Things to know before you visit to Lake Kawaguchiko

Hi all travelers to Japan, This is from Forest Kraft Outdoors, writing about what you should do know about before you visit to lake Kawaguchiko and Mt Fuji surroundings. I am writing this article as a one of local person, so please read to understand tips otherwise you might experience bad days here.

• Tip 1 : Location and Access
• Tip 2 : View of Mt Fuji
• Tip 3 : Language
• Tip 4 : local Foods
• Tip 5 : Sightseeing and What you can do here

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Tip 1 : Location and Access

First of all, you have to understand where is Lake Kawaguchiko and Mt Fuji.

Most of Travelers are arriving at Tokyo, and you will go to Osaka and Kyoto for sightseeing especially if it is first time for you. Simply imagine that Mt Fuji is located at middle in between Tokyo and Osaka. Actually Mt Fuji is located more on Tokyo(east side), so most people are coming from Tokyo.

Lake Kawaguchiko is one of the five Fuji lake around Mt Fuji and located on north side of the mountain.

You can see Mt Fuji on south side, but nowadays, it is common to visit north side for sightseeing. Also, north side area is at high elevation, so better to come on summer season because you might know Japan is crazy hot and humid in summer. There is better climate here for sure.

Access

To access Lake Kawaguchiko, you have some options actually. The most common one and simple is take a bus or train from Shinjuku, Tokyo. I would say bus is cheaper and easier because you may need to switch train at middle of the way to Lake Kawaguchi(There is a direct one too), and the bus is cheaper which is about 2500yen/person.

*Notice that you need to book your bus in a week before recommended because it is more likely to be sold out.

Other way to get Lake kawaguchiko is take a bus from Mishima station where is located in between Tokyo and Osaka. This is most foreign travelers don’t know and most Japanese travelers use.

We, Forest Kraft Outdoor, acutely offer a day trip tour for foreign travelers including free pick-up or drop -off service. If you are interested in the tour please check this out!

Also, the long distance bus is commonly used which is useful to get to Osaka to Lake Kawaguchiko.

Off course, the bus system is not looking simple in Japan, and you may be hesitate to use, but I would recommend using bus for your efficient trip.

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Tip 2 : View of Mt Fuji

The second things that you have to think and a lot travelers don’t know is Mt Fuji is not visible in the most of a day time, especially in summer season.

So most common case is people come to Lake Kawaguchiko from Tokyo with planning to arrive here at 10 am and leave at 4:00pm. However, Mt Fuji is mostly visible at early morning time and at the sunset time.

I always say to my customer that the morning is best time to take a picture otherwise you lose the chance and the mountain will covered.

This is happened due to temperature change with high humidity cause a lot of crowds in the sky, and there are mostly no other high mountains around Fuji, so nothing stop crowds to cover him.

In the season between end of November to March is different. Low temperature won’t cause any crowed, so winter season is actually best time to see Mt Fuji.

If you are planning to come here as a day trip that will be a little risky., so a least come earlier by bus, then you will see this spectacular view of Mt Fuji.

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Tip 3 : Language

These day, you have your translator with your phone, so you don’t worry about language issue right? That is somewhat right at Lake Kawaguchiko.

As you might know we(Japanese) are learn English at school, so most people understand some easy word like station, food, or restroom. However, we actually don’t study how to speak, so most of Japanese are feeling some difficulty to speak with native English speakers. No warry, we are mostly kind person if you ask us with your phone. we will probably try to help.

One thing different from Tokyo is Lake Kawaguchiko is local location, and the local information is not on the most of websites(we will put here). Therefore, you may feel some difficulty to find sightseeing information. If you are come here for take a picture and visit some famous sites, then you don’t have to worry.

Local people only know local information. And not much people are try to publish their information in English. The local tours are famous here, so it may be nice to join some local tour as well. or ask me any questions as well.

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Tip 4 : local Foods

Let’s start with sightseeing information of local food. Lake Kawaguchiko is located in south of Yamnashi prefecture. The local food of south Yamanashi is called Hoto. This is hot pot udon noodle.

There are a lot of famous hoto restaurants here. Let me explin some of them.

Hoto Fudo

Fudo is the most famous hoto restaurant in Lake Kawaguchiko area. They offer traditional style of hoto which is vegetable hoto pot noodle. When you order there, look at others hot pot and see how big it is. You may want to share a pot with your friends. One of Fudo is located in front of Kawguchiko station, and this is also best reason you may visit here.

Kosaku

Kosaku is also famous in Lake Kawaguchiko area. At Kosaku you have variety option of hoto and other dishes, so this could be best choice if you visit Lake Kawaguchiko with your family. Location is still walkable distance from Kawaguchiko station.

Hoto Kenkyujyo

This is also my favorite. They offer several types of hoto including seafood hoto which is great. The location is a little far away from Kwaguchiko station but still accessible by a bus or rental bike. Because if distanced place from the station, this restaurant is not so crowed as other famous ones.

Yoshida Udon is also loacal food.

Fujiyoshida city is located just beside FujiKawaguchiko-machi. We basically call these two towns ” Lake Kawaguchiko Area”.Yoshida Udon is different from other Udon which is harder faster. The hardness of the Udon is a bit different by every Odon shop, but defenetly harder then normal one you may have eaten before. Also they serve udon so quickly at most of Yoshida Udon restaurants. My favorites are Takekawa Udon and Saika.

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Tip 5 : Sightseeing and What you can do here

Finally, let’s talk about sightseeing information at Lake Kawaguchiko. There are many of popular sightseeing spots here such as :

• Oshino Hakkai
• Chureito Pagoda
• Oishi Park
• Iyashino Sato, Lake Saiko
• Kitaguchi Hongu Asama shirine
• Ice caves and Wind caves

Most places are accessible by a bus transit, however there are not many bus running around Mt Fuji. Therefore you need to choose some places from a bunch of options.

It is difficult to rank the places and the value of the place changes by your demand, so I offer the tour that take you to many places as much as I can with a car, and organize tour as a local tour guide.

What you can do here are also various. This is local nature side, renting bikes are common as well, but you can also do hiking, Canoeing, or bird watching, etc.

If you are coming to visit Lake Kawaguchiko, please check the places listed above at least for your trip!

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