I honestly can’t remember what sparked the idea of climbing Fuji. What I do know is that when Baba and I started planning this trip, I wanted to go beyond the usual tourist stops. It wasn’t our first time in Japan after all. The boys love hiking – the more challenging, the better – and this felt like something unique our family can do together.

Before you think I’d completely lost my mind, let me assure you: we weren’t the only ones with this idea. Kids as young as O’s age and hikers in their 70s-80s have made it to the top of Mt. Fuji. The mountain isn’t a stroll through the park, but it also isn’t a technical climb. With some determination and a decent level of fitness, even ordinary people like our family can do it!

The summer months are Mt. Fuji’s official climbing season. People can do the climb in one day (aka a “bullet climb”) but I wanted to stay overnight in a mountain hut to acclimate and rest. There are multiple huts at various parts of the mountain, the closer it is to the summit the more expensive and harder to reserve. I was able to snag a mountain hut at the 7.5th station at 3,200 meters high. (The highest hut you can book is at 8.5th station.) That would give us 2-3 hours to reach the summit the next day.

For reference, I booked the Miharashikan Hut on the Subashiri Trail. It cost about $340 USD for the four of us, which included a one night stay with basic facilities and two meals (dinner and breakfast).

We decided to hike Mt. Fuji on Friday, July 18, toward the end of our trip. In the days leading up to our climb, the mountain was hit with severe storms. The park even issued alerts prohibiting hiking and summiting, and many disappointed hikers shared online that their trips had been canceled. I kept checking the forecast for the 18th, which showed signs of clearing, but with mountain weather you can never be too sure…

But on July 18, the weather cleared. In fact, the weather was PERFECT. No rain, no wind, and not too hot or cold. We couldn’t have been any luckier with the weather. 🙏

For the hike, we packed plenty of snacks, water, and layers of clothing as the temperature changes rapidly as you ascend. We started out early in the morning, and traveled about 3 hours by train and shuttle bus to reach the 5th station of the Subashiri Trail.

Mt. Fuji has four main trails to the summit: Yoshida, Fujinomiya, Subashiri, and Gotemba. The Yoshida Trail is often considered the “easiest,” but it’s also the most crowded so we chose the Subashiri Trail instead. The other two routes were either too long and or had too much elevation gain.

We arrived at the 5th station around 11am, about an hour later than planned since we missed the first shuttle bus. 😣 We spent the next hour there snacking, resting, and acclimating. Note: At 2,000 meters, the 5th station isn’t that high so most people really don’t need that much time to adjust, but we wanted to play it safe. We also bought matcha ice cream and a Fuji hiking stick while we were there.

Starting in 2025, all hikers on Mt. Fuji are required to purchase a $25 USD permit. The new system is designed to limit the number of climbers to about 4,000 per day, addressing the growing crowds. While booking a mountain hut was difficult, getting a permit was not.

We started our hike on the Subashiri Trail around noon. Our destination for that day was our mountain hut at the 7.5th station where we would spend the night. The trail began like many wooded paths, lined with trees that provided shade, big stone steps and exposed roots that we had to climb over. Thankfully, about every mile there were mountain huts where hikers could rest, buy water, and use the restroom.

Snacks and water are available for purchase at every station, though prices increase with elevation. By the 7th and 8th stations, a 0.5L bottle of water can cost around $4 USD. Toilets are also available at every station and cost about $1.50 USD per use. To my relief, they were Western-style, generally pretty clean, stocked with toilet paper, and some even had flushing capability!, an impressive feat on a 3,776-meter-high mountain. Leave it to the Japanese to make flushing toilets possible at that altitude.

I’ll be honest, it was not easy for me to get up to our hut. 😅 Mt. Fuji is famous for its switchbacks, where the trails zigzag across the slopes instead of going straight up. While this makes the climb more manageable, it also made the uphill feel endless. I’ve hiked many steep trails before, but usually after a stretch of climbing you hit some flat ground to catch your breath. On Fuji, it’s steep the ENTIRE way, and the higher elevation makes every step even harder. I hiked up very slowly (probably a little too slowly) but thankfully Baba stayed with me for support.

