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Through the jungle of lo-fi Japanese website I managed to book tickets from Shinjuku Station to Otsuki with the express train and a seat on a train back to Shinjuku from Kawaguchiko. Since I had to get from Asakusa to Shinjuku first I woke up at 5 to get the Yamanote train at 7, no need to reserve that one.

The trains were neat, tidy and on time – as always in Japan. I arrived in Otsuki after only a short 50-minute ride from Shinjuku and couldn’t wait to get on the local train to Shimoyoshida that would take another ~40 minutes. I was warned that in Summer the view could be pretty obscured, but I monitored when to see mt fuji to select the best day. It was a real good idea to reserve those seats back from Kawaguchiko because a lot of people had to stand for 1.75h after a day of walking and more walking.

The stairs up to Arakurayama Sengen Park to the Chureito Pagoda had me out of breath. Luckily there was the Arakura Fuji Sengen Shrine at the bottom of the stairs and the view at the top was more than a reward for my huffing and puffing. I thought I’d be fit from my running, but maybe I should train more stairs.

The rest of the day was spent around Lake Kawaguchiko with Fujisan looming in the back. The sun tried to kill me and shade was in high demand. It’s crowded for sure. The red bus that runs every 15 minutes was often too full, and you had to wait another 15 minutes in the sun. With plenty of time to spare I arrived back at Kawaguchiko Station and finally found a restaurant to my liking. After a late lunch consisting of Hoto Noodles and a Coke Zero I enjoyed the view of the mountain and lake until my train brought me back to Shinjuku. I arrived in Asakusa around 8 – all tired but very happy about the trip out of the city.