Climbing Mt. Fuji: the rules, the fees, the four trails and a timeline that works

Mt. Fuji is open to walkers for about ten weeks a year, from early July to around 10 September. Since 2025, every trail charges ¥4,000 per person, the Yoshida Trail caps entries at 4,000 climbers a day, and the gates close from 14:00 to 03:00 unless you hold a hut reservation. The mountain is 3,776 m; the summit is 20°C colder than Tokyo, and the wind makes it feel colder still. Plan it like a mountain, not a tourist attraction, and it is a long but non-technical walk.

This page describes the 2026 season rules. Prefectures announce the next season’s rules in spring; check the official climbing site before you book anything for 2027.

The rules, side by side

Fuji straddles two prefectures that run their own systems. The Yoshida Trail is in Yamanashi; Fujinomiya, Subashiri and Gotemba are in Shizuoka.

	Yoshida (Yamanashi)	Fujinomiya / Subashiri / Gotemba (Shizuoka)
Fee	¥4,000, paid in advance via the official reservation page	¥4,000, paid in the FUJI NAVI app
Daily cap	4,000 climbers; gate closes when reached	No published cap
Reservation	Optional, but without one you can be turned away on a full day	Registration + a short safety video and quiz in the app
Gate hours	Closed 14:00–03:00 to anyone without a hut booking	Same hours; proof of hut booking required to pass
Proof	QR code at the 5th-station gate	QR code exchanged for a wristband at the 5th station
Hut guests	Still pay ¥4,000	Still pay ¥4,000

The fee is per visit and covers the descent even if you come down a different trail. Day visitors who stay around the 5th station or walk the Ochūdō trail pay nothing.

Both systems exist to end “bullet climbing” (弾丸登山): starting from the 5th station at night and walking straight to the summit for sunrise without sleeping. It is how most altitude-sickness cases and a good share of rescues happen. The 14:00 gate makes it impossible without a hut booking, so a hut night is now effectively part of the climb.

The four trails

Trail	Start	Elevation gain	Up / down	Character
Yoshida	Fuji-Subaru Line 5th station, 2,305 m	~1,470 m	5–7 h / 3–4 h	Most huts, most people, best transport from Tokyo. Separate descent trail
Fujinomiya	2,400 m	~1,380 m	4–6 h / 2–4 h	Shortest and steepest. Same trail up and down. Closest to Kyoto and Osaka
Subashiri	1,970 m	~1,800 m	6–8 h / 3–4 h	Forest for the first hours, quieter, joins Yoshida at the 8th station. Sand-run descent
Gotemba	1,440 m	~2,340 m	7–10 h / 3–4 h	Longest, fewest huts, almost empty. Famous 7 km “great sand run” down

First time, and coming from Tokyo: Yoshida. First time from Kansai: Fujinomiya. Want solitude and have done 1,500 m days before: Subashiri.

Put the Yoshida numbers into the course time calculator (about 7 km, 1,470 m up) with the “beginner” factor and a hut pack, and you get 6–7 hours of walking. That is why the hut night is at the 7th or 8th station, not at the summit.

What it costs

Item	Typical price
Climbing fee	¥4,000
Highway bus, Shinjuku → Fuji-Subaru Line 5th station	¥3,800–4,800 each way (book online; sells out on weekends)
Hut, one night, with dinner and breakfast	¥13,000–17,000 on weekdays; ¥1,000–2,500 more on Fridays, Saturdays and holidays
Toilets on the mountain	¥200–300 per use, coins
Water and drinks at huts	¥400–600 per bottle
Gear rental (boots, rain jacket and pants, headlamp, pack, poles)	¥10,000–25,000 for a full set from the rental shops at Kawaguchiko and the 5th station

Budget ¥30,000–50,000 for the trip from Tokyo without gear. Huts are cash only with few exceptions; take at least ¥10,000 in notes and a handful of ¥100 coins for toilets.

Huts: what you are paying for

Yoshida has about sixteen huts between the 7th and 8.5th stations. Most open bookings in May and the Friday and Saturday nights of late July and August fill within days. A booking buys a futon in a shared sleeping room (sometimes a bunk, sometimes a curtained berth), dinner around 17:00–19:00 (usually curry rice or hamburg steak), and a breakfast box. Lights go out by 20:00–21:00. You will be woken at 01:00–02:00 if you asked to leave for sunrise.

See how Japanese mountain huts work for booking, etiquette and what to expect inside.

A timeline that works (Yoshida, sunrise at the summit)

Sunrise is around 04:30 in July and 05:10 by early September.

Time	Where
08:00	Highway bus from Shinjuku (or train to Kawaguchiko, then bus to the 5th station)
10:30	Arrive at the 5th station (2,305 m). Spend an hour here: eat, buy water, let your body notice the altitude
11:30	Through the gate. Walk slowly: 6th station by 12:30, 7th by 14:30
15:00–16:00	Check in at an 8th-station hut (3,100–3,400 m). Dinner, sleep by 19:30
01:30	Wake, dress in every layer, headlamp on. Leave by 02:00
02:00–04:00	8th station to summit, about 2 hours plus queueing on busy nights
04:30	Sunrise (goraikō) from the crater rim. Expect 0–5°C and wind
05:30	Optional: walk the crater rim (ohachi-meguri), 90 minutes, to Kengamine, the true 3,776 m high point
06:00–09:30	Descend the Yoshida descent trail. Watch for the Subashiri junction near the 8th station: a wrong turn here puts you on the other side of the mountain
10:00	5th station. Bus back

Alternatives that spare you the 02:00 start: book a hut at the 8.5th station (an hour from the top), or skip the summit sunrise and watch it from the hut doorway, which is almost as good and has no queue.

Altitude and cold

Fuji’s summit has about 65% of sea-level oxygen. Headache, nausea and dizziness above 3,000 m are common and the only cure is going down. What helps: the hour at the 5th station before starting, walking slower than feels necessary, drinking more than you want to (see the water calculator), and a hut night at 3,000 m rather than a straight push.

Use the temperature by altitude tool with 2,300 m at the start and 3,776 m at the top: on a 30°C Tokyo day the summit is around 5°C before wind. Rain jacket and pants, a fleece, a down jacket, gloves and a hat are not optional in August. Rental shops exist because every year people arrive in shorts.

What to carry

Rain jacket and pants, insulating layer, hat and gloves, headlamp with spare batteries, 1.5–2 L of water to start (you can buy more at huts), snacks, ¥100 coins, sunscreen, and shoes with a proper sole: trail runners are fine, sandals and city sneakers are not. Trekking poles help on the descent, which is loose volcanic gravel for hours. Run your list through the pack weight calculator; 6–8 kg is the target.

Transport in brief

• From Tokyo: Highway bus from Shinjuku Busta direct to the Fuji-Subaru Line 5th station (about 2.5 hours). Or JR to Otsuki, Fujikyu Railway to Kawaguchiko, then the 5th-station bus (about 1 hour). Private cars are banned from the Subaru Line during the season; park at the base and ride the shuttle.
• From Kyoto or Osaka: Shinkansen to Shin-Fuji or Mishima, then bus to the Fujinomiya 5th station (about 2 hours from Shin-Fuji).
• Subashiri and Gotemba: Buses from JR Gotemba station.

Also file a climbing plan, either through the Compass app or the prefectural police online form. It takes five minutes and is what the rescue team works from if you do not come down.