

Fuji framed inside a great torii that stands astride the main street of Fujiyoshida, its plaque reading Fujisan (冨士山): this was the first gate of the Yoshida pilgrim route, the line where the everyday world stopped and the mountain's began. The old pilgrim-inn quarter runs 1.1 km uphill behind it, so the mountain comes with shop signs and traffic underneath.

Getting there: 5 min on foot from Fujisan Station (Fujikyu Railway). No car park. Only cars pass under the gate, so photograph it from the pavement.

13Fuji Pines Park富士パインズパーク（諏訪の森自然公園）YamanashiEasy walk

A wide lawn walled in by red pines, some of them over 30 m tall, with Fuji's head and shoulders clear of the treetops, 13 km away. It is the townspeople's picnic park, kept to opening hours: bring a rug and lie down to look.

Getting there: Fujikyu bus (Gotemba line, about hourly) from Fujisan Station to the Sengen-jinja Shrine stop, 6 min, then about 15 min on foot; or about 10 min by car from Kawaguchiko IC, with 40 free spaces. Open 8:30–17:00, to 19:00 in the second half of May, 7:30–19:00 from June to August and 7:30–18:30 in September. No dogs or other pets.

14Joyama-higashi Rural Park城山東農村公園YamanashiStep-free

Working rice paddies and vegetable plots with nothing between them and the mountain, 14 km away. Flooded for planting, the fields hold Fuji upside down, there is a water wheel to put in the frame, and photographers come back for the season's first snow on the summit.

Getting there: Fujikyu bus from Fujisan Station to Semegusa, 9 min on the Gotemba line or 12 on the Fujikko-go loop, then about 10 min on foot; or about 12 min by car from Kawaguchiko IC, with 30 free spaces. The toilets are shut in winter. Best: Planting time, when the flooded paddies mirror the mountain, and autumn, when the rice is gold.

15Michi-no-Eki Fujiyoshida道の駅富士吉田YamanashiStep-free

Fuji stands straight ahead across the forecourt of this road station, 13 km away, and a free tap runs with the mountain's spring water for anyone who brings a bottle. Yoshida udon, a brewery restaurant and the Mt Fuji Radar Dome Museum share the site, which makes this the stop that still pays on a cloudy day.

Getting there: Fujikyu bus from Fujisan Station to Fujisan Museum Park, 10 min on the Gotemba line or about 15 on the Fujikko-go loop, then 5 min on foot; or about 10 min by car from Kawaguchiko IC and 1 min from the Fujiyoshida-Oshino smart IC. 207 free spaces. Shop and information desk open 9:00–17:00, to 18:00 at weekends and holidays, every day of the year.

16Fuji Sansaku Park富士散策公園YamanashiStep-free

Walking paths and a lawn on higher ground half a kilometre south-east of the road station, where Fuji fills the view with its two slopes falling away evenly on either side. Fuji cherry, azalea and autumn leaves take turns along the paths.

Getting there: About 10 min by car from Kawaguchiko IC or Yamanakako IC, with 111 free spaces. The city's guide lists no bus, but the Fujisan Museum Park stop is about 200 m north of the park: 10 min from Fujisan Station on the Gotemba line, about 15 on the Fujikko-go loop. Open 8:30–17:00, to 19:00 from May 15 to August 31 and to 18:30 in September.

17Fuji Hokuroku Park富士北麓公園YamanashiStep-free

The running track of Yamanashi's sports park lies directly under Fuji, 1,035 m up on the mountain's north foot and 11 km from the summit, and Japan's men's sprint squad held a training camp on it for the 2016 Rio Olympics. The paths are free to walk and stay open on the days the facilities close.

Getting there: Taxi from Fujisan Station, 10 to 15 min; no bus stops at the park. Car parks are open 8:30–21:00. From October 2026 the paid facilities close on Tuesdays (the next day when Tuesday is a holiday), when only the car park by the gym opens, 8:30–17:30. The athletics stadium is shut for works from November 2, 2026 to the end of March 2027 (planned), and the ground beside the works may be fenced off.

18Nakanokura Pass中ノ倉展望台YamanashiEasy walk

The Fuji on the back of the 1,000 yen note issued from 2004, the one before the present design: Lake Motosu below and the mountain behind it, from the pass where Okada Koyo took the photograph in May 1932. A stepped wooden deck for about 30 people has stood here since November 2016, half an hour up a zigzag path from the lake road.

Getting there: Trailhead beside the public toilets on Prefectural Road 709, on the north-west shore of Lake Motosu: about 30 min up, 25 down. The public car park there has nearly the same view if you skip the climb. By bus: Minobu Town's bus from Shimobe-onsen Station (JR Minobu Line) to Koanso-iriguchi, 34 min and 5 min from the trailhead, runs on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays only (out at 9:28 and 13:26, back at 10:36 and 14:36). From Kawaguchiko Station the Fujikyu Blue Line takes 60 min to Motosuko Tourist Information Center at the lake's east end (five a day, ¥1,470), then allow about 55 min on foot along the north shore. Road 709 is closed on the lake's south shore (since September 7, 2026, rockfall risk, no reopening date), so drivers come in by National Route 300 along the north shore.

19Mt Shakushi杓子山YamanashiMountain hike

A bare 1,598 m summit north-east of Fuji with no tall trees to get in the way: the whole cone from skirt to summit, Oshino and Lake Yamanaka below, and the Southern Alps, Okuchichibu and Tanzawa round the rest of the circle. The ministry gives it its hardest grade, earned on the last half hour above Ozasu Pass, a steep pull over roots and rock.

Getting there: Town Sneaker loop bus from Fujisan Station to Fudoyu-iriguchi, 23 or 35 min depending on the direction of the loop (ten a day on weekdays; four at weekends, when the last one back leaves at 15:38), then about 3 h up: 50 min on the road to Fudoyu hot spring, 80 min to Ozasu Pass, 40 min to the top. Drivers start at Fudoyu, 12 min from the Fujiyoshida-Nishikatsura smart IC, where hikers have 5 or 6 spaces: about 2 h up, 4 h return with breaks. No toilets on the route.

20Oshino Hakkai忍野八海周辺YamanashiStep-free

Thatched roofs, a water wheel and spring ponds with Fuji standing behind them, 14 km away, make the frame that brings painters and photographers to this village on a 940 m plateau every year. The water is the mountain's own snowmelt, and each of the eight ponds is counted separately in the Fujisan World Heritage listing.

Getting there: Fujikyu bus to the Oshino Hakkai stop, 3 min on foot from the ponds. From Kawaguchiko Station: 23 min on the Gotemba line, 29 on the Fujikko-go loop, or 30 on the F3 express (seven a day, ¥800). From Fujisan Station: 15 to 21 min. Six highway buses a day from Busta Shinjuku also stop here, about 2 h 10 min.

21Nijumagari Pass二十曲峠YamanashiHike

Since September 2022 a wooden terrace about 50 m wide has stood on this 1,150 m pass, looking down the length of the Oshino basin to Fuji, 18 km away: the 'Oshino Fuji' that the photographer Okada Koyo kept returning to. The ministry graded it as a hike, but a paved forest road now brings cars to a short maple-lined path from the deck.

Getting there: No bus to the pass. By car from Uchino in Oshino up the village forest road: 3.4 km, paved, 4 m wide, closed to vehicles with 11 seats or more, and with no way through to Tsuru. Park at the observation park car park and walk the Momiji Tunnel path to the terrace; the spaces beside the terrace are kept for visitors who cannot manage the slope. Yamanashi shuts its forest roads for ice, snow and heavy rain, so check before a winter drive (nothing was posted for this one in early October 2026). The nearest bus stop is Uchino, in the village below, 27 min from Fujisan Station on the Fujikko-go. On foot the pass is the north end of the ridge trail from Mt Ishiwari. Best: Autumn colour on the Momiji Tunnel path; the sun sets on Fuji's summit from here around the end of November and the start of January.

22Mt Ishiwari石割山YamanashiHike

From Yamanakako village's highest mountain, 1,413 m, Lake Yamanaka lies below you with Fuji behind it, and on a clear day the Southern Alps stand to the right. The way up begins with 403 steps and passes a shrine under a 15 m boulder split clean in two, whose crack you walk through three times for luck.

Getting there: Fujikko-go loop bus from Kawaguchiko Station to Mt Ishiwari Hiking Course Entrance, one stop past Yamanakako Hirano: 56 to 72 min, 11 a day. Highway buses from Busta Shinjuku stop at Hirano, about 2 h 25 min and a 5 min walk short of it. From the entrance, 20 min up the lane to the torii, where there are 30 parking spaces and a toilet; then 15 min up the steps to the Fujimi-daira shelter, 30 min to Ishiwari Shrine and a steep 20 min over roots and rock to the top. About 3 h for the 5 km loop from the lake.

23Mt Hirao平尾山YamanashiHike

The open shoulder where the path from Hirano gains the ridge between Mt Ishiwari and Mt Ohira: a bench, a table and a view that takes in the Oshino basin as well as Lake Yamanaka and Fuji. Don't look for a summit: the viewpoint is the bench, at about 1,290 m, and the 1,318 m on the village's maps belongs to a knob 500 m back up the ridge toward Ishiwari.

Getting there: Same buses as Mt Ishiwari: the Fujikko-go from Kawaguchiko Station to Mt Ishiwari Hiking Course Entrance (56 to 72 min, 11 a day), or a highway bus from Busta Shinjuku to Yamanakako Hirano, 5 min short of it. At the entrance take the lane on the left and turn left again after a few dozen metres, then 75 min up through the villa estate and the woods to the ridge junction and 5 min left along the ridge. From the top of Mt Ishiwari the junction is 30 min down.

24Yamanakako Hananomiyako Park山中湖花の都公園YamanashiStep-free

Flower fields covering 300,000 m² of the plateau north-west of Lake Yamanaka, with Fuji 14 km behind them: tulips in late April, sunflowers in mid to late August, cosmos into mid October. The fields are free to walk; only the garden and greenhouse area charges.

Getting there: Fujikko-go bus to the Hana-no-Miyako Park stop, at the park: 29 min from Fujisan Station, 37 min from Kawaguchiko Station, 11 a day. By car, about 5 min from Yamanakako IC; parking ¥300. Paid Seiryu-no-sato area: ¥600 from April 16 to October 15 (8:30–17:30), ¥360 from October 16 to November 30 and March 16 to April 15, free from December 1 to March 15 (9:00–16:30, closed Tuesdays in that period). Best: Tulips late April to early May, sunflowers mid to late August, cosmos late August to mid October; the sun sets on Fuji's summit from the park between late November and mid January, at about 15:20 to 15:45.

25Mt Ohira大平山YamanashiHike

The nearest to Fuji of the three listed tops on the ridge north of Lake Yamanaka, 16 km from the summit, and the one that puts the lake squarely in the foreground: from the 1,296 m top the water lies directly below with the mountain rising straight behind it. A shelter and benches make it the lunch stop of the ridge walk.

Getting there: From the west: the Fujikko-go's six north-shore runs a day stop at Odeyama Entrance, the trailhead, about 55 min from Kawaguchiko Station; or take the Gotemba line (about hourly, 31 min) to Mt Fuji Yamanakako (Hotel Mt Fuji Entrance) and walk 15 min. From the trailhead it is about 1 h 50 min up by Mt Nagaike and Mt Iimori. From the east: 35 to 40 min along the ridge from Mt Hirao, itself 80 min above the Mt Ishiwari Hiking Course Entrance stop at Hirano.

