Why Mount Fuji is famous
Fuji is Japan's highest peak, the second-highest volcano on any Asian island after Kerinci on Sumatra, and the seventh-highest island summit on Earth. It is also the national symbol. Its nearly symmetrical cone has appeared in poems for well over a thousand years and in countless paintings and prints, most famously Hokusai's Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji and One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji from the 1830s. Its goddess, Konohanasakuya-hime, is worshipped at Fujisan Hongū Sengen Taisha in Fujinomiya, and the shrine owns the mountain above the 8th station, apart from the trails and the weather station. The Edo shogunate granted it this land in 1779, and in 1974 the Supreme Court upheld the shrine's claim against the state.
The summit area is a crater about 780 m across and some 240 m deep, ringed by eight peaks. The highest, Kengamine, on the south-west rim, holds the second-order survey point (3,775.56 m in the 2024 survey by the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan); a rock about 12 m north of it rises to 3,776.12 m, the highest ground in Japan.
A volcano that is still active
"New Fuji", built over the last 17,000 years, covers the older cones of "Old Fuji" and Komitake, close to where the Eurasian, North American and Philippine Sea plates meet. Ten eruptions are known from written records. The one of 864–866 poured out the lava that now carries the Aokigahara forest and split a lake into three of the Fuji Five Lakes: Motosu, Shōji and Sai. The last, the Hōei eruption, began on 16 December 1707 and ended about 1 January 1708. It blew out a new crater on the south-east flank and built the side cone of Mount Hōei (2,693 m); the ash column reached the stratosphere and about 4 cm of ash fell on Edo, today's Tokyo. Fuji is still classed as active; a new hazard map was issued in 2021.
Where it is and how to get there
Four towns sit at the foot of the mountain: Fujiyoshida to the north, Gotemba to the east, Fujinomiya to the south-west and Fuji to the south. The Fuji Five Lakes lie along the northern base, and the mountain is part of Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park. Tokyo's Haneda and Narita airports are about three hours away; Mt. Fuji Shizuoka Airport is about 80 km away.
All four summer trails start at a fifth station reached by road. The Yoshida Trail starts at the Fuji-Subaru Line 5th Station (2,305 m), reached by express bus from Shinjuku or by local bus from Kawaguchiko Station (about 55 minutes). The Fujinomiya Trail starts at its 5th station (2,400 m) at the top of the Mt. Fuji Skyline road, the Subashiri Trail at 2,000 m and the Gotemba Trail at its New 5th Station (1,440 m), with buses from Fujinomiya, Shin-Fuji, Mishima and Gotemba stations. In summer, private cars are banned from the roads to the Yoshida, Fujinomiya and Subashiri trailheads: drivers park lower down and take shuttle buses.
The four trails
Each trail is divided into numbered stations, with the summit as the tenth, and each has its own colour on signs and maps. Official walking times (as of 2026):
- Yoshida Trail (Yamanashi): 6.8 km and about 6 hours up, 7 km and about 3.5–4 hours down, about 1,450 m of gain. The most popular route, with separate ascent and descent paths and the most huts, more than a dozen of them clustered at the 7th and 8th stations. The upper part merges with the Subashiri Trail at the Original (Hon) 8th station and is very crowded before dawn.
- Fujinomiya Trail (Shizuoka): the shortest at 4.3 km, about 5 hours up and 2 h 40 min down, with about 1,320 m of gain from the highest trailhead. It is steep and rocky, with the same path up and down.
- Subashiri Trail (Shizuoka): 6.9 km and 6.5–7 hours up, about 1,700 m of gain. It starts in forest, then climbs on volcanic sand. The descent includes the sunabashiri, a sandy slope that drops about 700 m.
- Gotemba Trail (Shizuoka): the longest, 10.5 km and about 9 hours up, with about 2,300 m of gain and the fewest huts. Its descent includes the Ōsunabashiri, a 5 km run down loose volcanic gravel.
