A whole lot of walking indeed…

“Climbing a mountain is a bit like marriage… if some knew how difficult it would be, they would not have attempted it in the first place.” - Me, after completing the descent.

Mt. Fuji was a good deal more challenging than expected, and due to altitude sickness combined with a slow climbing speed, one only made it to the summit (where the shrine, restaurant, and toilets were), not the “true summit” around the crater (where pictures with the summit marker can be taken as showwn in the anime). A cloudy day at the summit topped off a rather miserable climb, but at least it wasn’t raining on the ascent and one got back down safely.

Tips for inexperienced climbers attempting to climb it:

1. Try to stay around the base of the mountain rather than all the way at Tokyo so that you can start your climb early in the morning rather than spending a good amount of time travelling. Kawaguchiko or other nearby places may also work.
2. Do your research properly, the train takes you to the Fujisan Station (which is for trains and the Fuji-Q amusement park), not the Fuji 5th Station (which is only accessible by bus and takes about an hour from the Fujisan Station). In retrospect the direct bus would’ve been a better idea…
3. Altitude sickness and the thin oxygen may hit harder than you expect. Some Tylenol/Panadol/Paracetamol may help for relieving symptoms of the former, while you may just need to take regular breaks every ten steps/stretch for the latter.
4. Ensure you have a mountain hut booking, there were some climbers begging to be let in when the cold hit hard around midnight but they were denied because they didn’t have a booking beforehand.
5. Stick stamps are pretty expensive - about 500 yen for 2 stamps and 200 yen for 1 stamp (some mountain huts offer one, others offer two). Bring lots of coins (which you can get from exchanging at game stores/arcade machines). The stick is a good memento though.
6. You may need more time than you expect - I took about 6 hours from the 5th to the 8th station where my hut booking was at. After a sleepless night due to altitude sickness and the bright lights of others as they left, it took 5.5 hours from the 8th station to the summit and another 5 hours for the descent (combined with a 1 hour bus ride back from the 5th Station).
7. Reception and Internet at the summit was poor to non-existent, so you may want to pack walkie-talkies or have a pre-set plan if splitting up when climbing with others.

Maybe someday I’ll go back and get to the true summit…

Sources:

1. Left: Yama no Susume S4
2. Right: Yama no Susume S1E3 1:05, My Hero Academia E2, Crusader Kings 3