How we check facts
How each fact in this Kawaguchiko guide is sourced, quoted, dated and re-checked, and how the pages are drafted and reviewed.
Sources, in order of trust
Every fact here has a named public source, and sources are ranked. Official and government sites and the operators’ own sites come first, then booking agents, then Wikivoyage, Wikipedia and the news.
A saved fact carries its link, an exact quote from that page, the date it was read and a date to look at it again. The quote must turn up on the live page. Guide pages draw on nothing but this store.
| Source | Facts | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Google Maps | 200 | |
| yamanashi-kankou.jp | 176 | |
| fujisan.ne.jp | 118 | |
| japan-guide.com | 111 | |
| Wikipedia | 96 | |
| fujiyoshida.net | 82 | |
| japan.travel | 80 | |
| reserve.489ban.net | 61 | |
| And 150 more sources | 1899 | – |
- Facts on file: 2823
- Checked against their source: 2754
- Last check: October 2026
- Tour links opened and checked before linking: 15 (checked October 2026)
- Places to eat and drink checked on Google Maps: 15 (checked October 2026)
- Attractions checked on Google Maps: 27 (checked October 2026)
- Driving times from OpenRouteService routes: 29 (valid for 12 months)
- Places to stay with a booking link checked in a browser: 21 (checked October 2026)
- Data refresh: every 2 to 3 months
A single entry, traced
Here is one real entry from the Kawaguchiko file, as it is kept. On a guide page it carries a small number leading back to this source.
| Fact | Express highway buses from Shinjuku's south exit bus terminal reach Kawaguchiko Station in about 1 hour 45 minutes. |
|---|---|
| Source | Fuji Five Lakes Itinerary | Travel Japan (JNTO) |
| Line quoted from the source | An economical way to reach Lake Kawaguchi, the ride costs 2,000 yen and takes approximately 1 hour 45 minutes. |
| Last read on the source | |
| Due for a re-check |
Keeping the file fresh
The site gets a data refresh on a set cycle. Each round compares a batch of facts with their source pages as they read today, oldest and fastest-changing first: prices, fees, timetables, opening months. It also tries every source link and looks again at the tour pages and places to stay.
A fact its source has stopped showing gets a flag; it never just vanishes. It is then brought up to date, moved to a stronger source or removed from the page.
| Kind of fact | Valid for | Facts | Next re-check due |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prices and fees | 6 months | 510 | April 2027 |
| Timetables | 6 months | 125 | April 2027 |
| Opening hours | 12 months | 250 | October 2027 |
| Seasons and opening months | 12 months | 97 | October 2027 |
| Rules | 12 months | 416 | October 2027 |
| Counts | 12 months | 124 | October 2027 |
| Driving times and distances (routing data) | 12 months | 29 | October 2027 |
| Exchange rate (for the US dollar amounts) | 2 months | 1 | December 2026 |
| Other facts | 12 months | 701 | October 2027 |
| Places and distances | No set date | 370 | – |
| Google Maps details of places to eat | 6 to 12 months | 60 | April 2027 |
| Google Maps details of attractions | 6 to 24 months | 140 | April 2027 |
Clashing sources and missing proof
When two sources don’t match, you get a range with both named. A detail no source backs up stays out.
Tours, food, sights, stays and drive times
Tours start from each booking site’s list for Kawaguchiko. A tour is linked only after its page has been loaded and read: the title must mention Kawaguchiko, and nothing on it may say the tour can’t be booked. A vanished tour page gets no link. The booking site shown first is the one that had the most Kawaguchiko tours at planning time; the rest follow a set order.
Places to eat and attractions come from Google Maps listings around the main parts of the area, and each was loaded in a browser and confirmed before it went in. Neither table is sorted by rating. Food is grouped by area, then the names people search for, then Google’s own search order. Attractions are grouped by area and search interest. Ratings shown are Google’s, dated to the day they were read, and no place paid for its spot. Hours come from Google; an entry fee, a suggested visit length or a note about children appears only when a source says so. A sight Google Maps shows as closed is dropped.
Places to stay are ordered by how often people search for them by name. Each card names the sources for its price, what’s included and who it suits. None carries a booking link yet: that waits until the link has been tried in a browser and the booking site has signed off on the site’s account.
Drive times and distances come from OpenRouteService, using OpenStreetMap road data without traffic. Each is filed as a fact with its route as the source and holds for a year. Itineraries are plans assembled from these sources, not accounts of a trip.
Drafting and review
Claude, Anthropic’s AI model, drafts the guide pages and works only from the stored facts. Automatic checks then run on each page. The publisher reviews every page before it goes live and again after launch, and puts right whatever turns up.
Photos are from Wikimedia Commons and Pexels and are never AI-made; the logo and favicon are the only exceptions. Each is credited on the image credits page. Every guide page numbers its sources beside the facts.
What changed lately
- · Kawaguchiko travel guide: Updated: new sections: Plan your Kawaguchiko trip; Day trip or a night by the lake?; Things to do around Lake Kawaguchi, 3 sections…
- · About this guide: Rewritten
- · Areas: Updated: new sections: Side by side: lakes and towns compared; Costs: hotels and day prices by area; Saiko Iyashi no Sato Nenba: hours…
- · Fujiyoshida: Updated: new sections: Fujiyoshida sights, from Chureito Pagoda to Fuji-Q; What things cost in Fujiyoshida; How do you get to Fujiyoshida…
- · Lake Saiko: Updated: new sections: What Saiko is like; Saiko Bat Cave and the Saiko Nature Center; Fugaku Wind Cave and Aokigahara forest; …, 6…
At the foot of every guide page you’ll find that page’s own history: what changed and when.
If something’s wrong
Head to the contact page. Tell us the page and the fact, and include a source if you have one.
Page history · last changed 19 October 2026
- First written