A new tour bus service has begun, for a limited period, from JR Shin-Fuji Station for visitors who’d like to enjoy a simple tour to Mt. Fuji.
This tour bus leaves Shin-Fuji Station at 10:45AM. Now, where is it taking you ?

1．Mt. Fuji ― 5th station of Fujinomiya Trail.
Enjoy a short hike and you can surely say “I’ve just tried Mt. Fuji Climbing” ! Japanese highest mountain is always ready to welcome you.
2．Shiraito Falls
Feel the spectacular view of natural beauty. You will be surrounded by the dignified but graceful waterfalls that have been created by the snow water from Mt. Fuji.
3．Fujisan Hongu Sengentaisha Shrine
Come and see for yourself the oldest shrine in Tokai Area. This is originally the very first point that climbers visit to prey for their safety before leaving for Mt. Fuji.

Only 3 stops, that enables you to see each point with sufficient time. Personally, I don’t like too-busy-to-look-around tours. I’m sure you can enjoy each spot better than other tours if you want to take much time walking around. The bus is scheduled to be back to Shin-Fuji Station at 17:00. If you have JR Pass, why don’t you come to JR Shin-Fuji Station and try this bus tour. The details are as follows：

Mt. Fuji Regular Tour Bus ： Departing from JR Shin-Fuji Station Bus Terminal #6
Operation period ：　Aug 7 – Aug 15, Sep 1 – Sep 20, 2010
Tour Bus Fare ： ¥3,500／adults ¥1,750／children
Tour Time ： 10:45 〜 17:00 (Scheduled to be Back to Shin-Fuji Station )
※ Only I bus available per day
※ Reservation required. ( Available on the day if not fully occupied )
Fujikyu Shizuoka Bus ： TEL 0545-71-2495

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This information has been given by Fujisan Tourism & Communication Bureau, where once I reported about Ninja and Charming Visitor Certificate. Please confirm the past article from here if you’ve got time.
I attach PDF for this Tour Bus just for your image. Unfortunately all info is written in Japanese. If you have any inquiry, please feel free to ask me or Fujisan Tourism & Communication Bureau.

Feel Mt. Fuji around !
Good day !＾＾

“Shizuoka Guide” is our official English website for sightseeing, always with you ! ＾＾

I’m so busy in summer. Too many events and fireworks here and there. Not easy task to plan schedules for research and report.
This time, very lucky to me, I could go to the fireworks display at Nihondaira. Remember once I reported Nihondaira, as one of my favorite place in Shizuoka ? If you haven’t read it, please see it from here. (o＾▽＾)o The view from there is really spectacular.

Nihondaira Festival is held in July every year in the garden of Nippondaira Hotel, which is located on the top of Nihondaira. The garden is extremely beautiful as you can see from the picture above !
We arrived at the garden around 18:00. Small events were almost finished and people began to open picnic sheets to occupy their space for watching fireworks.
We did, as well, on the grass. Exclusively good point.
Night was coming up. The garden had already been packed as potatoes in a truck. Over the crowd could be seen the exquisite view with Shimizu Port.

Suddenly, a fire ball was set off from the ground. A flower in the night sky ! And in a second, colorful flowers bloomed one after another.

Now, enjoy the extravagant fireworks in the picture. Fireworks display of Nihondaira is one of the largest festival in Shizuoka. About 10,000 of fireworks are set off with fantastic music every year. I kept taking pictures, though sometimes my sight went outside the screen of digital camera for the overwhelming sound of BANG BANG !

With clear sky and a slight wind, it was the best day for fireworks. Have you ever seen Japanese Fireworks, by the way ? Firework craftsmen try to become so creative every year that we can’t see it without getting excited.

The fireworks display lasted for more than 1 hour. Wild applause continued even after the festival had ended.
By the way, you can enjoy the garden and the fine view free of charge. If you’ve got a chance to go to Nihondaira, be sure to drop at the garden of Nippondaira Hotel, or stay overnight at Nippondaira Hotel, to get the city of Shimizu for yourself !

Enjoy your summer !＾＾


“Shizuoka Guide” is our official English website for sightseeing, always with you ! ＾＾

After we had reached the very top of Mt. Fuji, we took a sufficient rest in or around the hut and started, finally, at 7:40, to climb down from Gotemba Trail. It was very smart for us to take Gotemba route because it was much easier to walk down. As you know, the Fujinomiya Trail has many large rocks in the pathway that eventually causes ache in the knee for physically overloading to your legs by your weight and the backpack. On the other hand, Gotemba trail, though partway the same as Fujinomiya’s, it will have tons of volcanic ashes and drastically fractured rocks that becomes like a cushioning material to your legs and what is more, that makes us considerably cut the time to walk down the mountain. This happy-go-lucky route is generally called “Osuna-bashiri” – Sliding on the sand – that enables us to travel 2 meters with one single step.