The usual plan is two days. On the Yoshida Trail the official model itinerary leaves the 5th station around midday after an hour of acclimatisation, reaches a hut at the 8th station, around 3,000 m, by late afternoon, and starts again just after midnight to be at the summit, beside Kusushi Shrine, for sunrise, which comes at about 4:20 in early July and about 4:50 in mid-August. A walk round the crater rim, the ohachi-meguri, takes about an hour and passes Kengamine. Climbing straight through the night without a hut stay, known as "bullet climbing", is what the authorities blame for much of the altitude sickness and hypothermia on the mountain.
Pilgrims once walked from the foot of the mountain, and the old Yoshida route still begins at Kitaguchi Hongū Fuji Sengen Shrine in Fujiyoshida.
Rules, fees and the climbing season
The trails are open only in summer. In 2026 the Yoshida and Subashiri trails opened on 1 July and the Fujinomiya and Gotemba trails on 10 July, and all four closed on 10 September. The crater rim path is open 10 July to 10 September. Dates are announced each spring.
Since 2025 both prefectures charge a fee and restrict night climbing (as of 2026):
- Yoshida Trail (Yamanashi): a fee of ¥4,000 per person per climb, paid online in advance or at the 5th station gate. The gate is closed from 14:00 to 03:00 except for people with a hut booking, and no more than 4,000 climbers a day may pass, again not counting hut guests. Yamanashi introduced the system in 2024 with a ¥2,000 fee; in 2024 and 2025 the limit was never reached.
- Fujinomiya, Gotemba and Subashiri trails (Shizuoka): a fee of ¥4,000 per person per climb, mandatory advance registration through the prefecture's FUJI NAVI system with a short online course on rules and safety, and a hut booking for anyone starting between 14:00 and 03:00. There is no daily cap. Registration is also possible at the 5th station.
A climber who goes up one side and down the other pays once. Children pay the full fee. Camping and campfires are banned above the 5th station, so a hut is the only way to spend the night. Taking stones and picking plants are prohibited, and there are no bins: all rubbish goes back down. Toilets on the trail ask for a tip of about ¥100–300, so bring coins; there are no ATMs at the 5th stations.
Mountain huts
Huts are open only during the season and must be booked in advance; the high ones fill first. A night typically costs about ¥13,000–15,000 per person with dinner and breakfast (2026). They are simple: shared rooms for men and women, bedding provided, no baths or washbasins. They sell water, snacks and sometimes noodles, but are not rest stops for non-guests.
When to go and weather
Go in the official season, and on weekdays if possible: from late July to late August, and especially at weekends and during the Obon holidays in mid-August, the trails below the summit are jammed before sunrise. The summit has a tundra climate. The mean temperature is about 6 °C in August, the warmest month, and about −18 °C in January; the record low is −38.0 °C in February 1981 and the record high 17.8 °C in August 1942. In summer, temperatures near the top can fall to around 0 °C before dawn. Afternoon thunderstorms are common, and there is nowhere to shelter on the open slopes. The first snow usually caps the mountain around 2 October; in 2024 it came on 6 November, the latest since records began in 1894.
Outside the season the trails are closed, the huts and toilets are shut, there is no rescue system, and snow, ice and storm-force north-westerly winds make the mountain a serious winter climb.
Water
There are no springs or streams anywhere on the climbing routes; rain and snow sink straight into the porous volcanic rock and resurface as springs at the foot of the mountain. The huts have no running water either. Carry 1–2 litres from the 5th station and buy more at huts, where drinks are sold at mountain prices because everything is brought up by bulldozer. Huts generally do not sell at night, from late August some close early, and the descent paths have very few of them.
Mobile coverage and internet
During the climbing season the major Japanese mobile operators install temporary antennas on the mountain, so most of the trails and the summit have coverage. Bring a power bank; outside the season coverage is not guaranteed. In an emergency call 110 (police, who handle mountain rescue from the 6th station up) or 119 (fire and ambulance, for accidents near the 5th station), and quote the number on the nearest trail sign. First-aid centres with doctors work for part of the season at the 7th and 8th stations of the Yoshida Trail and the 8th station of the Fujinomiya Trail.
