Mount Fuji & Lake Kawaguchi Day Tour from Tokyo with Scenic Stops

4.71

(156 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

I’ll just admit it: I almost missed the bus because I stopped for an extra coffee in Shinjuku. Our guide, Emi, just grinned and waved me over—no judgment at all, which was honestly a relief. The ride out of Tokyo felt like watching the city slowly exhale; buildings thinning out, then suddenly those blue mountains started peeking through the haze. Someone behind me whispered “Fuji-san” when it first appeared, and everyone craned their necks at once. It’s bigger than you expect, somehow.

Lake Kawaguchi was our first real stop—a little chilly that morning, mist curling off the water and making Fuji look almost shy in the background. Emi pointed out where the old lava flows shaped the shoreline (I’d never thought about volcanoes making lakes before). There were locals fishing quietly along the edge, barely glancing up as we walked past. I tried to snap a photo but ended up just standing there for a minute instead. Sometimes you want to remember what it smelled like—the cold air and something sweet from a food stall nearby.

Oishi Park was next—flowers everywhere, even though we were between seasons. Emi laughed when I tried to pronounce “kawaguchiko” properly (I still can’t), and showed us how to line up Mt. Fuji behind the blooms for that classic shot. We wandered through Oshino Hakkai after that—tiny bridges over clear springs where kids dipped their hands in and shrieked at how cold it was. The spring water tasted softer than anything back home; maybe that’s just my imagination but I kept refilling my bottle anyway.

The Chureito Pagoda climb nearly did me in—so many steps—but that view at the top really does live up to the hype (even if my legs disagreed). On the way down, we stopped at this Lawson convenience store everyone wanted photos of—blue sign against Fuji’s white peak is apparently an Instagram thing now? I just bought a melon soda and sat outside for a bit watching clouds drift over everything. It felt good not to rush.