Hello. I'm new here. Anybody active hiking in Japan? I've done a lot of summer stuff in the Japan Alps (did Kita Dake in September). I'm especially interested to know if anyone had done any climbing in the Spring/Autumn. I really want to get into more 'serious' climbing - I'm saving to do a ten day mountaineering course in New Zealand next year. Anyway if anyone's about it would be nice to hear from you. I live in Kyoto, by the way.

Does anyone have any intimate knowledge of Mount Fuji?
I am flying through Asia in the near future and will have a day in Japan. I will be located in Tokyo without autonomous transportation. If I have one free day, what is the possibility of summitting Fuji?

FYI, If I were in the same situation in Portland Oregon, I would consider Mount Hood a realistic one-day objective in winter. Seattle-Mount Rainier on the other hand, would be out of the question.

I'm afraid Fuji is one of the mountains I haven't climbed. I think doing it in a day from Tokyo would be pushing it a bit. In season (July-August) there are hordes of overnight buses that take you to the somethingth station where you can start climbing from pretty high up. Out of season transport will be more of a problem. From now on there's going to be quite a bit of snow up there as well and it gets dark early. You'll get much better info from the internet - don't take my word for it - but it's my hunch that attempting it in a day may be tricky.

Without a car, it isn't a feasible option.

Now I have extended my stay to 6 days so I should have sufficient time. I am having trouble finding reliable weather and transport info. Will the roads to the upper stations be closed due to recent snow? How cold will the temperatures reach?

Doing it in a day is possible, IF you have your own transportation and its summer. Years ago when I was living and working at Keio University in Yokohama, I did it twice in a day (so I could do it once "alone (if you can ever do it alone in the summer)" and then once with some of my students. The transportaion and how SLOW the traffic is in getting there is the major issue. In the winter Fuji can be done fairly easily but its a) much colder- treat it as you would Mt Hood and b) a much longer proposition.

Now if you do it in the summer, there is a bunch of buildings on the summit, one of them has a sign with the mileage to Wall Drug, was going to take a picture of the sign but didn't and was wondering if its still there?

Rabbit,
It's a bit late, but I can offer some info. I ended up climbing Fuji on my visit to Japan in Dec 05. I took a train from Tokyo to Kawaguchiko and arrived late at night. I camped out near the city on the first night. The public transportation was shut down for Fuji-san and the gate was closed pretty low. I could've taken a taxi part of the way, but I chose to walk rather than pay $60-$100. I started walking from the train station in Kawaguchiko, following the main road. I think I stopped at the 4th station as it was getting dark. The next day I started pretty early and made it to the summit. I spent the night on the summit. On the third day of climbing, I started the descent and went down the back side of the mountain. I hiked past a military base and then arrived at a bus station. I rode the bus back to Kawaguchiko to complete the circuit. It was a cold trip. I imagine in May that the temps are much more enjoyable.

On another note, can anyone offer details on rock climbs on Kita-dake? Looking for info such as difficulty, number of pitches, gear requirements, and topos.

Pat
There is a classic route on the north buttress of kita dake (plus many others). The route is 7 pitches, all at 5.4 (III) except for one pitch which goes at 5.7 (V). I would take a basic rack plus quickdraws, looks like there are some bolts plus old pitons as well. Unfortunately I am not aware of any english guidebooks for Japan. Let me know if you need any more info.

We climbed Fuji 2 weeks ago by the descent route. We stayed the night at Sago's which apparently is open year around at the 5th station. It s very important to book ahead if you want a meal. Some germans were there hungry as they didnt book ahead or bring enough food.

We needed crampons form 7th station upwards. Took us 6 hours to get to the top in quite windy conditions. Once we did the crater circumnavigation the wind dropped. We got lost on the way down as we made a beeline for the wrong hut. We were saved by me being a nerd and taking some gps waypoints at the start of the climb so we had to do a 4 km bushwack before we got back to our starting point.

Even in the non climbing season there were 3 buses/day to the 5th station. Not sure what would be like in the more wintry months.

I know this is a bit late, but here is a great link with super photography of 28 popular Japanese mountains
http://www.chiba3.com/mt100/mt100-e.htm