26Mt Takazasu高指山YamanashiHike

A grass-topped 1,174 m hill on the Kanagawa border at the lake's north-east corner, where the Tokai Nature Trail comes out of the Tanzawa woods and the view opens all at once across Lake Yamanaka to Fuji, 20 km away. It is the lowest of the lake's summits on this list and an hour's walk from the Hirano bus stop.

Getting there: Bus to Yamanakako Hirano: Fujikko-go loop bus from Kawaguchiko Station, 55 to 71 min (11 a day), or highway bus from Busta Shinjuku, about 2 h 25 min. From the stop, 60 min on foot through Hirano, following the signs. The ridge trail goes on to Mt Myojin in 90 min by Kiridoshi Pass.

27Nagaike Shinsui Park長池親水公園YamanashiStep-free

Nothing but water stands between this narrow strip of park on Lake Yamanaka's north shore and the mountain, 15 km away across the lake. Around November 6 and February 5 the sun sets into the summit and, if the water is still, into its reflection too, and photographers line the cycle path.

Getting there: Fujikko-go bus (the six north-shore runs a day) to the Nagaike Shinsui Park stop, at the park: 58 min from Kawaguchiko Station, 50 min from Fujisan Station. About 80 parking spaces. Best: Diamond Fuji at sunset around November 6 (about 15:44) and February 5 (about 16:13), the tourism association's dates for the Nagaike shore.

28Yamanakako Kirara山中湖交流プラザきららYamanashiStep-free

Lake Yamanaka's open-air theatre, Hibiki, has Fuji for a backdrop: from lawn seating for 8,000 in this park at the lake's east end, the stage frames the mountain across the water. Around October 27 and February 14 the sun sets on the summit through the open stage.

Getting there: Fujikko-go bus (the five south-shore runs a day) to Yamanakako Community Plaza, in the park: 68 min from Kawaguchiko Station, 7 min from Yamanakako Asahigaoka. Or 10 min on foot from the Yamanakako Hirano stop, which every Fujikko-go and the Shinjuku highway buses serve. Open all year from 8:30 and step-free; parking ¥300, though events can take over the car parks. Best: Double Diamond Fuji through the theatre's open stage around October 27 and February 14 (the park's dates).

29Yamanakako Panorama-daiパノラマ台（山中湖）YamanashiEasy walk

A roadside lookout at about 1,090 m on the climb to Mikuni Pass, with all of Lake Yamanaka laid out below and Fuji beyond it, 17 km off; on a clear day the Southern Alps show as well. The lake's Diamond Fuji season begins and ends here, around October 16 and February 25, and in autumn the slope is a field of pampas grass.

Getting there: About 15 min by car from the Hirano junction up Prefectural Road 730 toward Mikuni Pass. The lookout has 7 spaces and one for wheelchair users, so the tourism association asks drivers to park at Mikuni Pass or at Kirara and walk. On foot, about 35 min up from Kirara, 30 from the Mt Mikuni Hiking Course Entrance bus stop on the way (Fujikko-go south-shore runs, 67 min from Kawaguchiko Station). Winter tyres are required when the road freezes. Best: Diamond Fuji at sunset around October 16 and February 25, the first and last of the lake's season; pampas grass in autumn.

30Mt Myojin明神山YamanashiHike

The grassy 1,291 m top directly above Panorama-dai, marked on maps as Teppogi-no-atama as well: the same sweep of lake, Fuji and Southern Alps from 200 m higher, on an open summit reached through a slope of pampas grass. Allow 20 to 30 minutes up from the lookout, or 20 from Mikuni Pass on the other side.

Getting there: From Yamanakako Panorama-dai, 20 to 30 min up the grass slope; or about 20 min up from the car park at Mikuni Pass, further along Prefectural Road 730. Without a car, about an hour up from the Mt Mikuni Hiking Course Entrance bus stop (Fujikko-go south-shore runs, 67 min from Kawaguchiko Station). The ridge runs on to Mt Takazasu in about 90 min.

31Asahigaoka Lakeside Park旭日丘湖畔緑地公園YamanashiStep-free

On the south shore of Lake Yamanaka, along the stretch called Yuyake-no-Nagisa, the sunset shore, a few hundred maples, zelkovas and Fuji cherries line a lakeside path with Fuji across the water. During the autumn leaf festival the path is lit after dark: October 30 to November 15 in 2026, until 20:30.

Getting there: Fujikyu bus to Yamanakako Asahigaoka, the lake's bus terminal: about 40 min from Kawaguchiko Station and 30 min from Fujisan Station on the Gotemba line, about 40 min from JR Gotemba Station, about 2 h 15 min by highway bus from Busta Shinjuku. The park is about 300 m along the shore from the terminal. Best: Autumn leaves from late October to mid November (lit 16:30–20:30 from October 30 to November 15 in 2026); Diamond Fuji from the shore around October 18 and February 22.

32Gokodai, Mt Ashiwada五湖台(足和田山）YamanashiEasy walk

A log lookout tower on the 1,355 m summit of Mt Ashiwada, the top of the wooded ridge south of Lake Sai, facing Fuji's north side from 15 km. The name means the five-lake lookout and all five once showed, but the trees have grown: when the park's rangers walked up in November 2018, only Motosu and Kawaguchi were still in view.

Getting there: Fujikyu bus from Kawaguchiko Station to Ippongi, 16 to 20 min (the Blue Line five times a day, the Shin-Fuji route bus three), then about 80 min up and 50 down; the trailhead is a mesh gate that you open and close behind you. Or ride on to Koyodai Entrance, 23 to 27 min, and walk the Tokai Nature Trail along the ridge: 30 min to Koyodai, 20 to Sankodai, 60 more to the tower. The ministry grades this a walk; either way it is a hill climb, on steps that can be loose. Best: Autumn colour along the ridge from late October to mid November.

33Sankodai三湖台YamanashiEasy walk

A broad, open 1,202 m top on the ridge south of Lake Sai, 20 minutes beyond the Koyodai lookout, where the view that counts lies at Fuji's feet: the Aokigahara sea of trees spread over the lava of the eruption of 864, with Lake Sai and Lake Motosu at its edges. The mountain itself is 15 km to the south-south-east, and the maples along the ridge colour from late October.

Getting there: Fujikyu bus from Kawaguchiko Station to Koyodai Entrance, 27 min on the Blue Line (five a day; last bus back 17:06) or 23 min on the Shin-Fuji route bus (three a day), then 30 to 40 min up to Koyodai and 20 min along the ridge on the Tokai Nature Trail. Drivers can take the unpaved track up to the Koyodai rest house and walk the last 20 min. The ridge trail runs on east to the Gokodai tower in about an hour. Best: Autumn colour on the ridge from late October to mid November.

34Michi-no-Eki Narusawa道の駅なるさわYamanashiStep-free

Fuji's north side rises behind the car park of this road station on Route 139, 13 km away, and the lounge indoors is built to face it. Behind the free Narusawa Mt Fuji Museum a 1.5 km nature trail loops past lava tree moulds, hollows left where the flow set round standing trunks, to a lookout of its own.

Getting there: Fujikyu Blue Line bus from Kawaguchiko Station to Michi-no-eki Narusawa, 24 min (five a day; last bus back 17:09), at the station. By car it is on Route 139 west of Kawaguchiko, with 319 parking spaces; the car park and toilets are open 24 hours, the produce hall and the museum 9:00–18:00 (to 17:00 in winter), every day of the year. Best: Mitsuba azaleas along the nature trail in late April.

35Oniwa and Okuniwa御庭・奥庭YamanashiEasy walk

The closest viewpoint on the list: two natural 'gardens' of wind-stunted larch and hemlock on old side craters at 2,200 to 2,400 m, either side of the Fuji Subaru Line just below the 5th Station, with the summit about 4 km away. Okuniwa, below the road, has a 20-minute loop past the rock called Tengu-iwa to a lookout; Oniwa, above it, joins the Ochudo pilgrim path to the 5th Station, and both turn gold with the larches in late October.

Getting there: Fujikyu bus for the Subaru Line 5th Station from Kawaguchiko Station to Oniwa (Okuniwa), 49 min, five a day in the timetable from October 1, 2026 (9:40 to 14:00; last bus down 15:54). By car, the Fuji Subaru Line toll road (¥2,800 return, cash only) to the Okuniwa car park at 2,227 m, about 50 spaces: open 3:00–18:00 in October, 9:00–16:00 or 17:00 from mid November to mid April. From the car park it is 10 min down to Okuniwa and 20 to 30 min up to Oniwa; the Ochudo runs on to the 5th Station in about an hour. Snow, ice and wind shut the road at short notice (the bus then turns back at the 4th station or does not run), the Ochudo and Oniwa paths close from about November to May, and private cars are barred in the climbing season (July 3 to September 10 in 2026). Best: Larches turn yellow in late October; Hakusan rhododendron flowers along the Ochudo from mid June to late July.

36Misaka Pass, Tenka-chaya御坂峠天下茶屋YamanashiStep-free

The tea house at the mouth of the old Misaka tunnel, about 1,290 m up, where Dazai Osamu stayed for some three months from September 1938 and set his 'One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji': Lake Kawaguchi lies below and Fuji stands square behind it, 22 km off. Founded in 1934, it keeps a reconstruction of his room upstairs, and his stone monument stands by the public lookout next door.

Getting there: By car, about 30 min from Kawaguchiko IC: leave Route 137 just before the new Misaka tunnel and climb the old road, Prefectural Road 708, to the tea house's 10 parking spaces. The Fujikyu bus (Tenka-chaya line) from Kawaguchiko Station takes 28 min but runs once a day: it leaves at 9:50 and turns straight back at 10:18, and in winter it may stop short of the pass. The tea house opens from 10:00 to 16:00, daily from early April to early December and as the weather allows in winter, when snow can shut the road and the far side of the tunnel is closed. Best: Autumn colour along the old road.

37Mt Mitsutoge三ツ峠山YamanashiMountain hike

The 1,785 m top of Kaiun-zan, highest of the mountain's three peaks, looks straight at Fuji from 22 km to the north-north-east, with the Southern Alps and Yatsugatake round the rest of the circle and rock climbers on the Byobu-iwa cliff just below. Dazai Osamu was taken up here by Ibuse Masuji and found the mountain in cloud, as his 'One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji' tells it.

Getting there: Fujikyu bus (Tenka-chaya line) from Kawaguchiko Station to Mitsutoge Tozanguchi, the trailhead stop: 25 min, one a day at 9:50, and in winter it may turn back lower down. From the stop, 15 min up the road to the trailhead car park (about 30 spaces, toilets), then about 1 h 35 min to the summit by the two huts. This is the shortest way up, it is open, and Yamanashi grades it A, the easiest on its own scale, though the ministry puts the mountain in its hardest grade. No bus runs back in the afternoon: walk down to Mitsutoge Station on the Fujikyu Railway (about 2 h 40 min) or along the ridge to the ropeway on Tenjoyama (about 3 h). The trail from Kawaguchi Asama Shrine is closed above the Haha-no-Shirataki falls (since June 29, 2026, after the earthquake).

