There’s something magical about waking up to the sight of Mt. Fuji.
If you’re looking for a peaceful retreat, I highly recommend staying here for a night or two. Last weekend, we camped at Koan Motosuko Campsite at their lakeside tent area with a front-view of Fuji-san and I really have no words to describe how magnificent it was.
The weather forecast stated it’s gonna rain the whole weekend but we still went anyway and was rewarded a great weather with a breathtaking view of Mt. Fuji when we woke up in the morning. One of the most peaceful trip I’ve ever had up until now.
Koan Motosuko Campsite
You have to open the gate (there’s a chain/rope) by yourself every time you go in and out of the campsite. The gate is closed from 10:00 PM until 8:00 AM the next day. It’s best to make a reservation online because they have a system where you can only check in within your assigned time slot. Arriving later is fine, but you cannot check in earlier than the time you reserved.
When I tried to book the first time, the only available time was from 16:00 onwards. A few days later, when I checked again, the 11:00 slot became available — I think there were some cancellations due to the weather. They also have cottages/cabins if you’re not comfortable staying in tents.
In this campsite, you can park your car next to your tent. We originally planned to be near the shore but the wind was strong and we thought it’s going to be too cold and loud near the water.
Instead, we found a spot on higher ground near the trees where we could set up our hammock. The ground was a little sloped, but still better than the other areas. It was much more slanted near the water, so you’d probably have a hard time finding a comfortable sleeping position there.
We only realized this after barely getting any sleep that night — but at least now we know better for next time. It’s best to have the lower part of your body on the downhill side so it doesn’t feel like you’re rolling down. I kept waking up because I was dreaming of falling. Ever had that kind of dream?
In this camp trip I learned to be careful of “guy lines’ – Guy lines are ropes or wires on the side of the tents used to add stability to structures by providing tension and bracing. I tripped twice at night because of this thing. It’s easy to forget about it especially when it’s dark so please don’t be like me and be careful.
*The campsite is pet-friendly too except for the cottages.
Activities
There are a lot of activities you can do in this area — windsurfing, SUP, kayaking, biking, hiking… you name it. You’ll never run out of things to do. Or, if you just want to relax like we did, you can totally do that too.
We wanted to try paddling in the morning, but the wind was just too strong so we ended up skipping it. You also have to wear a life jacket if you’re going to be in the water.
They have onsen (please confirm the time they are open) near the lodge where you check-in but we we didn’t go because we planned on going somewhere else. But they also have coin shower that’s open 24hours. I paid ¥200 for 2 minutes(?) of hot shower. I forgot how much I put but I got about 8minutes of shower. You can pause the water flow anytime.
Mt. Fuji on ¥1000 bill
There’s a hiking trail nearby to go up the view point that is famous for being the inspiration behind the ¥1000 bill.
If you ever looked at the back of an earlier ¥1000 bill, you will see a picture of Mt. Fuji based on Kohan No Haru (Spring by the Lake), a photograph taken by Okada Koyo at Lake Motosu. The viewpoint is a spot northwest of Lake Motosuko, and the 1-kilometer hike from the road takes around 30 minutes. The trailhead is near the toilet at Motosuko Observation Park. I read on google maps that you can also see the same view from Nakanokura Pass View Point.
Okada is known as a pioneer in “Mt. Fuji photography”. He calls Mt. Fuji- Fujiko, because in Japan, it is typical for female given names to end with “ko”. Some of his photographs appeared on Japanese stamps as well. He said that no matter how many years he photographed the mountain, he could never capture the mountain as he envisioned it, and so he never stopped.
He loves Fuji-ko so much ever since he fell in love when he was 21.
If you happen to come here during spring, maybe end of May to early June, you can also go to Fuji Shiba-sakura Festival. I love this place so much that I had to go twice just to catch the flowers in full bloom. This was in 2017, now it’s easier because you can just check the pictures of what other people post for updates on google maps before you go.
Food
You can buy wood at the reception but it was a little damp so maybe it’s better to bring your own.
We brought food to cook for the first day/night but we got nothing for next day. The lodge restaurant wasn’t open that Sunday so you might want to buy as much as you need before coming here because the supermarket is 25km away.
We went for a drive in the morning around Motosu lake and found a restaurant called Motosukan and ordered flattened noodles with veggies called Hōtō (ほうとう), a Yamanashi local dish. We also tried their noodles with wild veggies and I liked it, the broth was really rich in flavor.
