The main route of the Fuji Hill Climb Race is on the Fuji Subaru Line, the road that takes you from the foot of the mountain to the 5th Station. This station boasts a grand view of Minami-Alps that sit on the northeastern side of Mount Fuji, making it the most popular photo point for tourists visiting the area.

Feeling that the Fuji Subaru Line might not be the best way to showcase the majestic and mystical characteristics of Mont Fuji, I reached out to a few Tokyo-based cyclists who climb the mountain on a regular basis. They told me about several different route variations that include lesser known parts of the mountain, even adding a few gravel sections to spice up the ride a bit.

Mount Fuji is quite accessible from Tokyo. Depending on where you are in the city, the Fuji train station is only about 100 kilometers away. Many Tokyo Cyclists will treat this as a one-day ride.

We decided to rent a van to make things easier and drive to a convenience store near the starting point of our ride. It is typical in Japan to meet up at a convenience store since they are nearly everywhere, even in the most rural areas, and the quality of the food you get from these stores will exceed any foreigner’s expectation.

Our route was designed so as to climb from the northwestern side of Mount Fuji up to the 5th station, followed by a descent down the Fuji-Subaru Line. It took us through the forests, far away from the city, people and traffic, which made us feel like we were truly lost in the mountains.

Once we hit the gravel bits and the peak of Fuji was revealed to us, it became the highlight of our day. As we reached 5th station and followed the ridgeline, we were riding through clouds so thick that our visibility was reduced to a few feet, but as we started descending, most of the clouds lifted. The only thing left to do was to bomb it all the way down.

Footnotes: Photos & Text By Sogon Yoon