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Your First Mt. Fuji on the Yoshida Route | Two Days, a Hut at the Seventh Station, and the Climb Toward Sunrise and the Crater Rim

2024.08.10

The mountain everyone wants to climb once. This summer I made my first attempt on Mt. Fuji, 3,776 m, the highest point in Japan. I chose the Yoshida Route, the standard option, which has the most huts and is generally considered the most manageable for a first climb. The plan was two days: a night at a hut on the seventh station, then goraiko — sunrise watched from the mountain — the following morning, and ohachi-meguri, the loop around the crater at the summit.

The conclusion first: Fuji was not a technically difficult mountain. There is no endless succession of chains or exposed rock ridges. What it does have is altitude, an unrelenting climb through sand and gravel, and an environment particular enough to test your fitness and your preparation more than you'd expect. This post is for anyone climbing Fuji for the first time — mainly day one, from the Fifth Station up to the hut at the seventh, with an honest account of where people come unstuck and which gear actually earned its place.

The route in outline (Yoshida Route, two days with a hut)

• Area: Mt. Fuji (Yamanashi side, Yoshida Route)
• High point: Kengamine on Mt. Fuji (3,776 m), the highest point in Japan
• Start: Fifth Station on the Fuji Subaru Line (around 2,300 m)
• Day 1: Fifth Station → sixth station → Toyokan hut, seventh station (overnight)
• Day 2: Toyokan → eighth station → summit → ohachi-meguri (crater rim loop) → descent → Fifth Station
• Access: for the Fuji Subaru Line Fifth Station, the climbers' buses from Kawaguchiko Station or Fujisan Station are the easiest option. During the private-vehicle restriction period you park at the foot of the mountain and transfer to a shuttle bus
• Difficulty: ★★★☆☆ (few technical difficulties, but altitude and a long climb make it a test of fitness; altitude sickness and weather are the things to manage)

The defining feature of the Yoshida Route is the number of huts along the way. You can rest and refuel often, and staying at the seventh or eighth station lets your body adjust to the altitude as you climb — which is why it's so often chosen for a first attempt at Fuji. We took that standard approach and spent the night at Toyokan on the seventh station.

Starting at the Fifth Station — a tourist scene, and the trap of dressing lightly

The Fifth Station, where the trail begins, is startlingly busy, partly because a bus takes you straight up to it. Shops and souvenir stalls line the road, and the atmosphere is honestly closer to a tourist destination than a trailhead. There are people around in vest tops and shorts.

The thing to be aware of is that the crowd here is a mixture of two groups: tourists who have come up for the view and will go straight back down, and climbers heading for the summit. Most of the people in light clothing are not going to the top. If the mood carries you into starting the climb dressed like them, you will regret it later. The Fifth Station wears the face of a tourist spot, but everything above it is the highest mountain in Japan. Climbers and sightseers need entirely different equipment, and it's worth fixing that in your mind before you start walking.

For what it's worth, we started before midday, around 11 a.m. At that hour there were far more people coming down than going up — the tour buses leave around lunchtime, so it coincides with the peak of the descent. We read the flow of people and gave way where we needed to.

Keep the wristband on until you're down — the rules on Fuji are changing

Fuji, and the Yoshida Route in particular, has seen major changes to its access rules in recent years (from 2024 onwards). When I climbed, the system involved paying a contribution and receiving a wristband before setting off.

The wristband isn't a souvenir. The staff tell you not to take it off until you're home, and you're asked to show it at the gate on the Fifth Station. It exists to keep track of climber numbers and to encourage sensible climbing, so put it on properly and don't lose it before you're back down. When planning a climb of Fuji, it's worth checking the official site for the latest position on access management and what you need to do in advance.

Switchbacks in sand and gravel — a wall, grit and a view, repeating

A short way above the Fifth Station the trail turns into a serious climb. Fuji's trails carry almost no risk of getting lost: it's a single path of switchbacks, doubling back on itself upward and upward.

And the view barely changes. A wall of earth on one side, volcanic sand and gravel underfoot, and, when you turn around, the world spread out above the clouds — that set of three continues, it feels, all the way to the top. The signs give you the distance remaining: 5 km to the summit, then 4.1 km. Honestly, that number comes down slowly. With so little change in the landscape, the climb becomes a matter of walking steadily, encouraged only by those signs and the altitude you're gaining a step at a time.

