Kawaguchiko: what to see, where to stay and how to get around
Kawaguchiko is the town of the classic Fuji-over-water photo, and the north shore is where you take it: the mountain stands across the lake, reflected on still mornings. This route goes round the lake from the ropeway on the south side to the shrine, the museum and the flower park on the far shore, and ends at the mountain pass where a famous writer spent an autumn looking at Fuji. It is a car or loop-bus route of half a day. Clouds usually build up around the summit by late morning, so start early and keep the indoor stops for later.
Live camera
All cameras in town (3) ▾
A short history of Kawaguchiko
Lake Kawaguchi is one of the five lakes at the foot of Mount Fuji, formed when lava flows from the mountain blocked valleys. For centuries pilgrims passed through here on their way to climb the sacred mountain. Fuji's last eruption was in 1707, and it covered the area in ash. At the beginning of the 20th century tourists began to arrive, and in 1964 the road reaching the Fifth Station on the mountain was opened. In 2003 the villages around the lake merged into the town of Fujikawaguchiko, and in 2013 Mount Fuji was declared a cultural World Heritage Site.
The ten best sights in Kawaguchiko
1Mt. Fuji Panoramic RopewayThree minutes up Mount Tenjo for Fuji over the lake; queues get long by late morning
2Oishi ParkThe classic flowers-and-Fuji photo on the north shore; lavender in early summer, red kochia in autumn
3Itchiku Kubota Art MuseumKimonos dyed as landscapes, in a building that looks grown rather than built; give it an hour
4Kawaguchi Asama ShrineQuiet cedar shrine on the north shore, far from the crowds at the pagoda
5Chureito PagodaThe postcard view of pagoda and Fuji; about 400 steps up, so come at dawn before the tour buses
6Kitaguchi Hongu Fuji Sengen ShrineGiant cedars and a huge wooden torii; climbers traditionally started up Fuji from here
7Yamanashi Fujisan World Heritage CenterFree exhibition on why Fuji is a sacred mountain; a good rainy-day stop
8Oshino HakkaiEight ponds of Fuji spring water so clear you see the fish at the bottom; crowded at midday
9Saiko Iyashi no Sato NenbaThatched houses turned into craft workshops on the west lake; Fuji stands behind the village on clear days
10Fuji-Q HighlandTheme park of record-breaking coasters right next to the station; buy fast passes online
Scan with your phone camera to open the map there
What is an audio walk?
Tours in Kawaguchiko →A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Kawaguchiko:
Free walking tours in Kawaguchiko
The north shore by the lake
Kawaguchiko is the town of the classic Fuji-over-water photo, and the north shore is where you take it: the mountain stands across the lake, reflected on still mornings. This route goes round the lake from the ropeway on the south side to the shrine, the museum and the flower park on the far shore, and ends at the mountain pass where a famous writer spent an autumn looking at Fuji. It is a car or loop-bus route of half a day. Clouds usually build up around the summit by late morning, so start early and keep the indoor stops for later.
- Mt. Fuji Panoramic Ropeway · The hill is the setting of Kachi-kachi Yama, the folk tale of a rabbit that takes revenge on a tanuki by setting fire to the bundle of firewood on its back. That is why the summit has rabbit and tanuki statues, and the teahouse sells 'tanuki dango'.
- Yagisaki Park · In June and July the Fuji Kawaguchiko Herb Festival fills this lakeside park with lavender, and Fuji rises behind the purple rows. Outside the season it is simply the best free spot on the south shore to sit by the water.
- Kawaguchi Asama Shrine · The shrine was founded in 865, a year after the great Jogan eruption of Fuji, to calm the mountain. Seven giant cedars stand in front of the hall, and a path up behind leads to a torii that frames Fuji in the distance.
- Itchiku Kubota Art Museum · Kubota spent decades reviving tsujigahana, a lost 16th-century way of tie-dyeing silk. His great work was a series of kimonos that, placed side by side, form one continuous landscape of the seasons; he died in 2003 with it unfinished.