The reviews for this place were bad, but I didn’t read them before we went, so I didn’t have any prejudice about it. Personally, I didn’t feel like they were rude to us at all, even though we were clearly foreigners. The old man even came outside to greet us and lead us in.
I asked the old lady if we could sit outside, and she said, “Feel free to do so,” in a really nice way.
On our drive back home we got hungry again so we looked for something to eat around us and we found this really cozy restaurant inside an exclusive vacation village. This area is gated and has boom barrier and you have to ring them up before they let you in. Just tell them you are going to Fujisanroku Smoke Kobo / Fuji Smoke Workshop.
I honestly cannot recommend this place enough. Tucked away in the middle of the woods, it’s owned by a lovely elderly couple who chose to move there to follow their passion for cooking and feeding people good food.
She told us they bought the property as a vacation house 45 years ago and used to come only during the holidays. They loved cooking so much — especially smoking meat — but because they couldn’t freely do that in Tokyo, they would come here instead. About two decades ago, they decided to move there permanently and open a restaurant simply because they genuinely love cooking.
They make everything homemade: sausages (lean meat!), dough, pasta, and even cake. She said they don’t like putting “bad things” into people’s bodies, so they only use fresh, good-quality ingredients. It was also my first time seeing someone make a crust and use it as a plate — like with the lasagna we ordered — and I thought that was really unique.
You can even order half-and-half pizza if you can’t decide on just one flavor… which is exactly what we did.
You can really tell they pay attention to detail — her husband even built the tables himself because he loves woodworking. I could hear him humming while cooking, and you could just feel that he genuinely enjoys cooking for people. He was even peeking through his small window, trying to catch our reactions as we took our first bites.
Before we left, we thanked him and told him how much we enjoyed their food, and his smile was the biggest, warmest one. We will definitely come back here the next time we’re in Yamanashi.
There’s also an organic café called Solar Cafe that I went to years ago with friends. We had blueberry pizza there, but when we passed by this time, it looked closed and the name had changed to Fuji Farm Lab. Google Maps shows that it’s only open one day a week, so I’m not really sure if they’re still operating or not.
Five Lakes of Mt. Fuji / 富士五湖 / フジゴコ
- Lake Kawaguchi / 河口湖 / カワグチコ – most famous of the five lakes, and images of this lake are usually used in posters and commercials for the Fuji Five Lakes area.
- Lake Motosu / 本栖湖 / モトスコ -The temperature of the water never drops below 4 °C (39 °F), making it the only one of the Fuji Five Lakes that does not freeze in winter. The lake and its view of Mount Fuji were featured on Series D of the Japanese 5000-yen note and Series E of the Japanese 1000-yen note.
- Lake Sai / 西湖 / サイコ – The views of Mount Fuji from Lake Saiko’s shores are blocked by other mountains, except at the lake’s western end from where there are beautiful, full views of the volcano but it sits beside the beautiful Aokigahara Jukai forest.
- Lake Shōji / 精進湖 / ショウジコ – Lake Shōji is given the name “Switzerland of East Asia” because Englishmen in the Meiji Era explored around the base of Mount Fuji, and remarked that the view of the mountain was most beautiful from Lake Shoji.
- Lake Yamanaka / 山中湖 / ヤマナカコ – The largest of the Fuji Five Lakes. There are good views of Mount Fuji from around the lake and there is a popular spot to get views of both the mountain and the lake called Panorama Dai, an observation point next to a small parking lot halfway up the mountains southeast of the lake. Panorama Dai is not served by buses and can be reached in about 30 minutes on foot from the “Mikuniyama Hiking Course Iriguchi” bus stop.
Lake Motosu, Lake Sai and Lake Shōji were originally one single lake, which was divided by an enormous lava flow from Mt. Fuji. There is also an evidence to indicate that these three lakes remain connected by underground waterways.
Places I want to go next time
- Yamanakako Myojinyama Panorama-dai
- Shosenkyo
- There’s another lake with a great Mt. Fuji view called Lake Tanuki. I’d love to stay at Tanuki Campsite next time. It’s on the border of Shizuoka Prefecture but still close enough to Mt. Fuji to get a beautiful view.
Onsen
- Hottarakashi Onsen – Onsen overlooking Mt. Fuji and tattoo friendly.
- Ubuya – Too expensive and they get booked up quick but one of my dream is to stay here even for one night.
- Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan – The oldest hotel in operation according to the Guinness Book of World Records. The hotel, first opened in AD 707, has been operated by the same family for forty-six generations.