A question that I am often asked is “is it easy to see Mt. Fuji?”.
To be truthful, in my experience, the answer is “no”.
A big part of seeing Mt. Fuji is always depending on the weather.
One of the best places to see Mt. Fuji upclose is Kawaguchiko, especially Lake Kawaguchi. So, many people reserve their hotels hoping to see the volcano which has been dormant since 1707-1708.
But part of the problem is that if it rains when you go, Mt. Fuji is literally lost in the clouds.
When I went in mid-March, it was raining and the day before, it was snowing.
This was the view when we were in Fujiyoshida:
Needless to say, no matter how close I got to Mt. Fuji, we knew were SOL.
And one of the people I came to Japan with that year, stayed at a Ryokan in hopes to get a shot but it was way too cloudy.
Days later, it was sunny in Tokyo and what do I see from the distance from Tokyo Sky Tree?
But last year, I noticed that around November and early December, guess what I saw often on the Shinkansen on the way to Kyoto, Osaka and Hakone? Of all the times I’ve been to Japan, I was able to see Mt. Fuji numerous times on the shinkansen.
Needless to say, riding on a bullet train was not exactly the place where I expected to get my shots of Mt. Fuji.
But here is my advice for those who really want to see Mt. Fuji… Before your trip, download the Accueweather app or visit Accuweather and look at the 30-day forecast of the area. While one can expect weather changes to happen, surprisingly, using Accuweather to gauge the weather, it’s been nearly spot on.
For your travel trip, I would have one free day dedicated to Mt. Fuji. So, if you see that it’s sunny in the Yamanishi prefecture, especially around the Kawaguchiko area, you can juggle your schedule and get your ticket and head out there. You can easily due it on a day trip going there and back to Tokyo. Unless you can afford to stay at a hotel or ryokan, then you have even more leeway for beautiful photos or more time to explore the area (especially to visit Lake Kawaguchi, Fuji Q Highland amusement park or even Iyashi no Sato).
