I am sure that most of you guys have seen at least once that iconic red building with the Fuji in the background on Google images, when you were looking up for “Japan”! I never thought deeply about this place before and I can’t remember why I suddenly wanted to visit this place… maybe it was the strong impact of Instagram or Pinterest? So the building that I am talking about is the Chureito Pagoda in the Arakurayama-Sengen Park, where you can – if you are lucky – capture a breathtaking view of Mount Fuji! It was always a dream of mine to see Fuji-san in its full glory. I have already been at the Fuji region on my 10 days trip with Aldi Reisen, but sadly it was too cloudy. So in this post, I would like to take you to the Chureito Pagoda and give you some tips about how to get there.

So there are several ways to get to the Chureito Pagoda. You can take the train to Mt. Fuji Station, where you can walk (30~40min) or take the Taxi to (at least near) the Chureito Pagoda. We took the Express Bus from Shinjuku Bus Terminal Station. We went there early in the morning and bought a return ticket to Fuji-Q Highland/Kawaguchiko. If you want to go back with the same bus, you need to get a return ticket before departing. We took the next earliest possible bus (08:15) and our return bus was at 16:54, but you can choose your time freely if you want to stay longer/shorter. Our time frame was more than enough for visiting the Pagoda, having a nice walk to Fuji Station + back and for a veeeery long talk with a friend that I have never seen before (will talk about it later).

If you got your tickets at Shinjuku, the best way is to leave the bus at the Chuo EXPWY Shimoyoshida station. From there it is around a 15 minutes’ walk until you reach the Chureito Pagoda. Make sure to wear good shoes and bring some snacks and drinks for a picnic – you need to walk a lot of stairs! The Pagoda was easy to find, just follow the signs, which you can see everywhere along the streets. There are toilets around the Pagoda/Shrine area, as well as some nice picnic spots. We first took a look at the Arakura Fuji Sengen Jinja Shrine and then we went up to the Chureito Pagoda. There were not a lot of people standing there, so we could take some lovely pictures (sadly with a gloomy view… yes, I couldn’t see Fuji this time either, buhu). If you walk some more steps upwards, you will find a nice picnic spot with an excellent view to Mount Fuji (depending on the weather conditions).

After the break, we walked back but on the opposite direction than we came from the bus station, which means the direction to the Mt. Fuji station. By foot we had around 30 minutes. We had plenty of time, so we checked out the souvenir shop inside the station and went looking for a nice coffee shop to spend the rest of our time until our departure. The funny thing now is that the food court at the station was closed so there was no other place than the MOS Burger that was open. And you wouldn’t believe it who we met there by accident – it was @weekendintokyo, a Hatsune Miku-lover from Switzerland, which I am following on Instagram for such a super long time and I have never ever met him before (even though Basel is not that far away from my city actually). What a coincidence!!!! To be honest, I knew that he was somewhere in Japan during the same time as us, but I never ever thought that we would met him AT A MOS BURGER – on our one and only planned day trip – in the Fuji area! We were both speechless for a moment, haha, but it was great meeting him and we had a super long chat (and he told us the whole story behind his Instagram name ‘weekendintokyo’ :D). The hours went by quickly and after saying goodbye to JZ, we walked back to the bus station, where the coach took us back home to Tokyo.

Express Bus from Shinjuku Bus Terminal Station
Bus for Direction: Fuji-Q Highland/Kawaguchiko
Bus Stop: Chuo EXPWY Shimoyoshida
Price: 3’400 Yen (return ticket)
We took the bus at 08:15 and back at 16:54

Shinjuku Bus Terminal Station
don’t forget to get a return ticket, if you are planning
to go back with the Express BusDepart to Fuji-Q Highland/Kawaguchiko 08:15 Don’t forget to bring your picnic! Get off at Chuo EXPWY Shimoyoshida Just follow the signs You can easily find it You will have to walk a lot of steps! Arakura Fuji Sengen Jinja Shrine These Ema (wishing board) are so pretty! Here it is – the Chureito Pagoda! Free Wifi here?For the best picture, just walk a bit upwardsThere is a nice picnic spot if you walk
some more steps upwards!Break Time Here would be the best spot to see Mt. Fuji
…sadly it was too cloudy T_TIt was still nice though! Look who we met :D The lady from the tourist information
gave us this map! Arigatou gozaimasu~We walked to Mt. Fuji Station to have a coffee stop… …and we met JZ at the MOS BURGER!
It was nice meeting you :D !!