What Does it Take to Climb Mount Fuji Japan?

The idea came from my daughter who’s in the Marines. She’s stationed in Japan and when I said I would come visit her this summer, she said “of course we’ll want to climb Mount Fuji.” I am an avid hiker but the idea of climbing up the side of this particular Japanese volcano hadn’t clicked before. I thought it would be a nature preserve, forbidden to visitors, or require ropes, etc. 

No. Apparently there’s a hiking trail. Four of them, actually.  Who knew. 

Will it be too hard? 

“No, it’s a tough hike but you can do it Mom.” 

She’s already climbed Fuji once but if you know the Marines you know that hardship and suffering is what they enjoy. Hiking up the volcano would come naturally to them; they also spend time practicing how to get out of a submerged helicopter. 

Fuji-san

Here is the official English-language website for climbing Mt. Fuji (aka “Fujisan,” or Honored Fuji. According to Google, the honorific title “san” is “used to address acquaintances, strangers, or colleagues to maintain a polite, respectful distance.”) 

Trying not to be deterred, I started researching. For the most popular trail, the Yoshida, you start midpoint on the mountain at about 7,560 feet in altitude and climb about 5,200 more feet up over five and a half miles. That’s a 33 percent grade. Then five and a half miles back down. 

I know my hiking parameters so far. My longest hike has been about 10 miles, and the most elevation gain I’ve done is about 2500 feet. So Fuji represents a significant jump up in difficulty, particularly in terms of altitude gain. 

The altitude thing is also a challenge. Checking AllTrails, in Colorado I didn’t find one hike with similar elevation gain, and at 12,000 feet at the summit, you can definitely get altitude sickness.

Fuji-san Trail Map

I study the Yoshida Trail map at the Fuji-san website. What happens to people who don’t make it? The website states the following: “If you are unable to make it to the summit, turn around and walk back down the ascending trail.” Apparently, the trail is a one way road but if you are in rough shape, you can be a wrong-way hiker. 

More Research on Hike Difficulty

At Moore Adventures blog, a discussion of hike difficulty with examples allows me to see a couple of other hikes in America which have a 33% grade somewhere on their length. But none of them have one that lasts 5 miles long.  TrailsNH has a hiking difficulty calculator which rates the Mt, Fuji elevation gain as Terrifying. 

I continue trying to figure out how hard this hike really is. I come upon the hiking elevation gain to miles conversion called the NOLS rating of hikes. This conversion says that every 1000 feet you climb up it is equivalent of two miles on the flat in addition to the distance you’ve gone. Therefore one can make a rough estimate of how much hiking power you will need to climb Mount Fuji. Or any other mountain. 

Using this tool, I calculate that a 10.5 mile trail with a 5,200 foot gain is equal to a hike of about 21 miles. That seems like a bit much. 

But a Lot of People Do It 

Nevertheless, apparently over 100,000 people climb Mount Fuji every summer in the two months it is open, so clearly there must be a cheat right?

And there is. It’s called a mountain hut! Halfway up Mount Fuji the hiker can pay to stay the night at an inside sleeping accommodation where they will serve you a nice bowl of chicken curry and let you bed down in a sleeping bag at 8:00 p.m., lights out at 9:00.

The tradition is to rise at about two or three a.m. to rush up the hill to meet the dawn as it breaks over the summit. So if we hike to the mountain hut on the first day it will be the equivalent of 3 miles plus 3,000 ft or 9 miles total hiking effort. The second day will be 7.5 miles actual distance plus four more miles of altitude gain for a total of 11.5 miles.

 Just beyond the most strenuous hike in my personal history. But in the realm of the possible. Although I have to do two hard hikes back to back with only five hours of sleep in a hut between them. 

Success probability will be more likely if I take some extra practice hikes this spring. I am not going to wing it. Instead, I need to have a training plan. Thus I begin to search All Trails for practice runs around here in Northern Colorado.

My stepfather kindly asked his friend Claude the AI to help me and it came up with the following training program.

My Training Plan in 4 Progressive Phases:

Foundation (Weeks 1–5)

Local Fort Collins hikes like Horsetooth Mountain, Arthur’s Rock, and Greyrock to build base fitness and acclimate feet/joints

Build (Weeks 6–12)

Peak Elevation (Weeks 13–17)

Taper (Weeks 18–20)

A few key highlights:

• Living in Fort Collins at 5,000 ft is already a big advantage over most Fuji climbers
• Late June means possible snow above 10,000 ft — the plan includes microspikes in the gear list and prepares her with high-altitude RMNP hikes
• Strength training guidance focuses on quads, glutes, and calves — the muscles that take the most punishment on Fuji’s volcanic descent I have a daily yoga routine but might look at modifying it to strengthen these muscle groups.
• Discuss Diamox with a doctor, for prevention of altitude sickness.

I made a chart

and filled in the details I have so far. As I go forward with my plan, I will add in more info. Such as how the hikes went. 

I will start this weekend. There are 16 weeks until my planned hike of Fuji. The plan is to increase the distance, until I’ve done at least one hike of 11 or 12 miles to prove that I can potentially climb Fujisan before tapering off 2-3 weeks before the Big Hike up the Big Volcano. 

Procedural Details: 

Apparently busses can be booked from Tokyo to the 5th station trailhead, which my daughter described as “a kind of small town.” The ride from Tokyo takes two and a half hours. Advice from the mountain hut website suggests you plan to arrive at Subaru Line 5th station by 10-11 a.m.

Fuji Permit Fee: You must buy a permit for 4000 yen (about $25). Day trippers can only start from 3 a.m. to 2 p.m.; those who have a hut reservation may enter from 2 p.m. to 3 a.m.

Hut Rentals: You can book a stay at a mountain hut starting April 1 for about 17,000 yen or $100. Once the season opens, the reservations fill up quickly, so you’ll want to get this squared away well before the first of July when the mountain officially opens for hiking. 

Background Blog Posts about Hiking and Fujisan: 

Why You Should Never Climb Mt. Fuji

To begin our background posts, an interesting discussion of the commercialization of the average Japanese outdoor experience, by which the author of this blog post is appalled. No mention of the elevation gain or length of the hike — apparently Mac of Halfway Anywhere isn’t concerned by its strenuous nature. He eats these hard hikes for breakfast! But the commercialization, that is too much. Duly noted. 

Training for a Big Hike or Mountain Climb

Next, this post from The Big Outside considers mostly exercise routines you’ll do at home or at the gym, but also has considerations of route difficulty and links to lots of further information including a packing list and e-books on specific hiking regions.  Editor and writer Michael Lanza’s hardest hiking day was apparently 42 miles in one day — just goes to show it takes all kinds of hikers to make a world. 

How much Time do You Need for This Hike?

To figure out how much time needed to hike, first adjusted for elevation gain, use Naismith’s Rule. The rule says that you hike about three miles an hour and add an hour for every 2000 feet of elevation gain and hike three miles per hour. In conclusion, it would seem Naismith seems to be hiking pretty fast here, but it’s a start.