38Misaka-michi Viewpoint御坂みちビューポイントYamanashiEasy walk

A lay-by with room for five cars on the winding old road up to Misaka Pass, where the trees open on Lake Kawaguchi, the town along its shore and Fuji behind them. It has the tea house's line of sight from 190 m lower down, at about 1,100 m, and the prefecture's guide calls it little known and best on a weekday.

Getting there: By car, about 15 min from Kawaguchiko Station or Kawaguchiko IC: leave Route 137 just before the new Misaka tunnel and take the old road, Prefectural Road 708, toward Tenka-chaya; the viewpoint is part-way up, with 5 parking spaces. The prefecture's page lists parking at the viewpoint and no walk, though the ministry grades it an easy walk rather than step-free. No bus stops here (the one daily bus to Tenka-chaya passes without stopping), and snow can shut the road in winter.

39Shindo Pass (FUJIYAMA Twin Terrace)新道峠YamanashiHike

Two viewing terraces on the crest of the Misaka range at about 1,570 m, opened by Fuefuki City in 2021: Lake Kawaguchi lies at your feet with the island of Unoshima straight ahead, Fuji rises due south behind, 21 km away, and autumn mornings can put a sea of cloud between the two. The ministry graded the pass as a hike, but a shuttle bus now stops five minutes and about 180 steps below the decks.

Getting there: Drive to the Lily Bell Hütte at the Suzuran colony car park in Ashigawa, Fuefuki City (40 spaces, about 30 min from the Fuefuki-Yatsushiro smart IC), and take the city's shuttle bus up the forest road, which is closed to private cars: 10 min, 12 runs a day from 8:45 to 14:45, last bus down 15:35, return ¥1,500 in May, August, October and November and ¥1,000 in April, June, July and September. From the upper stop it is about 180 steps and 5 min to the Second Terrace; the First Terrace is 80 m further east. The bus runs daily from April 20 to late November in 2026, without the 14:15 and 14:45 runs on Sundays to November 29 and on the holidays of October 12 and November 23, when a cloud-sea tour takes them. On foot from the Hütte it is 3 km and about 50 min; the road is closed to all vehicles from December to the end of April. No scheduled bus reaches the Hütte: Fujikyu's P-Line from Kawaguchiko Station stops about 4 km down the road at Suzuran-no-Sato Entrance (41 min, four a day), and a taxi from JR Isawa-onsen Station takes about 40 min. Best: Shuttle bus from April 20 to late November in 2026; the sea of cloud is likeliest on cold, still autumn mornings.

40Momiji Corridor, Lake Kawaguchi梨川もみじ回廊（河口湖畔）YamanashiEasy walk

About 150 maples line both banks of the little Nashigawa stream where it runs down to Lake Kawaguchi's north shore, and for the town's autumn festival they are lit from sunset to 21:00 (November 7 to 29 in 2026). On a clear day Fuji shows through the leaves.

Getting there: Fujikyu Red Line bus from Kawaguchiko Station to Itchiku Kubota Art Museum, 21 min (every 15 min, 9:00–17:45), then a few minutes on foot. By car about 15 min from Kawaguchiko IC; the corridor has no car park of its own. Free, and open at all hours. Best: Autumn colour from late October to mid November; lit at night during the festival, November 7–29 in 2026.

41Lakeside by Kawaguchiko Enkei Hall河口湖円形ホール付近YamanashiStep-free

The north-shore walking trail in front of the town's small round concert hall (100 seats, opened in 1994), where about a kilometre of Somei Yoshino cherries lines the water round the hall and the Kawaguchiko Museum of Art. It is the main site of the town's cherry festival, held from March 28 to April 12 in 2026 with the trees lit until 21:00, and on a still day the lake carries Fuji upside down under the blossom.

Getting there: Fujikyu Red Line bus from Kawaguchiko Station to Kawaguchiko Monkey Show Theater/Konohana Art Museum, 20 min (every 15 min, 9:00–17:45), then 2 min on foot to the shore. By car about 15 min from Kawaguchiko IC; parking at the hall, and free temporary car parks near the site during the festival. Best: Cherry blossom in early to mid April; festival and night lighting March 28 to April 12 in 2026.

42Oishi Park大石公園YamanashiStep-free

A lakeside park on Lake Kawaguchi's north shore with a 350 m flower walk in front of Fuji, 18 km due south across the water: nemophila from mid April, lavender from late June to mid July, kochia that turns from green to red in late October. It is free, flat and at the end of the Red Line, and busy enough that the town asks coaches to set down elsewhere.

Getting there: Fujikyu Red Line bus from Kawaguchiko Station to Kawaguchiko Natural Living Center (Oishi Park), the last stop, 27 min (every 15 min, 9:00–17:45; last bus back 18:27). By car about 15 min from Kawaguchiko IC, with free parking. The park is always open; the Natural Living Center inside it (shop, café, toilets) opens daily from 9:00. Best: Nemophila mid April to late May, lavender late June to mid July, green kochia August to mid October, red kochia late October to mid November.

43Nagasaki Cape, Lake Kawaguchi河口湖畔長崎YamanashiStep-free

A low headland pushing out from the north shore between Oishi and Kawaguchi, so that the lake opens to left and right with Fuji straight across it. Cherry trees line the shore road, and the town's Nagasaki Park takes up the point, with no large car park.

Getting there: Fujikyu Red Line bus from Kawaguchiko Station to Sunnide Resort/Nagasaki Park Entrance, 23 min (every 15 min, 9:00–17:45), then about 300 m east along the shore road. By car about 15 min from Kawaguchiko IC, but there is no large car park at the point. Best: Cherry blossom along the shore road, early to mid April on this shore.

44Mt Settogatake雪頭ヶ岳YamanashiHike

The southern knob of Mt Onigatake, at about 1,720 m, where the trail from Nenba gains the ridge 170 m short of the main summit: Lake Sai lies straight below, the Aokigahara forest fills the ground beyond it, and Fuji is 18 km off to the south-south-east. It is a steep climb of some 800 m from the rebuilt thatched village of Nenba, with a ladder still to come before Onigatake itself.

Getting there: Fujikyu Green Line bus from Kawaguchiko Station to Saiko Iyashi-no-Sato Nenba, 40 min (about every 30 min, 9:10–16:40; last bus back 17:40). The trail climbs from the village, at about 910 m, up a stream valley and a steep ridge to the knob. Yamanashi grades the route stamina 3, difficulty B (hiking experience needed), with a roped pitch, a partly collapsed stretch low down and a ladder just under Mt Onigatake (1,738 m), and allows 6 h 30 min for the round trip that goes on over Onigatake to the next summit north. No public body gives a time to the viewpoint alone: plan a full day.

45Kuwazaki, Lake Kawaguchi河口湖畔桑崎YamanashiStep-free

A small point on the north-west shore, 1.7 km past the Red Line's last stop, where Lake Kawaguchi narrows to about 350 m and the lakeside road squeezes round the foot of a hill: Fuji is due south across the narrows, 17 km away. No park or facility is mapped here, and the ministry's own photograph frames the mountain in red maple.

Getting there: No bus stop at the point. From the Red Line's last stop, Kawaguchiko Natural Living Center (Oishi Park), 27 min from Kawaguchiko Station, it is about 1.7 km and 25 min on foot along the lakeside road. By car, follow the same road from Oishi toward Nagahama; no official page lists parking here.

46Ubuyagasaki Cape産屋ヶ崎YamanashiEasy walk

The point at the north end of the Kawaguchiko Ohashi bridge, named for the legend that the goddess Konohanasakuya-hime gave birth here. From the top of it or the shore below, Fuji lies 17 km off across the lake, with cherry blossom overhead in April and, when the water is still, its reflection underneath.

Getting there: Fujikyu Red Line bus from Kawaguchiko Station to Ubuya, 16 min (every 15 min, 9:00–17:45), then about 250 m west along the shore toward the bridge. The Kofu-line bus is quicker, 6 min to the Ubuyagasaki stop 130 m from the point, but runs only 12 times a day. By car about 15 min from Kawaguchiko IC. Best: Cherry blossom, early to mid April on this shore.

47Tenjoyama Fujimidai天上山富士見台YamanashiStep-free

The deck at Fujimidai, the top station of the Mt Fuji Panoramic Ropeway, 1,075 m up on the hill above Lake Kawaguchi's south-east shore and three minutes from the water: Fuji 16.5 km to the south-south-west over the town, the whole lake behind you and, on clear days, the Southern Alps. The hill is the traditional setting of the folk tale Kachi-kachi Yama, which Dazai Osamu retold, and about 100,000 hydrangeas that townspeople planted in 1999 flower along the path down in July.

Getting there: Fujikyu Red Line bus from Kawaguchiko Station to Sightseeing Boat/Ropeway Entrance, 11 min (every 15 min, 9:00–17:45), or about 15 min on foot from the station; then the ropeway, 3 min. Return ¥1,000 (¥1,200 from November 1, 2026); from 8:30, last car up 17:00 and down 17:20 (16:20 and 16:40 from December to February). Closed for annual inspection December 7–18, 2026, on short hours October 21–22 and November 25–26 (last car up 15:00), and stopped without notice in high wind or lightning. The ministry grades it step-free, but the operator counts 64 steps at the lakeside station and more at the top and calls wheelchair travel difficult. No car park at the ropeway: use the free prefectural one by the lake. Best: Hydrangeas on the path below the deck from early July to early August; autumn colour at the top in early to mid November.

48Nenba-hama, Lake Sai根場浜（西湖）YamanashiStep-free

A small beach at the west end of Lake Sai's north shore where the Aokigahara forest fills the far bank and Fuji rises straight out of it, 17 km to the south-south-east. The lava under those trees is the flow of 864 that cut this lake off from Lake Shoji, and the prefecture rates this the best viewpoint on the shore.

Getting there: Fujikyu Green Line bus from Kawaguchiko Station to Saiko Iyashi-no-Sato Nenba, 40 min (about every 30 min, 9:10–16:40), then about 5 min on foot to the shore; going back, the bus also stops at Nenba Entrance, 100 m from the beach (last one 17:42). By car about 20 min from Kawaguchiko IC; 28 parking spaces, toilets including a wheelchair-accessible one, open at all hours.

49Saiko Wild Bird Forest Park西湖野鳥の森公園YamanashiStep-free

A lawn ringed by the Aokigahara forest near the west end of Lake Sai, a kilometre back from the water, with Fuji over the treetops and free telescopes upstairs in the park's gallery building. About 60 kinds of wild bird live round it, and from late January the Lake Sai ice festival fills the park with ice-coated trees up to 5 m high, lit until 19:00.

Getting there: Fujikyu Green Line bus from Kawaguchiko Station to Saiko Yacho-no-Mori Park, 43 min (about every 30 min, 9:10–16:40; last bus back 17:23), at the park. By car about 20 min from Kawaguchiko IC, with 20 to 30 parking spaces. The park building opens 9:00–17:00 and is closed on Thursdays and from December 29 to January 3. Best: Lake Sai ice festival in the park from late January to early or mid February.

50Tatego-hama, Lake Shoji他手合浜（精進湖）YamanashiStep-free

The north-west beach of Lake Shoji, smallest of the Five Lakes, and the classic place for the 'Kodaki Fuji': the low cone of Mt Omuro sits in front of Fuji, 18 km to the south-east, as if the mountain were holding a child. When the winter is cold enough the lake freezes, from about mid January.