Altitude, dangers and safety
From the 5th stations climbers gain 1,300–2,300 m in a day, which is why the official plans include an hour of acclimatisation at the trailhead and a night at around 3,000 m. Altitude sickness, hypothermia and injuries are the main reasons for rescue calls each season. Most accidents are falls on steep rock or loose sand, usually on the way down. Rockfall is a real hazard: stay on the marked path and consider a helmet; a dust mask and goggles help on the sand slopes. Proper boots, two-piece rain gear, a warm jacket, gloves and a headlamp are required. If thunder starts or a warning is issued, turn back. A frequent mistake is to follow the Subashiri descent instead of the Yoshida one at the 8th station junction; check the colour of the signs. Rescue helicopters cannot always reach high on the mountain: after a 2013 accident the Shizuoka City fire department set 3,200 m as the upper limit for its helicopter rescues.
History and name
The origin of the name is unknown; the characters, meaning "wealth" and "man of status", were chosen for their sound. Folk explanations include fushi, "immortal", and "without equal", while the Ainu "fire" theory is rejected by linguists. In Japanese it is Fuji-san, "san" being a reading of the character for mountain.
Tradition credits the first ascent to the ascetic En no Gyōja in 663. Worshipped from afar while it was erupting, it became a centre of Shugendō mountain religion in the Heian period, and by the early 12th century the monk Matsudai Shōnin had founded a temple on the summit. In the Edo period the Fuji-kō pilgrim societies, founded by the ascetic Hasegawa Kakugyō (1541–1646), sent thousands of members up the mountain. Women were barred from the summit until an edict of 1872, though Tatsu Takayama is recorded as reaching the top in 1832. The first foreigner to climb it was the British diplomat Sir Rutherford Alcock in September 1860, and Lady Fanny Parkes became the first non-Japanese woman on top in 1867.
Nonaka Itaru made the first winter ascent alone in February 1895 and kept weather records on the summit from October to December that year. A staffed weather station operated on Kengamine from 1932 until September 2004. Its radar, completed in 1964, was then the highest weather radar in the world and tracked typhoons more than 800 km away; it was retired in 1999 and its dome now stands in a museum in Fujiyoshida. Since 2008 the station has run automatically.
Interesting facts
- UNESCO listed Fuji together with 25 related shrines, lakes, lava caves and pilgrim lodges.
- The mountain has more than 70 lava tubes and over 100 side cones.
- On 5 March 1966 a BOAC Boeing 707 broke up in severe turbulence downwind of the mountain and crashed near the Gotemba New 5th Station, killing all 124 people on board; a memorial stands near the trailhead.
- A Japanese saying holds that a wise person climbs Fuji once, and only a fool climbs it twice.
FAQ
How high is Mount Fuji? 3,776 m (the highest rock at Kengamine is 3,776.12 m), the highest in Japan.
How long does it take to climb Mount Fuji? From the 5th stations, about 5 hours (Fujinomiya), 6 hours (Yoshida), 6.5–7 hours (Subashiri) or 9 hours (Gotemba) up, and 3–4 hours down. Most people take two days with a night in a hut at around 3,000 m.
Is Mount Fuji difficult to climb? It is a hike, not a technical climb, but a hard one: 1,300–2,300 m of gain on loose volcanic ground, thin air, cold and crowds. Fit beginners manage it with proper gear and a hut stay.
How much does it cost and do I need a permit? As of 2026, ¥4,000 per person on every trail, with advance registration on the Shizuoka side and a 4,000-a-day cap on the Yoshida Trail. Without a hut booking you must start between 03:00 and 14:00.
Is there water on the trail? There is no natural water. Carry 1–2 litres and buy more at huts during the day.
Is there mobile phone coverage on Mount Fuji? Yes, in season operators set up temporary antennas covering most trails and the summit. Emergency numbers: 110 and 119.
When is the best time to climb Mount Fuji? In the official season, early July to 10 September, ideally on weekdays outside the August peak.
When did Mount Fuji last erupt? In the Hōei eruption of 1707–1708. It is still classed as active.