Ninety seconds on Mount Fuji
Sunrise is when the mountain is most often clear and midday is when cloud hides it, so sleep a night in Kawaguchiko and be out before breakfast.
Two places make the day. At first light, the northern shore of Lake Kawaguchi has the best views of the mountain across the water, and the Red Line bus from Kawaguchiko Station runs along it. Later, the bus to the Fifth Station climbs to about two thousand three hundred metres, where a few shops and restaurants sit on the slope and the Fuji Five Lakes spread out below. Behind the shops, Komitake Shrine has an open outlook over Fujiyoshida and Lake Yamanaka. From the station the Ochudo path contours west at the same height, and a five kilometre section of it can be walked, out and back, when it is clear of snow.
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