Climbing Mt. Fuji: Tips, Q&A, and Climber Stories

By Gary J. Wolff

With a near-perfect volcanic cone and snow-capped most of the year, Mt. Fuji, Japan’s highest peak and affectionately referred to by the Japanese as Fuji-san, is considered one of the world's most beautiful mountains.

Mt. Fuji is climbed by at least 300,000 people every year and, including the hundreds of thousands of tourists who travel up to the 5th Stations for sightseeing & don't even climb the peak, it comes as no surprise that Mt. Fuji is generally regarded as the most visited mountain in the world. And since its designation by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site on June 22, 2013, the peak has now become even MORE popular.

The author’s love affair with Japan's high country has now spanned over 24 years, and in addition to scaling Fuji-san twice, he has climbed all of the 29 highest mountains in Japan, and 38 of the tallest 50. And in the Fall of 2012, he published his 1st book on Japanese mountains entitled "The View from the Top of Japan: My 2-decade-long quest to scale the nation’s 25 highest peaks."

The author also runs a website focused primarily on the highest mountains in Japan, and most of his mountain pages rank among the top 3 to 4 results at Google, and several of them are #1. His "Climbing Mt. Fuji - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)" page has become the most highly visited page on his entire website.

It's from this vast reservoir of content that he’s drawn upon in this book to share information on things such as climbing trails, recommended clothing & gear, transport access, fun facts & recent news stories, some select questions and answers from his Climbing Mt. Fuji FAQ webpage, as well as some of the more remarkable stories & pics kindly shared by visitors to his website who’ve already scaled Mt. Fuji.

Unlike some other books written about Mt. Fuji which spend a lot of time talking about its history, culture, geology of the dormant volcano, and other non-climbing aspects of Japan’s iconic peak, the author has chosen instead to focus on providing just the essential information necessary for future climbers intent on scaling the mountain.

If in the future you’re planning to climb Japan’s highest peak, it's likely this book will prove to be a valuable resource.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gary J. Wolff
• Release date: Sep 23, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301818969

Gary J. Wolff

Gary Joe Wolff is a Tokyo-based university professor, corporate communications consultant, actor/model, and all-round nice guy. :-) From Houston, Texas, USA, Gary earned a master's degree in civil engineering from the University of Texas and worked 12 years as a registered professional transportation engineer before moving to Tokyo in 1991.For the past 21 years, Gary has taught both undergraduate and graduate engineering and science students in the School of Science and Technology at one of Japan's oldest and most prestigious private universities.Also, since first arriving on Japanese shores, he's served as a specialist in intercultural corporate training for Japanese engineers and managers in preparation for their overseas assignments, and has taught at over 80 different companies, schools, and agencies.In his free time thru the years, Gary has enjoyed mountain climbing and has scaled all of the 25 highest mountains in Japan. He has found living in Japan to be a truly fascinating and rewarding cultural experience, and claims to still have a few more books on his mind.Stay tuned to Gary's latest updates from Japan at GaryJWolff.com !

Book preview

Climbing Mt. Fuji

Tips, Q&A, and Climber Stories

by Gary J. Wolff

Front cover photo: Diamond Fuji, by Berndt Otto,

Lake Yamanakako, Feb. 17, 2011

Back cover graphic: Yoshidaguchi Climbing Trail,

courtesy of the Fujiyoshida City International Affairs Desk

Copyright 2013 Gary J. Wolff

(Revised Aug. 2015)

All Rights Reserved

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only and may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Dedicated to all the countless, hearty souls who cheerfully & graciously devote their livelihood to making it possible for the hundreds of thousands of us every year to climb one of the most beautiful and most visited peaks in the world.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Putting this book together would've never been possible had it not been for a number of very kind people who were instrumental in helping make available a number of resources, including images, maps, and pics.

So I'd like to take just a moment to thank these people from the bottom of my heart and to list their names below, in no particular order:

• Yoshie A. Oya, Advisory Officer for Pacific Rim Affairs, Regional Diplomacy Division, Shizuoka Prefectural Government

• Yumi Matson, Coordinator for International Relations, Fujiyoshida City Hall

• Junya Sano, 4plus Inc.

I'd also like to thank a couple of Tokyo friends who were kind enough to share some of their amazing pics for this book:

• David Couvreur, an avid Tokyo hiker who writes a blog entitled Hiking around Tokyo <tokyohiking.wordpress.com>, covering not-so-famous hikes in the vicinity of the nation's capital

• Berndt Otto, cinematographer, actor, and model <linkedin.com/pub/berndt-otto/20/742/433>

And I'd be remiss not to say thanks to 5 very special people who’ve already climbed Mt. Fuji and who were gracious enough first to share their stories and pics on my website, and have now agreed to allow me to include them in Chapter 6 of this book as well.

So, thanks to Dr. David Wallace, George Ishizaki, Sarah Marchildon, Mark Berry, and Jenny Holmgren. I really do appreciate it, folks, and am sure the readers will as well!!

Note: This eBook was slightly revised in Aug. 2015, including correcting some URL links related to transport access & to update answers to some questions related to the 2015 climbing season. Climber traffic statistics and news stories were left as is, as they are still timely and & fairly accurate.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 - Introduction

Chapter 2 - Mt. Fuji's Climbing Trails

Chapter 3 - Transport Access

Chapter 4 - Recommended Clothing/Gear

Chapter 5 - Climbing Mt. Fuji FAQ

Chapter 6 - Climber Stories

Chapter 7- Fun Facts & Recent News Stories

Chapter 8 - Final Wrap-up

Chapter 1 - Introduction

If you come to Japan and don't climb Mt. Fuji, you're a fool; but if you climb it more than once, you're an even BIGGER fool.

–from an old Japanese proverb

Thru the years I've always gotten a good chuckle at the above version of the old Japanese proverb specially modified for the benefit of foreigners. Cracks me up....every time. But I guess only those who've actually climbed Mt. Fuji can truly appreciate the significance and wisdom of the old Japanese saying.

With a near-perfect volcanic cone and snow-capped most of the year, Mt. Fuji (富士山), referred to by the Japanese as Fuji-san, is also considered one of the world's most beautiful peaks. The attraction for me was immediate, and within only 4 short months of moving to Japan over 24 years ago, I was standing atop its summit, and worshipping the sunrise on Sun. Aug. 4, 1991.

Atop Mt. Fuji on Sun. Aug. 4, 1991

Because it is Japan's highest peak, rises up magnificently out of nowhere, and is unobscured by any surrounding foothills, on a clear day Mt. Fuji can be easily viewed from over 150 kilometers (~93 mi.) away. I can often see Mt. Fuji from my apartment building on the far east side of the Tokyo metroplex, around 120 km (~75 mi.) away.

Among Japan's 25 highest peaks, Mt. Fuji (富士山), along with Mt. Ontake-san (御嶽山), are independent peaks and the only ones not part of the Northern, Central, or Southern Japan Alps mountain ranges. Of the 25 highest mountains in Japan, 12 lie in the Northern Alps, 10 in the Southern Alps, and only 1 in the Central Alps.

Notes: (1) one meter = 3.28 feet

(2) dake or take (岳), san (山), and yama (山) all mean mountain or peak in Japanese, and are added as a suffix to Japanese mountain names.

(3) A continuation of the list above is shown on my "Highest Mountains in Japan" webpage.

My love affair with Japan's high country has pretty much been an annual summer obsession. Without question, Japan has some of the most spectacular peaks I've ever had the pleasure of climbing, and thru the years I've somehow managed to get atop all of the 29 highest mountains in Japan, and 38 of the