When we asked our friends about the lodging experience on Mt. Fuji, many were the stories of sleeping next to snoring strangers packed like sardines, and having Lunchables-equivalent food for dinner. But Goraikokan far exceeded our expectations. We actually received a decent portion bento box, choice of fish, chicken, or hamburger meat when you make the reservation. Our breakfast included three onigiris and tea. In addition, Goraikokan sells other Japanese staples including ramen, udon, oden, and cup noodles. You will definitely not starve up here!
Reservation open on May 10th at 12pm
Toilet: 200 yen one time fee; no shower available
English site doesn’t have the reservation information, use Japanese site for reservation
Use cell phone browser to reserve. Our laptops doesn’t give us the pay option, but our phone does.
11,000 yen for stay only; 13,500yen stay and 2 meals (breakfast and dinner)
Meal choice: chicken, fish, and hamburger patty
Dinner time is from 5:30pm-8:30pm, phone number: 0555-24-6510
Experience
We started our hike around noon, and arrived at our lodging on 8.5 station at 8 pm. The weather on the way up was mild, but it would change from sunny to misty, and to cloudy suddenly. After dinner, we watched a thunderstorm above the clouds for the first time, lightning lit up the entire sky. In the middle of the night, we all got woken up by torrential rainfall hitting the roof above our heads. I learned from my Kumano Kodo trip, I was calm, closed my eyes and prayed that we would still be able to see the sunrise at the summit. Praise the Lord that the sky cleared up the next morning and we made it all the way to the top!
UN surprised me during this hike. He reached the summit with ease, and didn't show any signs of fatigue. He even made friends with a few college kids that we met along the way, chatting with them the whole time while climbing. For someone who doesn’t regularly exercise, he was leading our group of friends the entire time. When I asked him what his secret was, he told me that while we were resting at 7th station, the clerk told us it would take us another 3 hours to reach our lodging at 8.5 station, and we would likely miss our meal time. Motivated by hunger and food, UN picked up his pace and practically ran up to make sure we would all get our dinner bento boxes. Food is such a powerful motivational tool!
As of the writing of this blog, Japan still does not permit entry of foreign tourists, and because of that, Mt. Fuji visitors count this year is only 10% of that before COVID-19. Our lodge that normally sleeps 90 was only half full, while some other lodge only had 5 guests. In years past Mt. Fuji would be packed with hikers, but that was not a concern this year. We got up at 2:30 am to pack up in order to watch the sunrise at 4:39 am.
Watching dawn at the top of Mt. Fuji was an emotional moment for me, especially when they raised the Japanese flag and sang Japan’s national anthem. I thank God for being able to share this magical moment with my friends, and for giving us the perfect weather! It gets pretty cold at the summit, so gloves and windproof/waterproof jackets are a must. Once you are at the top, you have the option of circling around the rim of the volcano, and it takes about an hour plus. This trail is relatively easy, but you can easily get sunburned. I wanted to send out a postcard at the post office atop Mt. Fuji, but it was closed due to the pandemic. After getting some rest, we began our descent, the hardest portion of our hike. There weren’t marked trails, only gravel, dirt, and volcanic ash. Going down felt more like sliding than hiking. At 5th Station, we hopped on a bus to take us back to the train station. Remember to time your descent so that you don’t miss your bus like we did. But fate has it that because we missed our bus, we found out that the stores at 5th Station could help us send out postcards postmarked with stamps that read Top of Mt. Fuji!
The few days after Mt. Fuji, our legs turned into noodles. Pro tip, don’t plan a lot of walking activities after climbing Mt. Fuji, you’ll thank yourself. A big thank you to my friends who agreed to go on this crazy trip with me, helping me cross this off my list! Definitely a trip to remember! I hope your Mt. Fuji experience will be as great as ours! Tune in to my next post to find out the delicious foods we ate during this trip!