Now, see the difference in the picture.
At first, you will walk on a trail like this. Please be very careful not to let any rocks down below because it sometimes happens that one single small stone brings bigger stones to hit and injure somebody.

Climbing down the trail, soon you will find that the rocks are fractured into gravel or even sand. Now is the time ! Ready ? Go ! ! You see my feet in the sand ? Very easy to tread in and out. Just like a runner in the Olympic, you can feel the wind. Oh, and maybe you need to be advised that it’s better to wear spats not to let sand in your shoes.

We could have kept on the Gotemba Trail but we changed the route back to Fujinomiya Trail through the crater of Mt. Hoei. This volcano erupted in 1707, still active, and it is said that the volcanic ashes reached as far as Tokyo. The view from there is magnificent but somehow scary for its too vast sight or too desolate land.

I felt the power of nature when I found a flower that I didn’t know even its name. To the Mt. Hoei, you can enjoy a short hike from the sixth station of Fujinomiya Trail. It will take an hour from the 6th, 2 hours from the 5th. Climbers often enjoy this route before or after Mt. Fuji climbing season.

At 13:00, we all arrived safe and sound at again the gate of 5th station. Nothing was better than our party having returned without any sickness or injury. Everything that I went through in this tour has absolutely become good to me and I believe everyone with me and all other climbers feel the same, and I’m sure that this is the very thing that Mt. Fuji attracts millions of visitors.
Please take good care of yourself when you challenge this mountain

Good day !＾＾!

“Shizuoka Guide” is our official English website for sightseeing, always with you ! ＾＾

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Please be informed that “Mt. Fuji Climbing Navigator” has been set up at the Fifth Stations of Fujinomiya Trail, Gotemba Trail and Subashiri Trail.

They guide visitors about Mt. Fuji Climbing and other sightseeing spots around. Please feel free to speak to them when you have some question about climbing or sightseeing.

Please see further information in PDF.

Have a good day !

“Shizuoka Guide” is our official English website for sightseeing, always with you ! ＾＾

I was not sure if I had slept well. I woke up anyway by the sound of other members packing their stuff and changing clothes. I opened my eyes. Not a bad morning. Sitting up, I looked around. Babble of voices from everywhere. Maybe, everyone in the hut was awake to prepare their stuff, I had presumed. And that was correct.
When we went out of the hut, I found a line of light along the pathway of Mt. Fuji. Still dark, of course. We put on the head-lights and at 2:40, we began to walk finally to the summit to catch the sunrise.

As you know, we stayed at the Ninth. 9.5th station comes next walking for about 30 minutes which I took 40. And finally the top station, after 4:00, 40 minutes from 9.5th ! How could I believe in myself being at the summit of Mt. Fuji ? Climbers came in a line one after another with one same purpose “Sunrise”.

Not finished yet. We knew the morning was coming up and we needed to move to the best place where we could see the sunrise. 10 minutes more to walk along the crater. Other people also moved in the same direction just as the migration for an Oasis.

And around 4:40, it began to appear.
Voices of excitement and jubilation. I was so impressed by the charm and grace of its emergence. I’m so sorry that I can’t make the beauty well understood with only pictures. Seeing Mt. Fuji from various points is surely one of the pleasures but I’m sure now that seeing various points from Mt. Fuji is another pleasure for all of us.

By the way, we were not meant at the highest point of Mt. Fuji yet. To conquer this mountain, we need to walk further to “Kengamine Peak”. Of course we did.
On its way, we dropped at Sengentaisha-Okumiya Shrine.

Oh, I regret I’ve been forgetting to inform you that, at every station, they brand a proof of climbing on the alpenstock for ¥200. Would be a good memory for you !＾＾ See mine in the picture. Cool, isn’t it ?

There is a post office next to the shrine, that stands, needless to say, on the highest point in Japan. You can stamp or buy the Certificate there and mail it practially.
Anyway, we headed for the “Kengamine Peak”. The mountain slope was fairly steep. I walked for ten seconds, stopped for a rest for a minute, again began to walk, and stopped, finally got to the monument which definitely proved that we were at the highest spot in Japan. Was I profoundly moved to tears ? No, I just felt I was extremely activated or energized, or invigorated, or even refreshed ! Why ? Because……I can go home ! ミ(ﾉ´∀｀)ﾉ♪
Next time, I’ll report the way back to the Fifth !＾＾

Have a good day !

“Shizuoka Guide” is our official English website for sightseeing, always with you ! ＾＾