Getting there: Fujikyu Blue Line bus from Kawaguchiko Station to Kodaki Fuji View Point, 48 min (five a day; last bus back 16:55), at the prefectural car park beside the beach; the Shin-Fuji route bus (35 min; 11:05, 14:35 and 18:05 from October 13, 2026) stops at Shoji, 5 min away on foot. By car about 30 min from Kawaguchiko IC. Toilets at the beach, one of them wheelchair-accessible.

51Fujisan World Heritage Center富士山世界遺産センター付近YamanashiStep-free

Yamanashi's free visitor centre for the mountain, 300 m from the Kawaguchiko interchange at the foot of the Subaru Line: the second-floor deck of its North Hall faces Fuji from 14.5 km to the north-north-east, over the roof of the South Hall in the ministry's photograph. The South Hall, opened on June 22, 2016, three years to the day after the World Heritage listing, holds a walk-round model of the mountain lit through the hours of a day.

Getting there: Fujikyu Blue Line bus, or the bus for the Subaru Line 5th Station, from Kawaguchiko Station to Fujisan World Heritage Center, 5 min (about ten a day between them), then 1 min on foot. By car, 300 m from Kawaguchiko IC; free parking for up to 78 cars. Open 9:00–17:00 (8:30–18:00 in July and August, 9:00–16:30 from December to February), last entry 15 min before closing; the North Hall opens every day, the South Hall is closed on the fourth Tuesday of the month. Admission free.

52Shojiko Panorama-daiパノラマ台（精進湖）YamanashiHike

An hour's walk above Lake Shoji's north-west shore, this wide 1,328 m summit has Fuji 18 km to the south-east with Mt Omuro tucked against it, the Aokigahara forest spread flat below like a green sea, and the Misaka and Tenshi ranges to either side. On a clear day the view runs to the southern end of the Southern Alps.

Getting there: Fujikyu bus from Kawaguchiko Station to Panorama Observatory-Shita, 48 min on the Blue Line (five a day; last bus back 16:55) or 36 min on the Shin-Fuji route bus (11:05, 14:35 and 18:05 from October 13, 2026). The trail starts by the stop and takes about 65 min up and 50 down, 2 h 10 min and 4.4 km for the round trip: the ministry grades it a hike needing some experience, Yamanashi's own course guide a walk for beginners. Drivers park at the prefectural Lake Shoji car park (about 50 spaces), 15 min along the shore, 30 min from Kawaguchiko IC.

53Mt Ryugatake Lookout竜ヶ岳中腹展望台YamanashiEasy walk

Some 50 minutes above Lake Motosu, at about 1,230 m on the east ridge of Mt Ryugatake, the old village of Kamikuishiki built a roofed rest shelter beside a stone Buddha on a sutra mound: Fuji stands whole from foot to summit, 15 km to the south-east, and on clear days Suruga Bay shows to the south. Around the turn of the year the sun rises out of Fuji's summit from here, which saves the second half of the climb.

Getting there: Bus to Lake Motosuko: Fujikyu Blue Line from Kawaguchiko Station, 57 min (five a day, last bus back 16:46), or the Shin-Fuji route bus, 47 min (11:05, 14:35 and 18:05 from October 13, 2026). Walk about 20 min south along the east shore to the trailhead by the Motosuko campground, where hikers have a car park of about 100 spaces (30 min by car from Kawaguchiko IC), then about 50 min up the ridge, a steady climb of some 320 m that starts steeply: more than the ministry's easy-walk grade suggests. No bus arrives before sunrise. Come in from Route 139: Prefectural Road 709 is closed along the south shore from the lake's south-east corner, just past the car park (since September 7, 2026). Best: The sun rises from Fuji's summit from about December 3 to January 9, best from late December to early January.

54Mt Ryugatake竜ヶ岳YamanashiMountain hike

A 1,485 m dome of bamboo grass above the south shore of Lake Motosu, open all round: Fuji 16 km to the south-east with the Aokigahara forest on one flank and Shizuoka's dairy pastures on the other, the Southern Alps behind you and Suruga Bay on a clear day. For about a week either side of New Year the sun rises straight out of Fuji's summit at around 7:40, and people climb in the dark for it.

Getting there: Bus to Lake Motosuko: Fujikyu Blue Line from Kawaguchiko Station, 57 min (five a day, last bus back 16:46), or the Shin-Fuji route bus, 47 min (11:05, 14:35 and 18:05 from October 13, 2026), then about 20 min on foot along the east shore to the trailhead by the Motosuko campground, where hikers have a car park of about 100 spaces. About 50 min up the ridge to the lookout shelter and 80 min more to the top: 3 h 40 min and 6.6 km for the round trip, on a made path that Yamanashi grades A, its easiest: the ministry's hardest grade overstates it. No bus arrives before sunrise, so the New Year sunrise means a car. Come in from Route 139: Prefectural Road 709 is closed along the south shore from the lake's south-east corner, just past the car park (since September 7, 2026). Best: The sun rises from Fuji's summit for about a week either side of New Year, at around 7:40.

101Kofuji小富士ShizuokaEasy walk

A bare knoll of volcanic gravel at 1,979 m on Fuji's east flank, a nearly level 20-minute walk through mossy forest from the Subashiri 5th Station: you step out of the trees with the whole upper mountain right above you, the summit under 5 km to the west-south-west. Fuji-ko pilgrims trained on this path, and a stone near the top is cut with the words 'thirty-three times, great wish fulfilled'.

Getting there: By car up the Fuji Azami Line, the prefectural road from Subashiri, to the 5th Station at 2,000 m (free car park, about 150 spaces); the path leaves to the right just before the climbing trail's entrance, 20 min each way. The road is closed to private cars in the climbing season (July 1 to September 10 in 2026), when shuttle buses run from the car park beside Michi-no-Eki Subashiri and Fujikyu buses come up from Gotemba Station in 60 min (July 1 to September 11 in 2026), and it shuts for winter from early or mid November to late April. There is no bus outside the climbing season. Best: Reachable while the Fuji Azami Line is open, from late April to early or mid November.

Fuji's west and south foot (22)

55Fujigane Pastures富士ヶ嶺牧草地YamanashiStep-free

Working dairy pasture at about 1,000 m on Fuji's north-west foot, where cows graze in front of the mountain's west flank with nothing taller than a barn in between and the summit 12 km away. Settlers began clearing this ground in 1947 and made it Yamanashi's leading dairy district, carrying their water in barrels from springs near the Shizuoka border until it was piped up from Lake Motosu.

Getting there: No bus serves the pastures. By car about 30 min from Kawaguchiko IC, or about 6 km by road from Michi-no-Eki Asagiri Kogen on Route 139 (where the S4 rapid bus stops, three a day each way), up Prefectural Road 71. There is no lookout and no visitor car park: parking is only at the businesses you call at, and the fields and farmyards are private.

61Michi-no-Eki Asagiri Kogen道の駅朝霧高原ShizuokaStep-free

Built to look like a cattle barn, this roadside station stands on Route 139 at nearly 900 m on the Asagiri plateau; the small lookout behind it faces Fuji's west side over a lawn and a belt of forest, 14 km away. It opened on March 27, 2000, sells the plateau's farm produce and ice cream, and has the Asagiri Food Park, run by six local food makers, next door.

Getting there: Fujikyu S4 rapid bus to Michi-no-Eki Asagiri Kogen, at the door: 37 min from Fujinomiya Station, 1 h 12 min from Shin-Fuji Station, 65 min from Kawaguchiko Station, three a day each way (from Fujinomiya Station at 7:51, 10:21 and 14:51, back at 12:10, 15:40 and 19:10, under the timetable of October 13, 2026). By car it is on Route 139 between Fujinomiya and Lake Motosu, with 72 car spaces; open 8:00–17:00 every day.

62Asagiri Sawayaka Parking朝霧さわやかパーキングShizuokaStep-free

A lay-by with toilets on Route 139 in the middle of the Asagiri dairy pastures: cows graze up to the fence with Fuji's west face 14 km behind them, close enough that the Osawa gully down that face and the weather station on the summit show to the naked eye. It is where the tourism association tells drivers to stop for the cows-and-Fuji photograph, because stopping on the highway itself is banned.

Getting there: By car on Route 139, about 3 km south of Michi-no-Eki Asagiri Kogen; toilets and vending machines. The nearest bus stop is Asagiri Green Park on the Fujikyu S4 rapid bus (33 min from Fujinomiya Station, three a day each way), about 350 m south along the highway. Best: Around the Boys' Festival in early May, when about 80 carp streamers fly in front of the mountain.

63Asagiri Nature Park (Asagiri Arena)朝霧自然公園（朝霧アリーナ）ShizuokaStep-free

About ten hectares of open grass on the Asagiri plateau, a city park with an arbour, a lookout and no building or tree between you and Fuji, 13 km to the east. Most days it is an empty field; on event weekends (it has hosted the World Scout Jamboree and is the home of the Asagiri Jam music festival, which is not being held in 2026) the organiser runs the site and its car park.

Getting there: By car, a short way east of Route 139 near Asagiri Sawayaka Parking; parking is free except during private events, and overnight stays in the car park are banned. The nearest bus stop is Asagiri Kogen on the Fujikyu S4 rapid bus (32 min from Fujinomiya Station, three a day each way), 1.6 km away by road.

64Lake Tanuki田貫湖ShizuokaStep-free

An irrigation reservoir 1 km long, enlarged from a marsh in 1935–36, that lies due west of Fuji, so the whole mountain stands square across the water 16 km away and doubles in it on a windless morning. From the Fugaku Terrace, the Ministry of the Environment's deck at the lake's west end in front of the Kyukamura Fuji hotel, the sun rises out of the summit for about a week around April 20 and again around August 20, at about 6:00.

Getting there: Fujikyu Shizuoka Bus from Fujinomiya Station (platform 2) to Kyukamura Fuji, the last stop, 45 min, seven a day (first arrival 8:20, last bus back 17:45), so the 6:00 Diamond Fuji means a car or a night at the lake. The deck is a few minutes' walk across the road, and drivers use the free car park opposite the hotel (the hotel's own is for guests); allow 40 to 55 min from Fuji IC. Since September 11, 2026 the lakeside path from the north car park to just short of the terrace has been closed after heavy rain, with no detour: come in from the hotel side. Best: Diamond Fuji for about a week around April 20 and around August 20; cherry blossom in early to mid April; autumn colour around November 10–20.

65Mt Chojagatake長者ヶ岳ShizuokaHike

A 1,336 m summit on the Shizuoka–Yamanashi border and the Tokai Nature Trail, whose clearing on the east side looks straight down on Lake Tanuki, nearly 700 m below, and across it to the whole of Fuji, 18 km away. There are benches and a table on top, and about 100 white Shiroyashio azaleas flower along the ridge toward Mt Tenshigatake in mid May.

Getting there: Fujikyu Shizuoka Bus from Fujinomiya Station (platform 2) to Kyukamura Fuji, 45 min, seven a day (last bus back 17:45). The trail starts behind the hotel (free car park across the road): about 50 min up to the ridge, where the path from the lake's north shore comes in, then about 70 min along the Tokai Nature Trail to the top, some 2 hours up and 1 h 25 min down. Start from this side: the lakeside path from the north car park has been closed since September 11, 2026. A real hiking trail: boots, and spikes when the upper path is frozen. Best: Shiroyashio azaleas on the ridge in mid May; autumn colour around November 5–15.

