travel tuesday | climbing mt. fuji

Today, I'm heading back to Japan, in pictures at least. To the tip-top of Japan. To above the clouds, and below the sky. To the point where exhaustion gives way to accomplishment. To Fuji-san, or Mt. Fuji, for we English speakers.

Standing at 12,388 feet tall (3447 meters), Mt. Fuji is no short order hike, though it is the most climbed mountain in the world.

Nearly anyone can summit Mt. Fuji. You don't need mountaineering equipment, oxygen takes, or extended time to acclimate, and it only takes about 8-10 hours in total (only! ha!). It's possible to hike it as an out-and-back, and most people do it that way. But don't take that the wrong way. Old Fuji is a bastard of a climb. 

The traditional way to climb Mt. Fuji is to start hiking at sunset and climb all night, until at long last, you see sunrise from the summit, above the clouds. I stubbornly chose to do it this way, starting on the same day that I visited three temples in Kyoto and spent 6 hours on trains. I hit a severe, dangerous wall of exhaustion. I don't recommend that.

Hiking Fuji at night felt Biblical to me. I think that's an entirely strange comparison, especially to make in Japan, but I have no better words for it. The mountain looms foreboding as you step out onto it, and the night grows darker when it's already black. The only light you see are the headlamps of fellow trekkers, a luminescent, bobbing glow snaking up into an the ethereal unknown. In my exhaustion and delirium, the story of the Three Wise Men came as naturally to mind as my want for rest and water, and I thought, this is probably what their journey looked and felt like, some 2000 years ago. Less poetically, climbing Fuji-san at night engenders a feeling of tight knit community through a common cause and goal.

 

The ascent to the top of Mt. Fuji is marked by stations. There are nine in total. Instead of hiking through the night, many trekkers opt to rent bunk-bed style futons in huts located at the 8th station. The 8th station is a blessed bastion. You can purchase hot ramen, tea, water, and generally rest your tired eyes and sore feet before pushing through the final, steep climb to the top. I do recommend these huts.

At the base of the mountain, and at souvenir shops for miles surrounding it, there are opportunities to purchase walking sticks. At each of the nine stations on the mountain, the walking sticks are stamped with proof of your tenacity and endurance. The stamps are imprinted with hot irons, emblazoning the stick and emboldening the trekker to make it that much higher. 

There is a Japanese proverb that says, "A wise man climbs Fuji once. A fool climbs it twice."

Trekkers on the mountain take rest on rocks, bits of dirt and gravel and hardened lava. Sometimes those people have a foot in the path, or their pack falls onto the trail. In the 12 hours I spent on Fuji-san, not one person was rude, or told someone to move. I only heard kind words, spoken to others and to me. Climbing Mt. Fuji epitomizes the Japanese spirit - community, a helping hand, kinship.

Truth be told, climbing Mt. Fuji is my greatest accomplishment and regret in my time in Japan. I tried to do too much in too short a time, and I faced the consequences: I crashed and burned (and fell asleep in a bowl of ramen) at Station 8, so shy of the summit I could see it in my reach. I may be a fool - I know I'm a fool - but I'll do it again someday.

if you go... 

climbing season is in july & august

starting point: Kawaguchiko 5th station on the Yoshida Trail

from Tokyo, take a bus from Shinjuku to the trail head at the 5th station

 bring layers; it's cold at the top even in summer 

mt. fuji walking stick: 1000Yen (~$10-$20) / stamps: 200Yen ($2-5)

climbing guide

my other posts on japan...

cycling the 70km shimanami-kaido 

my hometown: yamato, hikari, yamaguchi