Lake Kawaguchiko is part of the Fuji Five Lakes area where you can get a glimpse of Mt Fuji up close. When I was researching destinations close to Mt Fuji, Hakone often featured in blogs and tour itineraries as a popular tourist town. However it seems quite expensive and busy compared to the Fuji Five Lakes area. I’m so glad we made the trip out to Lake Kawaguchiko, it was a lovely restful two days after Tokyo.
We were able to catch a highway bus directly from Shinjuku Express Bus Way to Lake Kawaguchiko station, which look around 1hr and 45mins. We caught a train from Akasaka-Mitsuke to Shinjuku and then navigated our way to the bus area. Shinjuku Station is not for a faint hearted - it’s like a huge maze of platforms and train lines and buses, literally the world’s busiest train stations, but the kids handled it well.
We stayed in a fantastic two bedroom apartment in a quiet street at the base of the hills. It was within walking distance to Lake Kawaguchiko station and was also walking distance to the Lake. After the cramped hotel room and busy days in Tokyo, we took the next two days really easy and gave the kids a chance to play around the accommodation
The first day we went down to the lake area and hired the little swan shaped peddle boats. Braino went in with Rooney and I was in one with Farley and Hallie. It was a work out - you essentially have to peddle like a bike to make the boat go and then use the steering wheel to direct it. Within the first five minutes, Braino’s boat broke! There was apparently a big clunk sounds and the peddles stopped working. He shouted to me to paddle over to him and then told me he was stuck. My only option was to peddle all the way to the wharf with Farley and Hallie and use the translate app on my iphone to tell the staff that my husband needed rescuing! The two men manning the little wharf area were really good about it and jumped into their speedboat, zoomed out to Braino and Rooney and then towed them back to shore. The whole thing was pretty funny, the older two got a real kick out of watching Braino and Rooney get rescued and then we all went out again, Braino & Rooney in a different swan this time.
We also did a short hike up into the hills above the lake and found some Totoro souvenirs at a gift shop. ( The girls have really gotten into Studio Ghibli films in the lead up to the trip ). There was also a cable car that went to the top of the hill but without a clear view of Mt Fuji, we decided not to do it.
Although we actually had an amazing view of Mt Fuji from our accommodation window, it was hiding behind the clouds for most of the time. Apparently Mt Fuji is very temperamental and is often hidden. The best times to see it is in the early mornings and the late afternoon. We got lucky on the second afternoon when the mountain revealed itself in all its glory! It was truely breathtaking to see Mt Fuji rising above the town! I took the opportunity to race around and take as many photos as possible. I even hiked the trail we discovered earlier in the day which lead to a fantastic lookout point in Tenjoyama Park. I feel like this park is a hidden gem. So many people were swarming around the streets near the train station to get a photo of Mt Fuji, but this hike wasn’t too long and offered such an incredible view over the town.
On the second day, in my quest to capture the perfect photo of Mt Fuji, we caught the local train a few stops over to Shimoyoshida Station where we then walked up the 400 stairs to the Chureito Pagoda, which is in the Arakura Sengen Shrine area. This lookout area has become very popular as, if you’re lucky, you can capture a photo of the five storey pagoda with Mt Fuji in the background. And if you come at the right time of year, cherry blossoms surround the area, making it a very quintessential Japanese photograph
We were not so lucky. By the time we climbed those 400 steps, Mt Fuji was once again covered in clouds. It was probably one of those occasions where I should have woken up early and gone by myself. The kids were a little whingy about all the steps but it was still a cool view even without Mt Fuji. And we were kind of alarmed but also kind of amused to see signs saying that there were wild bears in the area. Oh My!
On the way we had a quick detour into Fuji Q Highland, a huge amusement park that was on the same train line. It’s free to enter the park, you just pay per ride and some of those rides are the most intense thrill rides I’ve ever seen. It was worth a stop just to marvel at the insane roller coasters but the main reason I thought it would be worthwhile was the Thomas The Tank engine themed land. While our girls haven’t ever expressed any desire to go on rollercoaster, that have gone through a Thomas The Tank engine phase, in particular Hallie. So I figure it was a relativley low cost way to see if the girls would like theme parks. (We haven’t planned on going to any of the major theme parks here in Japan)
They were pretty excited to see the Thomas themed rides and we decided on one small rollercoaster. Farley wasn’t that into it but because Hallie and Rooney are 6 years and under, Braino and I had to accompany them. We felt a bit silly sitting on the kids ride, haha! It was basically a rollercoaster for toddlers! After a Thomas themed novelty icecream we headed back to the accommodation and rested for the remainder of the afternoon.
I’m really glad we added these two days at Lake Kawaguchiko, and while there is plenty more to see and do around the Fuji Five Lakes area it was the perfect little rest stop for us after the intensity of Tokyo.