66Shiraito Falls白糸の滝付近ShizuokaStep-free

Hundreds of threads of Fuji's own spring water falling 20 m from a curved cliff 150 m wide, with the mountain's upper cone showing over the trees on the rim: the two fit in one frame only from the lookout the city finished above the falls' right bank in May 2015, about 100 steps up from the basin. The falls are a national Place of Scenic Beauty and Natural Monument and a component of the Fujisan World Heritage listing, as a place where the Fuji-ko pilgrims trained under the water.

Getting there: Fujikyu Shizuoka Bus from Fujinomiya Station (platform 2) to Shiraito Falls, 30 min, 14 a day and 21 on weekdays (last bus back 18:50). From the stop and car park (105 cars, ¥500, open from 9:00 to 16:30, or 17:00 outside winter) it is 5 min to the Otodome Falls and 5 more, down about 100 steps, to the basin; cross the Takimi Bridge and climb about 100 more to the lookout. Wheelchairs can reach a level lookout over the falls on the car-park side, before the steps, but not this one. The whole loop takes about 40 min. Best: Autumn colour around November 10–20.

67Shiraito Nature Park白糸自然公園ShizuokaStep-free

The city's flower park just west of Shiraito Falls, where the view runs from Fuji's summit down its long skirt to Suruga Bay and something is in bloom in front of the mountain most of the year: mitsumata in late March, 2,000 m² of rape blossom in April, a rose garden of 67 varieties, 15,000 sunflowers in early August, cosmos in autumn. A 500 m footpath links it to the falls' basin in about 15 minutes.

Getting there: Fujikyu Shizuoka Bus from Fujinomiya Station (platform 2) to Shiraito Shizen Koen Iriguchi, two stops beyond Shiraito Falls (30 min), 12 a day and 17 on weekdays, then 300 m on foot; or 15 min along the footpath from the falls. Free parking for about 150 cars. Open 8:30–17:30 from April to September and 8:30–16:30 from October to March; closed December 29 to January 3. Best: Mitsumata late March to early April, rape blossom in April, roses mid May to mid June and October to mid November, sunflowers in early to mid August, cosmos mid October to mid November.

68Kariyado Gebazakura Cherry Tree狩宿下馬桜ShizuokaStep-free

A single wild cherry more than 800 years old, a national Special Natural Monument since 1952, standing before the gate of the Ide family's manor with fields of rape blossom in front and Fuji 14 km off to the east-north-east. Its name, the 'dismounting cherry', comes from the legend of the great hunt of 1193, in which Minamoto no Yoritomo, camped at this house, got down from his horse at the tree.

Getting there: Fujikyu Shizuoka Bus from Fujinomiya Station (platform 2, toward Shiraito Falls) to Kariyado Gebazakura Iriguchi, about 25 min, then 10 min on foot; every bus for the falls stops here, 14 a day and 21 on weekdays. By car about 25 min from Shin-Fuji IC; about 40 spaces and toilets. On the festival weekend (April 4–5 in 2026) drivers parked at Taisekiji temple and took the free shuttle, about every 30 min. Best: Early April in most years by the city's guide, a little after the cherries in town (full bloom was April 11 in 2025), with rape blossom in the fields around it.

69Nishiusuzuka Parking Lot西臼塚駐車場ShizuokaStep-free

Fuji fills the sky over the treetops at this large forest car park, about 1,250 m up on the Fujisan Skyline and only 7 km south of the summit, and Mt Hoei stands out from its right-hand slope as a separate shoulder. Cherry blossom comes about a month later up here than in town and autumn colour about a month earlier, and a 20-minute footpath leads to the beech and oak wood on Nishiusuzuka, the small side cone behind the car park.

Getting there: No public transport. By car on the Fujisan Skyline loop road between Fujinomiya and Gotemba, about 19 km from Fujinomiya Station and about 50 min from Fuji IC; about 400 spaces, toilets. This loop section is not closed for winter but needs winter tyres or chains in the freezing months, and the Skyline shuts when continuous rain passes 200 mm. On the footpath carry a bear bell (bears are reported in this forest); the path on to the cone's crater is closed for fear of falling trees. Best: Cherry blossom about a month later than in town, autumn colour about a month earlier.

70Anmoyama Nature Park天母山自然公園ShizuokaStep-free

From the lawn at the top of this wooded park, about 500 m up near the summit of Mt Anmoyama above Fujinomiya and planted with 300 Somei Yoshino cherries, Fuji's upper half shows over the treetops 12 km to the north-east. The lawn, the play area and the lookout are all up a long flight of steps, and the city's primary schools use the park for outings.

Getting there: No public transport to the park. By car about 8 km north of Fujinomiya Station and about 2 km up the hill from Yamamiya Sengen Shrine (which the city puts at 15 min from the station). The ministry grades it step-free, but the city's own page describes the way up from the car park as a long flight of steps.

71Yamamiya Sengen Shrine山宮浅間神社ShizuokaStep-free

A shrine with no main hall: at the top of its stone steps there is only a rectangle of lava stones, 15 m by 8 m, with an altar whose axis points at Fuji, 13 km to the north-east through a gap in the trees, because the mountain itself is what is worshipped. It is the site from which, by the great shrine's own records, Fujisan Hongu Sengen Taisha moved down to the town in 806, and digging here has turned up ritual pottery of the 12th century.

Getting there: Fujikyu Shizuoka Bus from Fujinomiya Station (platform 3, Mano–Awakura loop) to Mano Danchi Iriguchi, 16 min, seven a day and 13 on weekdays, then about 30 min on foot; or about 15 min by car, with parking nearby. At weekends and on holidays the Goriki-kun sightseeing bus (9:30 from Fujinomiya Station, ¥1,200 for the morning course) stops here for 30 min with a guide. Always open, free; the worship site is up a flight of stone steps and you may not go inside its fence. The guide office opens 10:00–15:00 on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.

72Yuno no Sato柚野の里ShizuokaStep-free

A farming valley along the Shiba River, 19 km south-west of the summit, with rice terraces walled in field stone: when the paddies are flooded for planting they carry Fuji upside down, from its skirt to its top. There is not one traffic light in the district, and the only request is that you look at the terraces from the public roads.

Getting there: Fujikyu Shizuoka Bus from Fujinomiya Station (platform 5, for Kami-Yuno) to Yuno Shisho, 25 min, then on through the paddies (the Tsuchiiwa and Tsujiai stops are beside the ones pinned here): four buses on weekdays (7:10, 8:30, 12:40, 16:30) but only the 16:30 at weekends and on holidays, with one bus back at 9:08, so in practice a car trip, about 35 min from Shin-Fuji IC. Park at the Jomon no Sato Oshika-kan hall or the Izumi produce shop, not on the farm roads. Bears were reported at Kami-Yuno on September 28 and 29 and October 2, 2026, the last beside the Nakasai bus stop after dark. Best: Spring, from the flooding of the paddies until just after planting: the only weeks the reflection shows.

73Kotokuji Temple興徳寺ShizuokaStep-free

Two weeping cherries hang in front of Fuji, 20 km to the north-east over the farmland, at this Nichiren temple on the edge of the Yuno valley, founded in 1289 by Nichiren's disciple Nikko and moved to its present site in the Keicho era (1596–1615). Photographers spread its name by word of mouth, and in autumn red spider lilies flower through the grounds.

Getting there: Fujikyu Shizuoka Bus from Fujinomiya Station (platform 5, for Kami-Yuno) to Yuno Shisho (the temple's own site calls the stop Yuno Kominkan), 25 min, then about 5 min on foot: four buses on weekdays, one (16:30) at weekends and on holidays, so most visitors drive, about 35 min from Shin-Fuji IC or 20 min from Nishi-Fujinomiya Station. Parking at the temple. Best: Cherry blossom late March to early April (full bloom was April 2 in 2025); red spider lilies in autumn.

74Urui River Cherry Avenue潤井川桜並木ShizuokaStep-free

About 350 Somei Yoshino cherries along the east bank of the Urui River on the west side of Fujinomiya, above a riverside green with a footpath; seen from the far bank, as in the city's and the ministry's photographs, the row of blossom runs under Fuji, 18 km to the north-east. This is the townspeople's own blossom walk rather than a visitor attraction: flat, free and a short bus ride from the station.

Getting there: Fujikyu Shizuoka Bus from Fujinomiya Station (platform 5, for Kamijo) to Yonchu-kita Iriguchi (四中北入口), a little over 10 min, then 5 min on foot: nine buses on weekdays, four a day at weekends, when only two come back, at about 11:50 and 16:25. Or walk from Nishi-Fujinomiya Station on the JR Minobu Line, about 1.4 km (20 min) to the south end of the green. By car about 15 min from Shin-Fuji IC; the city lists parking at the green. Best: Cherry blossom late March to early April (full bloom was April 2 in 2025).

75Mitarashi Bridge, Kanda River神田川御手洗橋ShizuokaStep-free

The bridge at the south-east corner of Fujisan Hongu Sengen Taisha, where the Kanda River, spring water that has just left the shrine's Wakutama Pond, runs straight toward you with Fuji standing at the head of the stream. The stretch below the pond used to be called the Mitarashi River, after the water worshippers wash in, and the Kanda River Fureai Plaza on its bank has steps down to the stream and a row of cherry trees.

Getting there: About 13 min on foot (1 km) from Fujinomiya Station on the JR Minobu Line, or 2 min by any Shiraito Falls bus to the Sengen Taisha stop. Shrine car park ¥200 an hour (free for worshippers who leave within 30 min; closed November 2–5 for the annual festival); the city's Kandagawa car park south of the railway is ¥200 for the first 3 hours. Best: Cherry blossom along the stream late March to early April.

76Fujisan Hongu Sengen Taisha富士山本宮浅間大社ShizuokaStep-free

The head shrine of Japan's 1,300-odd Sengen shrines, which worship Fuji itself; the view people come for is the great vermilion torii at the front of the precinct with the summit, 18 km to the north-east, beyond it. Its two-storey main hall, of a form found nowhere else, was given by Tokugawa Ieyasu after Sekigahara (in 1604 by the shrine's account, 1606 by the city's); the shrine also owns the mountain above the 8th station, and its Wakutama Pond, where climbers used to wash before starting up, is a national Special Natural Monument.

Getting there: 10 min on foot from Fujinomiya Station on the JR Minobu Line, or 2 min by any Shiraito Falls bus to the Sengen Taisha stop. The gates open 5:00–20:00 from April to September, 5:30–19:30 in March and October and 6:00–19:00 from November to February; free. Shrine car park ¥200 an hour, open 5:00–19:00, closed November 2–5 for the annual festival. Best: Cherry blossom late March to early April (full bloom was April 4 in 2025).

77Inase River, Utsubusa稲瀬川ShizuokaStep-free

Two kilometres of cherry trees on both banks of a small river in the bamboo-shoot village of Utsubusa, with rape blossom sown beneath them and Fuji 26 km to the north-east down the valley. The village calls them the Gentaro cherries, after the local man who began planting them.

Getting there: On foot from Shibakawa Station on the JR Minobu Line: 25 min to the lower end of the avenue by the city's reckoning, and 3.4 km (about 45 min) to the stretch pinned here, at Naka. By car about 35 min from Shin-Fuji IC. A bear was seen near the valley's mouth on August 31, 2026. Best: Cherry blossom late March to early April (full bloom was April 2 in 2025).

