Mt Fuji 5th Station: buses, fares, road hours and trails

The Fujikyu route bus is the way up without a car, with five buses a day³ from Kawaguchiko Station on the current timetable. Buses start from Mt. Fuji Station and Kawaguchiko Station¹⁰.

The first bus up leaves Kawaguchiko Station at 9:40 and gets in at 10:35³. The last bus down leaves the top at 15:50³ (checked October 2026), so plan your walks around it.

What to know about tickets:

• One-way tickets are valid only on the day of purchase¹⁰.
• Round-trip tickets are valid for two days from purchase¹⁰.
• The current fares took effect on 1 July 2026³.

From Tokyo by bus

You can do it as a day out by bus, with the change at Kawaguchiko Station. For a full plan with other stops, see Kawaguchiko in a day from Tokyo.

1. 1

   Shinjuku to Kawaguchiko Station

   Highway buses from Shinjuku's south exit take about 1 hour 45 minutes; the train takes about 2 hours 10 minutes.

2. 2

   Bus up the Fuji Subaru Line

   Take the Fujikyu route bus from Kawaguchiko Station: the first leaves at 9:40 and takes about 55 minutes.

3. 3

   Back down

   The last bus down leaves at 15:50.

The Fuji Subaru Line is open all year round, with no fixed seasonal closure, but its gates close outside operating hours¹¹, and those hours change through the year. From Tokyo, it’s around 1 hour 30 minutes¹² by car to Kawaguchiko I.C. on the Chuo Expressway.

At the top, Fujiyoshida’s tourism guide lists free parking for 330 cars and 40¹³ buses.

Outside the climbing period, no people or vehicles may stay on the toll road outside operating hours¹⁴. Treat the downhill time in the table as your deadline.

How cold does it get up there?

No source here gives a temperature for the station itself, but Fujiyoshida’s official guide reminds you that, even though you can drive there, it’s above 2,300 m¹³. Lake Kawaguchi sits at about 800 metres¹⁸, and even down there winters are cold.

Higher up, the official climbing site says that even in summer the top of Mt Fuji can drop to near 0 °C²⁰ before sunrise. Bring a warm layer whatever the month, and see Kawaguchiko temperatures by month for the rest of the year.

Rest about 1–2 hours²³ near the station before setting off. The official site says altitude sickness is one of the most common reasons climbers abandon the climb²³. Watch for headache, dizziness and lightheadedness²³.

Nearby places to add

Back down by the lakes, a few stops pair well with a trip up the mountain:

• Oishi Park: a popular spot with photographers²⁶, with flowerbeds in front of Mt Fuji across the lake in spring and summer²⁷. Here’s how to reach Oishi Park on the lake.
• Arakurayama Sengen Park: Fujiyoshida’s tourism site calls it one of Japan’s most spectacular viewpoints of Mount Fuji²⁸. See Chureito Pagoda and Arakurayama Sengen Park.
• Saiko Iyashi no Sato Nenba: read up on Iyashi no Sato Nenba before you go.

For the rest of the area, there are details of other things to do on the hub page.