Trekking in Mount Fuji

Almost everyone who climbs Fuji starts at the fifth station, halfway up, having arrived by bus in the afternoon. The sea-to-summit route ignores all of that. It begins on the sand at Tagonoura in Shizuoka and walks the entire mountain from zero — through the coastal towns, up through the forest belt, and out onto the bare volcanic cinder above the treeline to the 3,776-metre summit.

It is forty kilometres and the full height of the mountain in one continuous line, which turns Japan's most crowded peak into a serious two-day undertaking that very few people attempt. The logic is the old pilgrim's one: you earn the summit from the bottom, watching the landscape change beneath you the whole way up.

Fuji's official climbing season is short — July to early September — and the main trails have recently added entry fees, daily climber caps and overnight gate closures that keep changing. Verify the current rules for your chosen trail before you set out.

RE-CHECK. Fuji's official season is short, and entry fees, daily climber caps and overnight gate closures were introduced on the main trails recently and have changed again since. Verify the current rules for your chosen trail.