80Iwamotoyama Park岩本山公園ShizuokaStep-free

A 13 ha park on top of Mt Iwamoto, a 193 m hill above the Fuji River, with three lookouts and a plum garden of more than 400 trees in about thirty varieties that flowers from January to March, ahead of the cherries, with Fuji 22 km to the north-north-east behind it. The same hilltop takes in Hakone, the Izu Peninsula, Suruga Bay and, in the far distance, the Southern Alps.

Getting there: Fuji City's Koume community bus from Fuji Station to Iwamotoyama Koen, the last stop, 35 to 44 min, ¥300: five runs a day (last bus back 16:30), Monday to Saturday only (not Sundays, holidays, August 13–15 or December 29 to January 3), and due to become an on-demand taxi from April 2027. By car about 15 min from Fuji Station or 20 min from Shin-Fuji Station; car parks 1 and 2 open 8:30–21:00, car park 3 around the clock. Best: Plum blossom January to March; cherry blossom March to April.

81Fujinokuni Tagonoura Minato Parkふじのくに田子の浦みなと公園ShizuokaStep-free

Fuji rises its full height in one sweep, 25 km almost due north across the harbour and its factory chimneys, from this prefectural park at sea level on Suruga Bay, built up from sediment dredged out of Tagonoura Port. On the lookout hill stands the Mt Fuji Dragon Tower, an octagonal deck exactly one hundredth of the mountain's height (37.76 m), and the park also holds a monument to Yamabe no Akahito's poem in the Man'yoshu.

Getting there: Fuji City's Shiokaze community bus from Shin-Fuji Station to Fujinokuni Tagonoura Minato Koen, 22 min, ¥200: six runs a day (last bus back 16:07), Monday to Saturday only (not Sundays, holidays, August 13–15 or December 29 to January 3). Otherwise 10 min by car or taxi from Shin-Fuji Station, or 45 min on foot from it or from Yoshiwara Station. The park is always open and the tower's deck is reached by a spiral stair; the car park (143 spaces) opens 8:00–17:00.

84Koshikirizuka Lookout腰切塚展望台ShizuokaEasy walk

Fifteen minutes' climb through fir forest from Mizugatsuka Park on the Fujisan Skyline ends at a lookout on top of a small side cone of Fuji, 1,496 m up, with the summit 7 km to the north-north-west and the Hoei crater gaping in the slope straight in front of you. The cone keeps a little crater of its own, which the path circles and enters.

Getting there: From the Mizugatsuka Park car park on the Fujisan Skyline loop road: the path starts at the gate beside the snow-play area, 15 min up by a steep flight of steps and 20 min down by the south path; carry a bear bell. Fujikyu City Bus from Mishima Station to Mizugatsuka Park, about 1 h 10 to 1 h 25 min, three a day (7:35, 9:10, 10:10; back 13:05, 16:05, 17:55) until October 25, 2026, after which the buses turn back at the Yeti ski area for the winter; on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays to November 1, 2026 a Fujikyu Mobility bus also runs from Gotemba Station, 55 min, three a day. By car about 55 min from Fuji IC; the loop road stays open in winter with winter tyres.

85Fujimidai, Mt Echizendake越前岳富士見台ShizuokaHike

A clearing at about 1,420 m on the ridge 20 minutes east of the top of Mt Echizendake (1,504 m), the highest peak of the Ashitaka range, where Fuji stands 15 km to the north-north-west with the Hoei crater face-on and its whole skirt spread below. The Fuji on the 50-sen note of 1938 was taken from a photograph made here; the summit itself shows only the mountain's head, so the ministry's rangers tell walkers to go on to this point.

Getting there: From the free Jurigi Kogen car park (38 cars, toilets) on Route 469: 40 min to the Miharashidai lookout on the ridge, 1 h 20 min more to the summit, then 20 min down the east ridge, about 2 h 20 min in all. Fujikyu Mobility bus from Gotemba Station to Jurigi, 43 min, six a day (afternoon buses back at 13:30, 14:55 and 18:40), then 5 min on foot to the trailhead; the same line stops at Ashitaka Tozanguchi (29 min), from where it is about 20 min up the forest road to the Yama-jinja car park and about 1 h 50 min more to Fujimidai. Eroded mountain trail: boots, and light crampons when there is snow. Best: Pampas grass on the Jurigi plateau from late September to late November.

Izu and Izu Oshima (20)

56Senbonhama Park千本浜公園ShizuokaStep-free

Pines fill this 14.6 ha city park behind Numazu's shingle beach, part of the Senbon Matsubara pine belt at the head of Suruga Bay, and its viewpoint is the stepped sea wall between the trees and the shore. From the top of the wall Fuji stands 32 km to the north-north-west above the pine crowns, seen along the coast and not across the water, and the sun sets into the bay on your left.

Getting there: Tokai Bus from the south exit of Numazu Station (platform 1, for Numazu Port by Senbonhama Koen) to Senbonhama Koen, 6 min, then about 5 min on foot to the sea wall: hourly from 10:00 to 14:00 on weekdays (last bus back 14:17), 11 buses from 10:00 to 15:50 at weekends and on holidays (last back 16:07). Or walk the 2 km from the station. By car about 20 min from Numazu IC or Nagaizumi-Numazu IC; free car park for 110 cars, open 6:00–21:00. The viewpoint is the top of a stepped sea wall.

57Cape Osezaki大瀬崎ShizuokaStep-free

More than a hundred wild junipers (a national natural monument since 1932 and the northernmost natural stand in Japan) cover this spit, which hooks a kilometre out into Suruga Bay, round a shrine to the bay's fishermen and a freshwater pond a few steps from the sea. From the swimming beach inside the hook, where divers wade in all year, the wooded spit lies across the cove with Fuji 38 km almost due north behind it.

Getting there: No bus reaches the cape. Tokai Bus from Numazu Station (platform 3) meets Numazu City's reserve-only shared taxi 'Fujimi go!', which stops at Osezaki: take the 8:30, 10:30 or 12:30 bus to Kisho-Nokyo (41 min) for the taxi at 9:20, 11:25 or 13:15 (16 min), or the 13:30 or 15:30 bus to Enashi (71 min) for the taxi at 14:53 or 16:53 (5 min). Taxis back leave Osezaki at 10:57, 12:57, 14:47 and 16:47 to meet the bus for Numazu. The taxi runs only when booked: phone Heda Kotsu (0558-94-3456) at least two hours ahead. By car about 1 hour (33 km) from Numazu IC by Route 414 and Prefectural Road 17. The Izu Geopark's page says that, as of July 2026, the footpath on the east side of the cape is impassable after a collapse.

58Mt Hottanjo発端丈山ShizuokaHike

A 410 m hill above Uchiura Bay, climbed by a steep path from the Nagahama shore that passes two lookouts: from the concrete one about an hour up, the wooded island of Awashima sits in the bay directly under Fuji, 42 km to the north-north-west, with Numazu and the Ashitaka range between them. The summit, 20 to 30 minutes higher, is open all round, though its trees leaf over the view in summer.

Getting there: Tokai Bus from Numazu Station (platform 3, Nishiura line for Kisho or Enashi) to Nagahama, one stop beyond Izu-Mito Sea Paradise, 37 min, 17 a day (18 on weekdays), last bus back 17:29. The Nagahama trailhead is a few minutes inland, and the path takes about 1 h 30 min to the top, with the lookout about an hour up. Drivers leave the car at the San-no-ura tourist information office in Nagahama. Best: Late autumn to spring: in summer the trees round the summit leaf over the view.

59Kirameki-no-Oka煌めきの丘ShizuokaStep-free

Named for the glitter of the water below it, this small railed terrace sits about 90 m above the sea on the coast road between Osezaki and Heda: Fuji is 41 km to the north, straight across Suruga Bay, and the sun goes down into the bay to the west. Steps lead down to the Sungo burial mounds, left as they were excavated with their stone coffins in place.

Getting there: No regular bus. Numazu City's reserve-only shared taxi 'Fujimi go!' stops at Kirameki-no-Oka: 10 min from the Kurura Heda roadside station at 10:35, 12:35, 14:25 and 16:25 (back at 9:50, 11:55, 13:45, 15:11 and 17:11), or 18 min from Enashi at 14:53 and 16:53, which meet the 13:30 and 15:30 Tokai Bus from Numazu Station. The taxi runs only when booked: phone Heda Kotsu (0558-94-3456) at least two hours ahead. Kurura Heda is about 45 min by Tokai Bus from Shuzenji Station, seven a day. By car the lay-by is on Prefectural Road 17 about 6 km north of Heda. Best: Early January to late February, when the rapeseed field at Ita, in the valley under the lookout, is in flower.

60Mt Kinkan金冠山ShizuokaEasy walk

An 816 m grassy summit near the north end of the Izu ridge trail, open to the north: Fuji stands 44 km away over the whole curve of Suruga Bay, with Numazu, the island of Awashima and the Southern Alps in the same sweep and Heda's harbour down to the west. A broad firebreak lane climbs to it from the Darumayama rest house through mamezakura cherries and asebi bushes, a walk Izu City recommends for anyone from children upward.

Getting there: Tokai Bus from Shuzenji Station (platform 2) to Darumayama Kogen Rest House, 23–27 min, 10 a day on weekdays and 12 at weekends, then 45 min up the firebreak path (1.8 km). Or stay on to Heda Pass (seven a day, 2 min further) and climb 15 to 30 min from the car park there. The last bus back passes Heda Pass at 17:28 and the rest house at 17:30. Best: Mid April, when the mamezakura cherries along the ridge are in flower; autumn and winter for the clearest views of Fuji.

78Mt Komuro小室山ShizuokaStep-free

A 321 m scoria cone above Kawana whose grassy top is ringed by a 166 m boardwalk, the Ridge Walk MISORA (opened April 2021): Fuji rises 59 km to the north-west beyond the roofs of Ito, and on the other side Sagami Bay runs out to Izu Oshima. A single-seat chairlift takes 5 minutes from the park at its foot, where 100,000 azaleas flower in April.

Getting there: Tokai Bus from Ito Station (platform 2, 3 or 5 according to the bus) to Komuroyama Ridge Walk MISORA, 20 to 24 min, 11 a day on weekdays and 13 at weekends between 9:00 and 15:15 (last bus back 16:20). Then the open single-seat chairlift (5 min; ¥1,000 return, ¥600 one way, primary-school children ¥100; 9:30–16:00, last ride up 15:55) or about 15 min on foot. The lift stops in strong wind and bad weather. By car about 15 min from Ito Station; free parking for about 280 cars. Best: Azaleas (about 100,000 bushes of 40 kinds) in April; camellias in February and March.

79Mt Omuro大室山ShizuokaStep-free

Shaped like an upturned bowl and kept bare of trees by burning the whole hill each February, this 580 m scoria cone may not be climbed on foot: a 6-minute chairlift is the only way to the rim, where a 1 km path circles a crater 300 m across with Fuji 61 km to the north-west. The shrine inside the crater is to Iwanaga-hime, elder sister of Fuji's goddess, and tradition says Fuji must not be praised from this hill.