- Oishi Park · The kochia planted here are round green bushes all summer and turn bright red in October, which is when the park is busiest. The park runs along the water's edge for several hundred metres, so there is room to find a photo without a crowd in it.
- Tenka Chaya · In 1938 the writer Osamu Dazai stayed here at Misaka Pass, and wrote 'One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji', with its famous line that Fuji goes well with the evening primrose. The teahouse keeps his room, and a stone with that line stands nearby.
Lava, caves and the western lakes
In 864 Fuji erupted from its flank and a river of lava ran north, splitting one large lake into two — Saiko and Shojiko — and leaving a plain of black rock that a forest has slowly covered. This route follows that lava from the lakeshore village to the caves inside it and on to the bluest lake of the five. It is a half day by car; the caves are cold even in August and their paths low and wet, so bring a jacket and good shoes. The forest roads are quiet, and the lakes here feel far from the busy shore at the station.
- Lake Saiko · Saiko and its neighbour Shojiko were once a single lake, cut in two by the lava of 864. Their water levels still rise and fall together, a sign that they remain linked underground.
- Saiko Iyashi no Sato Nenba · The old village of Nenba was destroyed by a landslide in a typhoon in 1966. Decades later the thatched houses were rebuilt on the same slope as an open-air village of crafts, from paper making to incense.
- Fugaku Wind Cave · Because the cave stays near freezing all year, farmers once used it as a natural refrigerator for silkworm eggs and seeds; the old storage shelves are still inside. The walls are basalt from the same 864 flow.
- Narusawa Ice Cave · Cold air sinks into this vertical lava cave and stays trapped, so ice forms in winter and lasts through the summer. The path drops down a few metres into a tight, low passage before the ice columns.
- Aokigahara · The whole forest grows on the 864 lava, on a soil only a few centimetres deep, so the tree roots crawl over the rock instead of going down. Off the trails the ground is full of holes and cracks hidden under the moss.
- Lake Motosu · The view of Fuji reflected in this lake is the picture printed on the back of the Japanese 1,000-yen note. It was taken from a photograph by Koyo Okada, who spent his life photographing the mountain.
Fujiyoshida, the pilgrims’ town
Long before tourists, Fuji drew pilgrims who climbed the mountain as an act of worship, and Fujiyoshida, next door to Kawaguchiko, was the town where they gathered, prayed and set out. This route goes from the pagoda above the town through the shrine where the climb began, to the spring ponds the pilgrims bathed in, and ends at the road head halfway up the mountain. Most of it is by car, with a steep flight of steps at the start. Go early: the pagoda is the busiest viewpoint in the area, and the summit tends to hide by noon.
- Chureito Pagoda · The five-storey pagoda was built in 1963 as a memorial to the people of Fujiyoshida who died in war. It stands on the hill of Arakura Sengen Shrine, and the climb from the shrine is about 400 steps.
- Honcho Street, Fujiyoshida · The old main street of Fujiyoshida runs straight towards the mountain, so Fuji closes the view at its end. The pilgrims' inns, called oshi houses, once lined the road between here and the shrine.
- Kitaguchi Hongu Fuji Sengen Shrine · Every year on 26 and 27 August the town lights tall torches along the street for the Yoshida Fire Festival, which closes the climbing season. The Yoshida trail, still the most climbed route up Fuji, traditionally starts behind this shrine.
- Oshino Hakkai · The eight ponds are fed by snowmelt that has filtered through Fuji’s lava for years before coming up here. Pilgrims purified themselves in them before the climb, which is why the ponds are part of the Fuji World Heritage listing.
- Yamanashi Fujisan World Heritage Center · In 2013 UNESCO listed Fuji as a cultural site, not a natural one, under the title 'sacred place and source of artistic inspiration'. The centre explains that choice through the pilgrims and the painters, Hokusai among them.
- Fuji Subaru Line 5th Station · The toll road climbs to 2,305 metres, about halfway up the mountain, where most climbers on the Yoshida trail begin today. Yamanashi now limits the number of climbers starting each day and charges a fee at the trail gate.
