Our 3 Day pass included the price of the bus ride to visit the Fuji-Subaru Line 5th Station. This station is an immensely popular spot as it’s the mid-point of the Yoshida Trail: a popular hiking trail to climb Mt. Fuji, and which starts from Fujiyoshida Sengen Shrine at base of the mountain to its summit. So in short, you get to be Mt. Fuji itself without doing any of the hard work of climbing. The bus ride up from Kawaguchiko Station takes about 50 minutes to reach the 5th Station, and the bus we were on was fully packed. Important note too: the bus runs only periodically, and you must catch the last bus down – as we did. You certainly don’t want to be stuck at the 5th Station!
The 5th Station area has the usual retail and amenities: pricey souvenir and gift shop, and a cafeteria. The Food and Beverage prices are also significantly more expensive – somewhere in the region of 60% to 80% more costly – since those items need to be brought up from Kawaguchiko at the base of the mountain. It was also pretty windy in the area, and coupled with the harsh mid-afternoon light again made creating good pictures pretty challenging.
So, is this worth a visit? Again, if the bus ride to the 5th Station is already included in your pass, then you should make time for it. The fairly close view of Mt. Fuji’s summit from the 5th Station is simply not something you’d get to see otherwise outside actually climbing the mountain. You also get stunning views of the lakes surrounding the mountain, and can really appreciate the geography of the area.
That concludes Day 02. The next day will be our third and final full day in Kawaguchiko, and we’d be heading to other places in the area to get more perspectives of the mountain!