Getting there: Tokai Bus to Shaboten Koen, the last stop, at the foot of the lift: about 40 min from Ito Station (platform 5, 22 a day; the five that go round by Mt Komuro take about 50) or about 20 min from Izu-Kogen Station (14 a day). The last bus back leaves at 17:00 for Ito Station and at 17:00 for Izu-Kogen Station (17:30 from March to October). The open two-seat chairlift (6 min) runs 9:00–17:00 from March to September (last ride down 17:15) and 9:00–16:00 from October to February (16:15), ¥1,000 return, primary-school children ¥500; it stops in strong wind and bad weather, and for maintenance on December 7–18, 2026. Staff stop the lift for wheelchair users, but the rim path is too steep for a wheelchair. Parking for about 500 cars. Best: The hill is burned on the second Sunday of February (bad weather often pushes it back), stays black for some weeks and is green again by late April.

88Darumayama Kogenだるま山高原ShizuokaStep-free

The viewing deck beside the Darumayama Kogen Rest House, at about 630 m on the east slope of the old Daruma volcano where the road from Shuzenji climbs toward Heda: Fuji, 44 km to the north-north-west, stands over Suruga Bay and the Ashitaka range, with Hakone and the Tanzawa range to the right. A photograph taken here, some 5 m high and 33 m wide, was exhibited at the 1939 New York World's Fair as a landscape representative of Japan, and Izu City counts the view among the three finest in Izu.

Getting there: Tokai Bus from Shuzenji Station (platform 2, for Heda or Darumayama Kogen Rest House) to Darumayama Kogen Rest House, 23–27 min, 10 a day on weekdays and 12 at weekends, last bus back 17:30; the deck is 2 min from the stop. By car about 60 min from Numazu IC; 50 free spaces. The rest house opens 10:00–17:00 (to 16:30 from October to March) and closes on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and some Thursdays.

89Mt Koki古稀山ShizuokaEasy walk

A 920 m knob of bamboo grass on the Izu ridge trail, a kilometre south of Mt Daruma and bare of trees, with Fuji 47 km to the north-north-west and the Nishi-Izu Skyline curving along the ridge below. Its name is the word for a seventieth birthday, and Izu City says it has become a favourite with walkers who have reached 70.

Getting there: No bus runs on the Nishi-Izu Skyline, a free prefectural road. By car, park at the Heda car park, a lay-by under Mt Daruma 4.7 km south of Heda Pass, and follow the ridge trail south for about 500 m, over one knoll and up the next (the ministry's rangers allow 20 min). On foot from the Heda Pass bus stop (Tokai Bus from Shuzenji Station, 25–29 min, seven a day, last bus back 17:28) it is about 1 h 30 min one way over Mt Kodaruma and Mt Daruma. In winter chains can be required on the skyline after snow or ice.

90Muroiwado Quarry Cave室岩洞ShizuokaStep-freeCurrently closed

An underground quarry in the sea cliff south of Matsuzaki, where a soft tuff called Izu stone was cut out by hand until about 1954, leaving 2,000 m² of pillared chambers that have been lit and open to walkers since 1982. The 180 m path through them comes out at a fenced lookout on the cliff, facing Fuji 68 km due north across Suruga Bay.

Entry has been forbidden until further notice since a large roof fall was found in the quarry on September 8, 2026; the lookout can be reached only through the cave (Matsuzaki Town's notice, still posted on October 7, 2026)

Getting there: Tokai Bus Kumomi line from Matsuzaki to Muroiwado, 6 min, six a day (seven on weekdays); Matsuzaki is 50 min by Tokai Bus from Izukyu-Shimoda Station. By car there is a free lay-by for 4 or 5 cars on Route 136; the cave mouth is 50 m below it, across the road and down steep steps, and inside the ceilings are low and the floor floods after rain.

91Hagiya Tunnel萩谷トンネルShizuokaStep-free

At the north mouth of a short tunnel on Route 136, about 70 m above the sea on Cape Hagiya, a small lay-by looks straight up the coast past the next headland and its islets to Fuji, 68 km away across Suruga Bay. The road here is the Fujimi Sculpture Line, where 20 works by local sculptors stand along the coast, and cherry trees flower on the slope under the lay-by in spring.

Getting there: Tokai Bus Kumomi line from Matsuzaki to Hagiya, 8 min, six a day (seven on weekdays); the stop is at the lay-by. Matsuzaki is 50 min by Tokai Bus from Izukyu-Shimoda Station or about 1 h 40 min from Shuzenji Station. By car about 4 km south of Matsuzaki's bus terminal on Route 136.

92Sanpo Footpath Lookout三浦歩道三競展望台ShizuokaHike

A deck with benches and a small shelter on a spur about 150 m above the sea, on the Ishibu to Kumomi stretch of the Sanpo footpath, the old track that linked the coves of Iwachi, Ishibu and Kumomi before the coast road and its bus arrived in 1965. The whole coast runs north from under your feet (Cape Kurosaki, Iwachi, Cape Hagiya, Dogashima) with Fuji 70 km away at the end of it, and Mt Eboshi above Kumomi to the left.

Getting there: Tokai Bus Kumomi line from Matsuzaki to Ishibu Onsen (14 min) or Kumomi-hama (19 min), six a day (seven on weekdays); the last bus back passes Kumomi-hama at 17:41 and Ishibu Onsen at 17:46. From Ishibu Onsen about 35 min: a steep zigzag behind the village shrine, 20 min to the Kurosaki lookout and 15 more along the hillside. From Kumomi-hama about 35 min, up a long steep flight of steps from Akaihama (25 min coming down). The whole footpath from Iwachi to Kumomi is 4.8 km, about 2 hours.

93Kumomi Coast雲見海岸ShizuokaStep-free

The beach of a small fishing and hot-spring village, where two rocks called Ushitsuki-iwa stand in the cove with Fuji directly above them, 70 km away across the open length of Suruga Bay: Matsuzaki calls it its standard Fuji view. Behind the beach rises Mt Eboshi (162 m), whose summit shrine is to Iwanaga-hime, the plain elder sister of Fuji's goddess, and villagers warn that anyone who praises Fuji up there will come to harm.

Getting there: Tokai Bus from Izukyu-Shimoda Station to Matsuzaki, 50 min, then the Kumomi line to Kumomi-hama, 19 min, six a day (seven on weekdays); the stop is at the beach. By car about 100 min from Numazu IC by Route 136; parking on the fishing-port slipway under the Kumomi bridge, free outside the summer bathing season. Best: December to February, when Matsuzaki Town says Fuji is clear on the most days.

94Ishibu Rice Terraces石部棚田ShizuokaStep-free

About 370 small paddies held up by stone walls, which are rare in eastern Japan, stepping from 120 m to 250 m up a valley above the cove of Ishibu; abandoned and overgrown, the 4.2 ha were cleared again in 2000 and are now farmed through an owners' scheme. From the lookout at the top the terraces fall away to the village and Suruga Bay, with Fuji 71 km away beyond the water.

Getting there: By car: on Route 136 south of Kumomi a sign on the left marks the farm road, and the lookout car park (about 20 cars) is 1 km along it, about 20 min from Matsuzaki. The lanes through Ishibu village are very narrow and the terrace tracks are closed to cars. By bus: Tokai Bus Kumomi line from Matsuzaki to Ishibu Onsen, 14 min, six a day (seven on weekdays), then about 40 min uphill on foot to the exchange hut in the middle of the terraces; the lookout is at the top. Best: Water goes into the paddies in April and the rice is planted in mid May; a candle-lit evening follows (June 20 in 2026, rained off); the harvest, dried on racks, is in early October.

95Mt Takatori North Lookout高通山北側展望所ShizuokaHike

A bench in a gap in the forest just north of the 519 m summit of Mt Takatori, the highest point on the South Izu long trail: Kumomi's roofs, Mt Eboshi and the Senganmon sea arch lie directly below, the west coast of Izu runs away north, and Fuji is 72 km off beyond it with the Southern Alps to its left. The summit itself looks the other way, over the cliffs of the south-west coast toward the Izu Islands.

Getting there: Tokai Bus Kumomi line from Matsuzaki to Kumomi Iriya, the last stop, 21 min, six a day (seven on weekdays; last bus back 17:39); then 30 min up the road to the trailhead and 65 min of forest path to the summit, with the lookout just below it. Or drive to Takatori Park on Route 136 at the Minamiizu boundary (free parking for about 20 cars, toilets) and climb about 50 min, nearly all steps, to the summit, then 5 to 10 min on to the lookout. Best: Wild cherries on the slopes from mid March to early April; mountain azaleas round the summit from late April to mid May.

96Nishina Pass仁科峠ShizuokaEasy walk

From the 895 m pass where the road from Nishiizu crosses the spine of Izu, a 15-minute climb through head-high bamboo grass leads to a 940 m knoll topped by a boulder called Nabe-ishi and open all round. Fuji is 56 km to the north, over a cattle pasture and the ridges of the peninsula, with Suruga Bay and Koganezaki down to the west.

Getting there: No public transport. By car the pass is about 23 km up the Ito-Nishiizu prefectural road from the coast at Nishina, or 19 km south of Heda Pass along the Nishi-Izu Skyline and the Nishi-Amagi Kogen road, both free; park at the pass and climb the ridge trail east for about 15 min. Chains can be required on the skyline after snow or ice.

97Koganezaki黄金崎ShizuokaStep-free

A cape of weathered andesite stained yellow-brown, which glows gold in the evening sun and has been a prefectural natural monument since 1988; one cliff is so like a horse's head that it is called Uma Rock. From the lookout on the cliff top, about 55 m above the water, Fuji is 58 km due north across Suruga Bay, and in spring about 250 cherry trees flower in the park behind.

Getting there: Tokai Bus from Shuzenji Station (platform 4, for Matsuzaki) to Koganezaki Crystal Park, 74 min, 13 a day, or about 25 min from Matsuzaki; the cape is about 10 min on foot from the stop. Two limited-express buses a day come through from Mishima Station. By car about 1 h 20 min from Numazu IC; parking for 100 cars. The Koganest rest house at the cape opens 9:00–17:00, closed Tuesdays. Best: Cherry blossom from late March to late April; the cliff turns gold toward sunset all year.

102Minato-no-Mieru-Oka, Izu Oshima港の見える丘TokyoEasy walk

A bend of the old coast road, bypassed by the tunnels of today's ring road, about 80 m above Okata, the port on Izu Oshima's north shore, and named the hill with a view of the harbour: the pier and whichever ship is alongside lie below, and Fuji is 88 km to the north-west, over the sea and the hills of the Izu Peninsula. From Oshima the Hoei crater in its flank faces you square on, so the mountain's two slopes look evenly matched.

Getting there: Tokai Kisen jet foil from Tokyo's Takeshiba terminal to Oshima, 1 h 45 min, or from Atami, 45 min; the overnight ship leaves Takeshiba at 22:00 and docks at 6:00. Ships use Okata or Motomachi port depending on the day's sea. From Motomachi Port, Oshima Bus (Oshima Park line) to Okata Port takes 17 min, nine a day, ¥440; from the port it is about 1.4 km on foot up the old road east of the village, an 80 m climb. Tokai Kisen runs a reduced timetable from October 9 to 28, 2026, with three of its ships out of service: check with the operator before you travel.

103Mantate-hama万立浜TokyoStep-free

On the Sunset Palm Line, the 5 km shore road and footpath from Motomachi to Nodahama on Izu Oshima's west coast, a small cove of dark lava rock opens at the mouth of a stream, 4 km north of the port. You stand just above the waterline with waves breaking on the rocks in front and Fuji 86 km to the north-west across the water, above the long line of the Izu Peninsula, and the sun sets into the same sea.

