After 37 years, I got the chance to re-visit Mt Fuji.
A wonderful Japanese host treated my daughter and I to a spectacular hotel room with a view at the XIV (pronounced Excibu) Resort Yamanaka Ko. Even from the bathroom Mt Fuji was visible, with Lake Yamanaka in front.
Where ever you go in this area, your eyes are searching for another view of this remarkable mountain.
In 1975, it took me 5 hours to climb to the top (3,600m above sea level) from the fifth station (2,300m above sea level and accessible by car or bus). There is a strict open climbing season (basically Summer), and weather can change suddenly so you must be prepared.
Mt Fuji is an elusive icon of Japan. Although in line of sight from Tokyo, it is not commonly visible due to haze or cloud cover. For some visitors to Japan, the best opportunity to see this mystical mountain is from the airplane during the approach to one of Tokyo’s two international airports.
Best time of the year to see Mt Fuji from a distance, in recent experience, has been January.
To really appreciate the mountain, plan a full day (or more) visit to the Fuji five lakes district, a journey of about 2 ~ 2.5 hrs out of Tokyo.
Mt Fuji is known as “Fuji San” in Japanese. However, that is not the same “San” which is used like Mr or Mrs to give someone a formal title. Japanese language has a lot of homophones – word that sound the same but have different meanings. In this case San means Mr / Mrs / Ms, and in other contexts it means mountain.