You're above the treeline, so there's essentially no shade. Which is exactly why, monotonous as it is, holding your own pace and walking unhurriedly against the standard timings felt like the right approach.

The gear that genuinely mattered on Fuji — gaiters, a base layer, a mask

Three things I was glad to have, or wished I'd used sooner, on a first climb of Fuji.

• Gaiters: Fuji's sand and gravel is finer, and gets thrown up more, than you'd imagine. The dust is bad enough that a lot of people around you are wearing masks, and if you're careless your boots fill with grit. I realised too late that I should have put gaiters on from the very start of the climb. The descent kicks up even more dust, so put them on at the beginning.
• A base layer (a quick-drying layer worn next to the skin): on a previous trip in the Northern Alps I suffered badly from the chill of cooling sweat. This time I'd rethought the quick-drying layer I wear underneath everything, and the difference in comfort was obvious — none of that chill. It taught me first-hand that a single garment against the skin changes how a climb feels. The rule is a synthetic that moves sweat quickly, not cotton.
• A mask and spare socks: a mask against the dust makes breathing considerably easier. And since your socks will get filthy with grit, a spare pair makes the night in the hut much better.

Trekking poles are useful too, but knowing when to deploy and stow them matters on steeper rocky ground. Where the footing is unstable, putting them away and freeing your hands is sometimes the safer option.

Starting high means fighting for breath — how to walk to avoid altitude sickness

The thing to be most careful of on Fuji is altitude sickness. The Yoshida Route starts from a Fifth Station at around 2,300 m, so you're already high before you take a step. I noticed from the outset that I was getting out of breath easily.

The way to prevent it is simply to climb slowly, breathe deeply, and drink regularly. Gaining height too quickly out of impatience is the worst thing you can do. Planning a night in a hut at the seventh station was itself part of that — a way of letting the body adjust as we climbed. If your calves tighten or your head feels heavy, that's a signal from your body. Stopping, getting your breathing under control and not pushing through turns out to be the quickest route in the end.

To Toyokan on the seventh station — the hut, and the night before sunrise

Working up through the gravel and the occasional rocky step, we made for the night's accommodation: Toyokan on the seventh station, at around 3,000 m. The area in front of the hut was busy enough for queues to form.

Toyokan is one of the older huts on the Yoshida Route. Getting a hot meal and resting at 3,000 m is a particular kind of gratitude. The plan was to stay here and watch sunrise from in front of the hut the next morning. Once the light went, the thing to do was rest early and get ready for the summit attempt. A sea of cloud below, the lights of distant towns flickering — that alone made the climb feel worthwhile.

The next morning, to the summit — sunrise and the crater rim

The highlight of climbing Fuji is, without question, goraiko and ohachi-meguri, the loop that follows the rim of the summit crater. The sun coming up above the clouds, slowly colouring the sky and the cloud sea, is enough to make you forget both the cold and the lack of sleep. It's the moment the long climb is repaid.

After standing on the summit, the rim loop is a circuit around the edge of the crater that only Fuji offers. Walk the whole way round and you also reach Kengamine (3,776 m), the highest point in Japan — the genuine top of the country. The air near the summit is thin and the wind is cold, so bring proper warm clothing and walk it with time and condition to spare. Don't force it; take your own state into account as you go.

What I've settled on: climbing Fuji for the first time by the Yoshida Route

A first Fuji is less a technically difficult mountain than a mountain that asks about preparation, fitness and how you handle altitude. There are almost no chain sections to work through and no route-finding to worry about. Instead there's a monotonous gravel climb, fine dust, altitude sickness and changeable weather — and how you prepare for those things is what determines how comfortable and how safe your climb is.

If I were to summarise for anyone about to try it:

• Don't let the tourist atmosphere at the Fifth Station influence you; climb equipped for the summit
• Put gaiters on from the start of the climb. A mask against the dust helps too
• Choose a quick-drying base layer, which prevents the chill of cooling sweat
• Stay in a hut at the seventh or eighth station, let your body adjust to the altitude, and climb slowly
• Check the official site in advance for current rules, wristbands and access requirements

Prepared properly, the highest mountain in Japan will show even a first-timer something they don't forget. Safety first — and I hope your Fuji becomes a very good memory.

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