The boys, on the other hand, found the hike to be a walk in the park. 😆 They often hiked far ahead, leaving me and Baba in the dust. C and I had planned to take turns carrying the backpack, but at one point, he ended up carrying it the whole way himself. I’m so grateful that my boys are so strong and easy going.

By around 6pm, we finally arrived at our mountain hut. It was extremely cold at this point. We were served a simple meal of curry with rice, vegetables and hot tea. I had a minor headache and no appetite (likely from the altitude) but Baba insisted we finish every bite, reminding us that our bodies needed the fuel. After taking an ibuprofen, I felt somewhat better.

Since most hikers wake up around 2am to catch the sunrise, the hut turns off the lights at 8pm. We slept in sleeping bags laid out in a large shared room, separated only by thin curtains for a bit of privacy. The space was clean, but you are literally sleeping shoulder-to-shoulder with strangers. Surprisingly, we all slept pretty well despite the cold and unfamiliar space.

We’ve seen many sunrises and never felt that it was worth getting up at 2-3am so we also skipped it on Fuji. While the other hikers in our hut left early, we got up at 5am and were the last to check out. Still, we were able to catch the sunrise from our hut and it was lovely. (Still not worth getting up early though. 😅)

After a quick breakfast of bread and juice at our hut, we set out for the summit. From there, it was estimated to take 2–3 hours to reach the top. As we climbed higher, the trail grew steeper and more challenging. To make matters worse, the path alternated between large boulders to scramble over and loose, slippery gravel that made every step feel like you were sliding backward – ugh!

Baba made sure I drank plenty of water and took a rest at every opportunity. (The boys, meanwhile, zoomed ahead on their own.) I took far longer to reach the summit than necessary, but finally, after one last grueling push, we all made it to the peak!! 🎉

Being the worrywart that I am, I had worried we wouldn’t make it to the top, or that something would go wrong and our plans would be canceled. So finally passing through the last gate to Mt. Fuji’s summit felt utterly surreal. I am so proud of us!

We spent about an hour at the summit, wandering around the crater. The boys mailed postcards – yes, there’s an actual post office on top of Mt. Fuji! Later, we discovered that there’s an even higher point along the crater called Kengamine, considered the true peak of Mt. Fuji. Descending from there was an adventure in itself. It was by far the steepest part of the hike. People were literally slipping and sliding down, and Baba and I had to cling to the side railing for dear life. The picture below doesn’t do it justice!

Around noon, we began our descent, which took much longer than expected. The trail down was super steep and covered in loose gravel, offering little grip and made me extremely nervous. The Subashiri Trail also has a “sand run” section, where people literally run or slide down. My boys found it fun, but I thought otherwise. It felt like skiing on volcanic sand!

Frankly, I found the descent even harder than the ascent. I was exhausted, drenched in sweat, and my ankles were painfully digging into my boots. I moved at a snail’s pace, my nerves only fueling my frustration. But we had to hurry back to the 5th station to catch the last shuttle and, luckily, we made it just in time!

Unfortunately, we still had to endure the 3-hour trek back to Tokyo. 😅 Once at our Airbnb, we quickly ate instant ramen (because most restaurants were closed at that point), took a much-needed shower, and finally, FINALLY, collapsed into a deep, well-deserved sleep.

We didn’t wake up until almost 10am the next day. We were all a bit sore and tired, but ecstatic we’d made it. A strange side effect of the hike though? C and I both ended up with huge swollen, sunburned lips! We hadn’t thought to put on lip balm, and the sun at that high elevation was merciless. Lesson learned: never forget your lip balm!

Someone once said, “A wise man climbs Mt. Fuji once; only a fool climbs it twice.” I couldn’t agree more. I’m so glad we did it, and it will always be a core memory, but once was definitely enough. 😆 Thanks for an unforgettable time, Fuji-san!