Getting to Kawaguchiko and getting around
- Kawaguchiko Station · End of the Fujikyu line; the Fuji Excursion train runs here direct from Shinjuku, otherwise change at Otsuki
- Kawaguchiko Station bus terminal · Highway buses to Shinjuku and the lake loop buses leave from the front of the station; the retro loop bus is the easy way round without a car
- Otsuki Station · Where the JR Chuo line meets the Fujikyu line; about an hour from here to the lake
Cheap eats in Kawaguchiko
Yamanashi is a cold mountain prefecture, and its food is built to warm you: hoto, flat noodles stewed with pumpkin in miso, is the dish of Kawaguchiko, and Fujiyoshida next door has its own fiercely hard udon. Both are cheap, filling and served fast. The lake area also grows fruit — peaches, grapes and blueberries — sold at farm stands in season. Prices below are per person in yen.
- Hoto Fudo (station) · One dish, hoto in an iron pot, about ¥1,500
- Kosaku · Hoto in a farmhouse-style hall, about ¥1,500-2,000
- Miura Udon · Yoshida udon in Fujiyoshida, a bowl about ¥500-800
- Yoshida no Udon Kuranosuke · Yoshida udon in Kawaguchiko, about ¥600-1,000
- Tanuki-Chaya · Teahouse at the ropeway top; dango and a drink about ¥500-800
- Mister Donut · Doughnuts and coffee south of the station, about ¥200-500
- MOS Burger · Japanese burger chain on the west road, about ¥500-1,000
Museums in Kawaguchiko
- Itchiku Kubota Art Museum · Landscape kimonos and a garden of stone and water
- Yamanashi Fujisan World Heritage Center · Free; the sacred mountain explained
- Mount Fuji Radar Dome Museum · The weather radar that stood on the summit, now at ground level
- Saiko Iyashi no Sato Nenba · Open-air village of crafts in thatched houses
Nature and day trips near Kawaguchiko
- Oishi Park · Flowers in front of Fuji on the north shore
- Lake Saiko · Quieter lake for kayaks and a lakeside walk
- Aokigahara · Moss-covered lava forest; marked trails only
- Lake Shoji · The smallest of the five lakes, with Fuji over the lava forest
- Lake Motosu · The 1,000-yen-note view; deep blue water
- Shiraito Falls · A wide curtain of spring water south-west of Fuji, about an hour by car
Things to do in Kawaguchiko with kids
- Fuji-Q Highland · Big coasters and a Thomas the Tank Engine area for small children
- Mt. Fuji Panoramic Ropeway · Short cable car ride with rabbit and tanuki statues on top
- Fugaku Wind Cave · A short walk through a cold lava tube
- Narusawa Ice Cave · Ice in summer; low ceilings, so not for babies in carriers
- Yagisaki Park · Lawns by the lake for running around
Where to eat in Kawaguchiko
- Fuji Tempura Idaten · Tempura bowls near the station
- Tetsuyaki · Teppanyaki and okonomiyaki on the hot plate
- Fujinokura · Regional dishes by the station
- Hoto Fudo (south) · The same hoto, a quieter branch for the evening
- Kin Kao Kon · Thai food on the north side of the lake
- Gyu-Kaku · Grill-it-yourself yakiniku chain
Frequently asked questions about Kawaguchiko
What is there to see in Kawaguchiko?
The top sights in Kawaguchiko are Mt. Fuji Panoramic Ropeway, Oishi Park and Itchiku Kubota Art Museum. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.
How many days do you need in Kawaguchiko?
Three to four days are enough to see the best of Kawaguchiko without rushing, including at least one walking tour.
Is there a free walking tour in Kawaguchiko?
Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Kawaguchiko, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: The north shore by the lake.
How do you get to Kawaguchiko and get around?
The main ways are Kawaguchiko Station, Kawaguchiko Station bus terminal and Otsuki Station. Full details are in the transport section on this page.
Where to stay in Kawaguchiko, and for how much?
sleepntrip shows only rooms in Kawaguchiko that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.
Looking for a hotel in Kawaguchiko for your dates?
Only rooms that meet nine conditions, up to $80 a night.