Getting there: Tokai Kisen jet foil from Tokyo's Takeshiba terminal to Oshima, 1 h 45 min, or from Atami, 45 min; the overnight ship leaves Takeshiba at 22:00 and docks at 6:00. Mantate is 4 km north of Motomachi Port on the Sunset Palm Line: about an hour on foot along the shore path, or a short ride by bicycle, taxi or car. No bus runs on this road in the timetable to February 5, 2027. Tokai Kisen runs a reduced timetable from October 9 to 28, 2026, with three of its ships out of service: check with the operator before you travel.

104Mt Mihara Summit Entrance Lookout三原山山頂口展望台TokyoStep-free

The sea side of the car park at the Mt Mihara summit entrance, 555 m up on the rim of Izu Oshima's caldera, where the road and the bus end: Fuji stands 91 km to the north-west, the farthest of the 104 viewpoints, across the sea and the hills of eastern Izu, with the Amagi range to its left and the Southern Alps behind on the clearest winter days. A minute the other way the outer-rim lookout faces Mt Mihara across the caldera floor, and the path to the crater (45 to 60 min) starts here.

Getting there: Tokai Kisen jet foil from Tokyo's Takeshiba terminal to Oshima, 1 h 45 min, or from Atami, 45 min; the overnight ship leaves Takeshiba at 22:00 and docks at 6:00. Oshima Bus Mihara line from Motomachi Port to the Mt Mihara summit entrance (the Mihara Sancho-guchi stop), 25 min, ¥1,090: in the timetable for October 1, 2026 to February 5, 2027 it runs only on Saturdays, Sundays, holidays and December 26 to January 3, with buses up at 8:20, 10:40 (from the day's arrival port) and 12:40 and the last one down at 13:30. On other days go by taxi or hire car up the Gojinka Skyline from Motomachi. The viewpoint is 1 min from the stop. Tokai Kisen runs a reduced timetable from October 9 to 28, 2026, with three of its ships out of service: check with the operator before you travel.

Routes That Link Them

Six viewpoints on one bus line round Lake Kawaguchi

No car needed, and one day does it. The Red Line sightseeing bus leaves Kawaguchiko Station every 15 minutes from 9:00 to 17:45 and passes six of the lake's listed viewpoints. The stops to ask for, in order: Sightseeing Boat/Ropeway Entrance for the Tenjoyama ropeway on the south-east shore (11 minutes from the station), Ubuya for Ubuyagasaki at the north end of the bridge (16), and then along the north shore, Kawaguchiko Monkey Show Theater/Konohana Art Museum for the lakeside by the Enkei Hall (20), Itchiku Kubota Art Museum for the Momiji Corridor (21), Sunnide Resort/Nagasaki Park Entrance for Nagasaki (23) and Kawaguchiko Natural Living Center, the last stop, for Oishi Park (27). Ride to Oishi Park first, while the morning is clear, and work back toward the station; the last bus back leaves Oishi Park at 18:27. A one-day pass for the Red Line and its two sister lines costs ¥1,500, at the station's bus window or on board. In cherry season (early to mid April) and during the autumn leaf festival (November 7 to 29 in 2026) the middle stops are the point of the day.

Hakone's loop, with the mountain in view

A full day from Hakone-Yumoto, no car needed, with three listed viewpoints on the way. Take the mountain railway to Gora and the cable car up to Sounzan, then the ropeway on to Owakudani (10 minutes), where Fuji stands over the sulphur vents. Ride on to Ubako, the quiet middle station with the same mountain and no crowd, and down to Togendai for the sightseeing ship to Moto-Hakone, where the lakeside path has the shrine's red torii in the water and Fuji over the far rim. The line H bus back to Hakone-Yumoto takes 32 minutes. The Hakone Free Pass (two days: ¥6,000 from Odawara, ¥7,100 from Shinjuku) covers every leg. The ropeway shuts in sections for maintenance, with substitute buses: Sounzan to Owakudani on December 7 to 24, 2026, and Togendai to Owakudani from January 12 to February 26, 2027.

The west side: shrine, falls, lake and pasture

This one wants a car and a day, or patience with a thin bus timetable. Begin at Fujisan Hongu Sengen Taisha, ten minutes on foot from Fujinomiya Station, and the Mitarashi Bridge at its south-east corner. Drive up to Yamamiya Sengen Shrine, the older site that has no hall because the mountain is what is worshipped, then on to Shiraito Falls, Lake Tanuki and the Asagiri pastures along Route 139, where cows graze in front of the west face. Without a car, buses from Fujinomiya Station reach Shiraito Falls in 30 minutes (14 a day, 21 on weekdays) and Lake Tanuki in 45 (seven a day), and the rapid bus up Route 139 reaches the Asagiri road station in 37 minutes, three times a day.

About the List

The list's Japanese name, 富士山がある風景100選, means "a hundred chosen landscapes with Mt Fuji in them", and what it lists are viewpoints (展望地). It was made for a birthday. Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park turned 80 on February 1, 2016, and the committee formed to mark it (the Ministry of the Environment's regional office, the prefectures of Tokyo, Kanagawa, Yamanashi and Shizuoka, and the park's 36 municipalities, from Hakone to the Izu Islands) set out to choose the mountain's representative viewpoints. It met for the last time on February 27, 2017, and on March 30 the ministry announced what the committee's members had settled on: 104 viewpoints, numbered 1 to 104. It gave no reason for the extra four, and none is needed: a hyakusen, a "hundred selections", is what Japan calls a best-of list whatever the final count, and the agriculture ministry's 100 rice terraces of 1999 number 134. The numbers are not a ranking: they run town by town, from Hakone (1 to 9) to Izu Oshima (102 to 104). Rules for the list took effect the same day, and the ministry's Hakone office has kept it since.

Those rules say what was weighed. A viewpoint had to stand in or near the park and be distinctive: for its nature, for its culture (inside or beside a part of the Fujisan World Heritage listing, for one), or for its fame, meaning a view that has become a well-known photograph or painting or has been printed on a stamp or a banknote. Two entries show what that last clause means. The view over Lake Motosu from Nakanokura Pass (No. 18) appears on the back of the ¥5,000 note issued from 1984 and the ¥1,000 note issued from 2004, and the Fuji on the 50-sen note of 1938 was photographed from the Fujimidai on Mt Echizendake (No. 85). The view itself counted: a natural feature or a cultural property in the frame with the mountain, nothing man-made in sight, a wide sweep, and Fuji visible on a hundred days a year or more. So did the way there: within an hour's walk of a car park, or on public transport, unless the longer walk was worth doing for its own sake. And it helped to have no rival nearby, or to be one of the Fuji views a town already counts as its own.

The first of those conditions, the park, explains what is missing. Every viewpoint lies in one of the park's municipalities, 24 of the 36 in the end, so famous views of Fuji from anywhere else are not here: Miho no Matsubara in Shizuoka City, the towers of Tokyo, Enoshima. A second government list reaches further: the land and transport ministry's Kanto bureau has its own hundred views of Fuji (関東の富士見百景), 128 of them at 233 places in nine prefectures, Tokyo included.

The ministry grades every viewpoint for effort, from one star to four: a place a wheelchair can reach, a walk that needs no hiking experience, a walk that needs some, and one that needs it outright. It calls the grades a rough guide, and they are. Some date from before a road or a shuttle bus arrived (Nijumagari Pass, graded as a hike, is now a drive-up terrace), and a few places graded step-free have stairs. We print the official grade on each row and say in the entry what the walk really is. Six viewpoints carry two grades, for two ways up: by road, ropeway or cable car, or on foot.

Under the rules, a viewpoint that can no longer be used, other than for a time, is to be reported to the Hakone office and taken off the list. The ministry's list still carries all 104. As of October 2026 one is shut: the quarry cave at Muroiwado in west Izu (No. 90), closed since a large roof fall was found there on September 8. Lesser closures touch several others, among them the trails round Owakudani (shut for volcanic gas since the 2015 eruption), one trail up Mt Mitsutoge (since late June 2026, after an earthquake), the lakeside path at Lake Tanuki and the road along Lake Motosu's south shore (both since September 2026). Each is noted in its entry.

A viewpoint is only half of it, because the mountain has to show. From Fuji City, where the view from the city hall has been recorded three times a day since 1990, the whole mountain is out at 8:00 on about 60% of January days and 10% of July days. The odds for every month, date and hour are in our guide to when Mt Fuji is visible.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best place to see Mt Fuji?

For a first visit, Lake Kawaguchi's north shore: Oishi Park is flat and free, 27 minutes by bus from Kawaguchiko Station, with the lake and the whole mountain in front of you. For the classic photograph, Arakurayama Sengen Park in Fujiyoshida puts the Chureito Pagoda in the frame from the top of 398 steps. In Hakone, the lakeside at Moto-Hakone has a red torii standing in the lake and the mountain over the rim behind it. All three are on the official list of 104 viewpoints.

Where can you see Mt Fuji without hiking?

At most of the official viewpoints. The Ministry of the Environment puts 66 of the 104 in its easiest grade and another 18 down as walks that need no hiking experience; only 20 are hikes. The easy ones include lake shores such as Oishi Park and Lake Tanuki, road stations, shrines, and decks at the top of a ropeway at Owakudani, Mt Komagatake and Tenjoyama. The Getting there filter above the list shows them.

Which Mt Fuji viewpoints can you reach from Tokyo without a car?

Arakurayama Sengen Park is the simplest: Fuji Excursion trains run direct from Shinjuku to Shimoyoshida in about 105 minutes, four times a day, and the deck is a 25-minute walk from the station. From Kawaguchiko Station, at the end of the same line, the Red Line bus reaches six listed viewpoints round the lake every 15 minutes. Hakone's are on the usual loop from Hakone-Yumoto: Owakudani and Ubako by ropeway, Moto-Hakone by bus or ship. The mountain's west and south foot and most of Izu have few buses, and each entry says so.

When is the best time to see Mt Fuji?

Winter mornings. Fuji City's 35-year record has the whole mountain in view at 8:00 on about 60% of January days and about 10% of July days, and it shows less often at noon and at 16:00 than at 8:00. The list's makers weighed this too, looking for viewpoints where Fuji shows on at least 100 days a year. Go early, and keep a second morning in hand.

Is this the same as Hokusai's One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji?

No. Hokusai's One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji (富嶽百景) is a set of three woodblock-printed picture books, the first two published in 1834 and 1835. This list, 富士山がある風景100選, is a modern one: 104 real viewpoints chosen for the 80th anniversary of Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park and kept by the Ministry of the Environment since 2017. Hokusai's title does turn up on it, at Misaka Pass (No. 36), where Dazai Osamu stayed in the autumn of 1938 and set a story of the same name.

Is Hakone or Kawaguchiko better for seeing Mt Fuji?

Kawaguchiko, if the mountain is the reason for the trip. From the lake's north shore the whole of Fuji stands about 18 km away across the water, and 46 of the 104 listed viewpoints are in the Five Lakes area. The Hakone area has 16, and from inside Hakone's caldera Fuji is about 30 km off and shows over the rim. Choose Hakone for the hot springs, the ropeway and Lake Ashi, with Fuji as the bonus of a clear morning.