Clibing Mt Fuji for the first time

Posted on September 14, 2025  •  6 minutes  • 1265 words

Conquering the Climb: My First Time on Mt. Fuji

Climbing Mt. Fuji was one of my biggest bucket list items since moving to Japan. This week, I finally did it. And let me tell you—it was three of the most exhausting, and rewarding, days of my life. From a sleepless night in a manga cafe to a grueling final ascent, here’s everything I learned about climbing the infamous Fuji-san.

The Original (and Failed) Plan

The planning for this small trip began about a month ago. I asked my girlfriend and friends if anyone wanted to join, but no one could, so I ended up going on a solo adventure.

My first plan was to take a day off from work and, over the course of two days (September 7th and 8th), take an early train to Mishima, climb Mt. Fuji, sleep in a mountain hut near the peak, and then climb back down. I booked a spot in a hut on the Fujinomiya trail, but realized just the day before my climb that the hut had hard check-in times. Since I was planning to start my ascent around noon, and the climb takes about 5-7 hours—plus I’m an incredibly slow hiker, so I knew there was no way I’d make it in time.

I had to change my plans. I decided to leave a day earlier, sleep in a manga cafe, and then catch the first bus in the morning. This way, I would have plenty of time to arrive at the hut for check-in.

Day 0: A Sleepless Night

With the new plan, I left Tokyo around 8:00 PM on a Saturday and arrived at Mishima station around 10:00 PM. From there, it took another 30 minutes to find the manga cafe where I would spend the night. As it was my first time staying in one of these places, I had to get a membership. It took a while, as the front-desk worker didn’t speak a word of English, and my Japanese was far from perfect.

A manga cafe is not a place I would recommend if you have a choice. I would much rather recommend a capsule hotel. However, I can see myself going again if I miss the last train of the day or find myself in a similar situation.

The big problem? I didn’t manage to sleep at all that night before climbing a 3,776-meter mountain. But here I am, so I survived!

Day 1: The Ascent

The day started early at 4:15 AM. After packing up and taking a quick shower (a manga cafe is more of a hostel with mangas than an actual cafe), I walked back to the train station to catch the bus that would take me to the Fujinomiya 5th station, the starting point of the trail.

From here, at an elevation of about 2,300 meters, you begin your climb. I decided to wait around for 30 minutes before starting, letting my body adjust to the altitude. During that time, I bought a walking stick. In case you don’t know, there’s a special tradition on Mt. Fuji: you can get a wooden stick and have it branded with a unique seal at each mountain station for 300 yen. I saw it on Instagram and knew I had to get one as a souvenir.

After a small breakfast, I started my ascent. Let me tell you, it was my first time hiking at such a high altitude, and it was brutal. At the start of the trail, I could hike a steep stretch for 20 meters without stopping. But as I went higher, that distance dropped to just 5 meters before I had to stop and catch my breath.

I should mention that Mt. Fuji has four available routes to the summit. I chose the Fujinomiya trail, which is the shortest but also the steepest. You suffer more, but for less time. My original plan was to descend via the Gotemba Trail, but after sleeping only three hours in three days, I decided to go back down the Fujinomiya trail, which was much shorter.

Another thing that surprised me was that the shops at the different stations sell oxygen canisters. I didn’t buy any because first, I’m healthy (supposedly), and second, Mama didn’t raise a quitter. In hindsight, I should have bought a couple.

While going up, I realized that going alone might have been a bad idea and that I had completely underestimated the mountain. People were throwing up from altitude sickness, and I saw a couple of poor souls doing it right on the trail. After seeing them, I became more cautious, and after reaching the 8th station, I stayed for an hour, relaxing and letting my body adapt.

The Hut: A Night of Little Sleep

After about 7 hours of climbing, I arrived at the Munatsuki Sanso hut at the 9.5th station. This was also my first time staying in a mountain hut. The people running the hut were very nice and helpful, but I don’t know if this is common, but the sleeping arrangements were tight. We were basically piled up, one on top of the other, my feet near the head of another person, and so close to my two neighbors that if I turned, I’d be face-to-face with them, ready for a night forehead kiss.

That night, I didn’t manage to sleep much. Around 30 people packed in a small room means a lot of snoring, people taking oxygen from canisters in the middle of the night, and people burping (not kidding about this). To top it all off, at 1:30 AM, when people started getting up to see the sunrise from the peak, also, a few of them started praying with some kind of YouTube video, which was very noise. I decided not to go to the peak, hoping the room would get less crowded and I could get some sleep.

Despite the difficult night, it was a good place. The staff was incredibly nice, and they let me leave my backpack there while I went to the peak.

Day 2: The Summit and Descent

I woke up at 5:00 AM with only three hours of sleep. The sun was still rising, and when I went to the outdoor toilet, I was greeted with the most beautiful scene I’d ever witnessed. The clear weather and stunning view made all the suffering worth it. I even video-called my girlfriend and parents to show them. I felt a rush of energy.

The final stretch from the 9.5th station to the summit was the hardest part of the entire climb. It took me far too long to reach the top. It was so difficult that I was out of breath every two meters. I truly considered giving up and going back down, but I pushed through and finally made it to the peak.

At the summit, I simply took some photos, looked around, and began my descent.

Going Down

The descent was surprisingly easy. There was no getting out of breath, so there’s not much to say. It took me about 4 hours to get back to the 5th station, which is still incredibly slow, but normal for me.

Trip Postmortem

Now that I’ve had time to calm down, I’m happy I went through all this. I probably won’t do it alone again, but I would be totally down to do it with friends through another route. And after this experience, I will definitely get a couple of those oxygen canisters.

Now, all that’s left is to suffer through the terrible soreness!